Yours Completely: A Cinderella Love Story (Billionaires and Brides #1) Read Online Free

and grinned at her. “I didn't like the game, but I did like the horses.”
    “You're certainly good with them,” Ella replied, watching his hands move across the gelding's coat. His movement was strong and sure, and for a moment, she wondered what it would be like to have his hands on her like that. Touching her skin, her legs, her arms, her back...
    Heat rushed through her and she shook her head, trying to clear the thought. The man was a guest. She shouldn't have those kinds of thoughts about a guest, no matter how handsome he was. Business before pleasure.
    “What about you?” Jace paused in his brushing once more to look at her, earning him a grumpy foot stomp from Commander. He quickly resumed his deep, even strokes. “Where'd you learn about horses?”
    “Here.” Ella glanced around the barn, remembering countless days spent grooming, mucking, riding, and mending tack. “My family owns the inn, and I basically grew up with Captain and Commander.”
    “Ah, so you're part of the infamous Phillips Family.” It wasn't a question. It was a judgment.
    Ella's hand hovered over Captain's smooth coat. While it was technically true that she was part of the Phillips Family, it wasn't something she wanted to be associated with. Delores Phillips was her stepmother, not her family. Ella chewed on her lip, hating the way it sounded. Delores was the known gold-digger that had accidentally married a nearly bankrupt man with only an inn to his name. She was a joke, even if Ella didn't find it funny.
    “I guess you could say that...” The words were thick on Ella's tongue. How do you explain to a complete stranger that your family is not your family? No one ever remembered that Johnathon McDaniels had a daughter, or that she got nothing but a promise when her father died due to the way Delores restructured the will.
    “I apologize,” Jace said, stopping his brushing and looking at her. “That was rude of me and I apologize.”
    “Oh, it's nothing,” Ella quickly countered, doing her best to smile and wave it away. “It comes with the territory. Happens all the time.”
    “It shouldn't. You obviously aren't Delores Phillips, and her sins shouldn't pass to you.” Jace waited until she nodded before resuming the quiet pattern of his brush. “I, more than anyone, should know that.”
    Her chest went heavy with emotion. No one ever apologized to her about lumping her with Delores, and it honestly was refreshing to have someone say it out loud. “Thank you,” Ella whispered.
    “So, you obviously work here,” Jace said, trying to change the topic to something easier. He moved around Commander, working the brush. Bits of hay stuck to his expensive shirt, but he didn't seem to mind. If anything, he seemed to be relaxing and possibly even enjoying himself. “It must be wonderful to work in a place so beautiful.”
    “It's my dream to make it even better,” she blurted out quickly. The words escaped her mouth before she knew what she was saying. She never told anyone that. Ever. Yet, here with Jace in the barn, a man she'd known for about ten minutes, she had spilled her guts. Shame and regret flooded her stomach. Why in the world had she even let him in the barn? She should have just kicked him out when she had the chance. She waited for the snide laughter that she assumed was coming.
    But it never came.
    “Even better?” Jace sounded impressed, rather than derisive. “You managed to convince a billionaire family to hold their wedding here. I think you've got a pretty good place.”
    Ella stared at him for a moment, watching his hands move across Commander's white coat as she searched for the words. No one ever told her that she had a good place. Especially not Delores.
    “It can be better,” she mumbled.
    “Better? How?”
    “It's nothing big.” He had to be leading her on. She'd tell him and he'd laugh at her and tell her how silly it was. A foolish little girl's dream. Impossible. Gripping the brush tight,