Boden gave me a wan smile. “I’d be worried, except I’m the only one who knows your true identity. I think my baby carrier ways are safe.”
I huffed. “Why did you have to go and ruin it? I was already mentally spending my millions.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think that photo is worth millions.”
“Ruining it again. Let me live in my dream world.”
“Fair enough.” Boden started down the path, and I fell into step beside him. “So, what would you spend your millions on?”
“Hmm. A massive soaking tub.”
“I support that choice.”
“A dog castle for Gizmo.”
Boden’s brow lifted. “A dog castle?”
“There’s this company that makes castles for dogs. They’re really just fancy forms of crates with dog beds inside, but I’ve always wanted to get him one. He is a prince, after all.”
Boden chuckled and rubbed Gizmo’s head. “He is that. What else?”
“A private plane so I could go anywhere I wanted without having to deal with the hassle of regular airport stuff.” I paused, looking over at him. “You have a private plane, don’t you?”
He gave me a sheepish smile. “It’s not mine. It’s my family’s. But it does come in handy now and again.”
I shook my head. “You’re living in a whole different world.” Something about that made me sad. The fact that Boden and I didn’t belong in the same universe. It was just some weird hiccup in the space-time continuum that had brought us together, and it wouldn’t last.
“Only the accessories are different. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m beyond fortunate. I don’t take that for granted for a second. But money doesn’t miraculously fix all your problems. Sometimes, it makes more of them.”
“It made more for your girlfriend?” I struggled to get the word out.
“In a lot of ways. There’s pressure growing up in that world. To always have more. Money, power, prestige. It can taunt people.”
“I would have a hard time with that.”
“Carissa did, too. And her spirit was so gentle. Easily broken.” A muscle along Boden’s jaw fluttered. “Maybe I fixed too many things for her for too long. She never really learned how to stand on her own two feet.”
I never wanted to live through something like the accident again. Losing Jase, my friendships fracturing, all the pain of that recovery. But in so many ways, it had made me more determined than ever before. I fought for what I wanted and never gave up, even if it took me ten times as long to get there as everyone else.
“When we love someone, it’s easy to want to fix everything for them.”
“It’s rarely the right move, though. At some point, you have to start carrying some of your own weight.”
“Says the man carrying all of my belongings.”
The corner of Boden’s mouth kicked up. “That’s different.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I still have to carry it when you’re gone. I can’t lose the muscle tone it requires to do that.”
He frowned as we curved around the path. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Then why do you look like someone kicked your puppy?”
“I don’t like the idea of you having to do something that causes you pain.”
My steps slowed. “Doing the things that cause us pain sometimes brings the greatest reward in the end. You know you were strong enough to make it through, and the view from where you’ve gotten to is always that much sweeter.”
“You’ve got a better attitude than I do. I’m always the one crying when my trainer’s taking me through my third set of burpees. He’d like you.”