Free Rocked by the Billionaire: A Billionaire's Club Story by Mandy Baxter Page A

hell of a lot more to prove. There were plenty of schools in California. Why couldn’t she come with him? Get a job at some swanky private school or a local public elementary. Hell, she wouldn’t even have to work at all if she didn’t want to. He had more money than he knew what to do with. She could come on tour with the band, see the world. They could be together all the time. As far as he could tell nothing was keeping her in Texas. Her parents weren’t there and she didn’t have any brothers or sisters to worry about. Why the hell couldn’t she leave with him?
    Because she doesn’t want the sort of life you’d give her, dipshit
.
    Even as kids it had been a bone of contention between them. The only one, in fact. He wanted more than to work on the family’s ranch and she craved familiarity. They were the only thing each other needed and at the same time, not enough. But now that he’d come home to her, Luke didn’t think he could live without her. No, he
refused
to live without her.
    “Do you remember the time you tried to get Jase to trade places with you so you wouldn’t have to take the history final?”
    Luke smiled at the memory. Their shared history was comforting. Why couldn’t that familiarity be enough to anchor Kayleigh and keep her by his side? “It totally would have worked if Mrs. Baker hadn’t noticed that we’d forgotten to trade shirts.”
    Kayleigh laughed, the sweetest music to his ears. “It totally would not have. You sucked at history. She would have been on to your switch after she graded the paper.”
    “True.”
    “Do you like your job?” Maybe he could use this time to lay the groundwork, convince her that life outside of Texas might be a good thing. “Does hanging out with rug rats all day do it for you?”
    She chuckled. “Teaching kindergarten doesn’t make my eyes roll back in my head if that’s what you mean. But I like it. The kids are great and if I can ever get my student loans paid off, I might get to enjoy my summers for once.”
    “How much more do you have left to pay?”
    “More than I’d like,” she admitted. “But those are the breaks. Tutoring over the summer pays pretty well, though I should get a bonus for dealing with hormonal middle-schoolers.”
    “God, I hated middle school.” He’d dealt with his fair share of assholes in his teen years. Smug sons of bitches who had nothing better to do than tease him and Jase for being poor.
    “I know.” Kayleigh placed a gentle hand over his. “Kids can be such assholes.”
    “The only good thing about it was you. High school, too. I never would’ve gotten through it without you.”
    Two peas in pod. That’s what Luke’s mom had called them. The best of friends and later, so much more. “Hey, remember the time we tipped the hay bales off the trailer and Ryder had to pick them all up by himself? He was so mad I thought his head was going to explode.”
    On and on it went for the entire ride back to the ranch. One memory relived after another. It was a welcome distraction, one that kept Luke’s mind off the future and what would happen when it was time to return to the real world.
    “Luke, what do you want from life?” The question came out of the blue as they made their way to the stables. Her voice was unsure and her body stiffened against his.
    “I want to be happy with who I am and what I’ve done. I want to know that I didn’t cut any corners and did my best no matter what. I want my success to be measured by my talent and drive and not by who I know or how much money I have. And I want to share my life with someone I love.”
    “Oh,” she said, barely audible over the bluster of wind.
    “What do you want?”
    “I don’t know,” she said with a rueful laugh. “Pathetic, right? I have no freaking idea what I want out of life. I’m sort of jealous that it’s all so clear for you. But then, it always was. You knew what you wanted, even as a kid, and you weren’t afraid to go after