Page 34 of Stubborn Heart

So, I gave myself just a few more seconds to take her in before I crossed the room in her direction. When I was a matter of a few inches away from her, she glanced up and saw me standing there.

For several long moments, neither of us said a word. She was far too shocked to see me standing there to say anything, and I was too captivated by how beautiful she looked. Her face was flushed from the heat of her dancing around, and her chest was rising and falling rapidly with her labored breaths.

Seconds before I was about to say something to her, Rhea managed to pull herself together and beat me to it. With a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth—something I hadn’t seen before that moment—she said, “Now I really do think you’re following me.”

That small quirk of her lips felt like the biggest victory. “I don’t know what I’ve got to do to convince you I’m not that good.”

“So, you expect me to believe you’re not following me?” she asked.

“I’ve been here for a while now,” I shared. “My brother and I were catching up for a bit, and he just left a few minutes ago.”

Her eyes narrowed playfully on mine as she started to sway to the music again. “And yet, you’re still here. That’s awfully convenient.”

“Who’s to say you’re not the one following me?” I asked, loving this new side of her. Granted, I realized she was slightly inebriated, but she wasn’t so far gone that she didn’t know who I was.

For a few seconds, Rhea didn’t respond. She moved her body back and forth, a smile still playing on her lips. In a move I hadn’t expected, she leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “I’m here celebrating my birthday.”

Someone accidentally bumped into Rhea from behind, which led to her being pushed into me. I had no choice but to put my hands out to her waist to steady her. “Are you okay?”

Her body was still pressed tight to mine. “I’m perfect.”

I smiled at her. “What birthday is this?”

Rhea lifted a brow. “Do you promise not to tell anyone?”

“Of course.”

She licked her lips and smiled. “Twenty-six.”

I smiled back at her. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks. Now, it’s my turn to ask you a question,” she said.

I couldn’t miss the fact that she still hadn’t pulled herself out of my arms. Unless she made that happen, I was going to keep up the firm hold I had on her. “Ask me anything you want,” I urged her.

She glanced down at her right hand, which had been tucked into the pocket of my elbow. Once her eyes were there, she removed her hand and watched as her fingers crawled their way up my bicep, toward my shoulder. When Rhea’s hand settled on my shoulder, she lifted her gaze to mine and asked, “Why are you no longer interested?”

I didn’t want to make assumptions about whatever she was referring to, but if she thought I wasn’t interested in her, she was crazy. God, the scent of her alone was driving me wild. “Interested in what?”

“Dinner.”

“What?”

“After all those morning runs together, you haven’t asked me out for dinner to discuss your plan to try to take over my family’s farm,” she clarified. “I’m just wondering why.”

In an instant, my brother’s words rang in my head. I needed to prove to her that I was different than whoever she believed me to be. Maybe I’d already done that.

“First, for the record, we’re not trying to take over your family’s farm. We were merely hoping to purchase a couple of acres. As for why I haven’t asked you to dinner, you said you weren’t interested. That I’d be wasting your time and my own. Even if I disagree with you, I was willing to respect your wishes,” I told her.

Something that looked a lot like curiosity mixed with a hint of disappointment washed over her expression as she murmured, “Oh.”

I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to talk to her when she wasn’t busy hiding behind the walls she’d built, so I did my best to ignore the jolt of excitement I felt about knowing she’d softened a bit toward me and offered, “If you’ve reconsidered and would like to have that happen, I’d be more than happy to have dinner with you.”

Rhea let out a deep sigh. “I haven’t changed my mind, Wyatt.” She shifted her body slightly, looked behind her, and pointed in the opposite direction. “Do you see those two women with those guys?”

It wasn’t difficult to recognize who she was talking about, since they were looking over in our direction. “Yes.”

Returning her attention to me, she said, “Those women are my friends. They agree I shouldn’t sell any part of my family’s farm to you, but they think I should let you take me out for dinner, so you can plead your case.”

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