Plush Book 4: A Billionaire Romance by KB Winters Page A

and she still had her father in her life, although he and our mom had divorced years ago.
    “How are you holding up?”
    “I’m all right, I haven’t really thought much about losing Dad,” I answered. It was the truth. The circumstances under which I lost my dad were much different and didn’t have a lot of cross points that would trigger memories. I still missed my father all the time—especially when business dealings got dicey and I wished he was there to ask for advice. I often wondered what he’d think of the things I’d done with the company he’d spent his life building.
    “Well, that’s good, I guess. You know I’m always here to talk when you need me,” Angela said.
    I took a deep breath, it was now or never. “You know, there is something I wanted to talk to you about.”
    “Of course!” She almost sounded surprised. It wasn’t often I asked anyone for advice, and I definitely had never asked anyone for relationship advice.
    I blew out the breath I’d been holding and launched into the explanation of the argument with Allie, recapping the conversation to Angela.
    “Yikes,” she said when I tapered off.
    “That bad, huh?” I shifted, pushing off the bed and beginning to pace the room.
    “No, no, that’s not what I meant. It just sounds like there are a lot of different issues that all came out at once, which is never a good thing. Were you guys having problems before Allie found out about her dad?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. She was really stressed with all the legal issues, and work has been really busy, I guess we haven’t connected in a while, but I thought everything was more or less heading in the right direction. I mean, I was having some crazy thoughts, you know, about the future.”
    “Crazy how?” Angela asked.
    I hesitated, suddenly wishing I’d left that part out. I didn’t need Angela getting too excited before anything had even been decided. “Well, I was thinking about the long term, the things I want to do with her, the places I want to go, things I want to see and experience. The idea of marriage was definitely there.”
    “Was?”
    I sighed and raked my free hand through my hair. “Is? I don’t know. I love her, Angie, I really do. I can’t lose her, but if she’s not happy with me…I don’t want her to feel like she has to be something she’s not or try to fit into some mold of what she thinks I want. If she changes herself for me, she’ll hate me later, and I couldn’t deal with that.”
    “So, let me ask you this, do you want her to change? I know you love her, but sometimes that’s not enough. You know I think the world of Allie and I love the two of you together. I think you’re good for each other. But, is there maybe some truth to what she’s saying? Do you want some Stepford wife?”
    “No!”
    “Then you need to tell her that. Cooper, I love you, but let’s be honest, you’re more than a little bit of a control freak. Most of the time, it seems like Allie’s handled that well and has taken it all in stride, but with everything else piled on top of her, it sounds like she’s feeling suffocated. You need to show her that you love her just like she is, and that you’re not looking for her to contort herself into anything else. If she needs more time before she can give up her apartment and move in with you, then let her. If she wants to ride her bike instead of hopping on a private plane, let her.”
    “But that doesn’t make any sense to me. Why does she want to stay in her cracker-jack box apartment when she could live in a penthouse? Why would she want to ride her bike across three states when she could be there in a few hours on a luxury plane? I’m only trying to make her life better—easier!”
    “It doesn’t necessarily matter why , Cooper. You can’t question every decision she makes. Come on, you’d freak the hell out if you had someone questioning your every move and thought! Remember that you fell in love with her