Page 28 of My Rancher Valentine

“You what?” I stumbled back despite standing still. “Why would you do that?”

“Like Hailey said. We thought it would help.” Daphne shrugged. “We thought if she knew how long you have liked her, then it might win you points.”

“It was sort of like we were your wingmen.” Hailey’s smile was tight. “You know. Running interference or whatever.”

I shook my head. “That isn’t how it works,” I told them. “You’re my sisters. You don’t get to be wingmen.” I emphasized the word men at the end. “And you definitely don’t tell a secret like that.”

“But why is it a secret?” Daphne asked. “Everyone in town knows how you feel about Kat, except apparently Kat. You hit on anything in a skirt not related to you. You have liked her since puberty. I don’t understand why it took faking an engagement to get you to actually make a move.”

“It’s complicated.” I scratched at the back of my neck.

“Why?” She kept on. “It isn’t like either of you has been in high school for years. You’re not still the jock that is too stupid to pull his head out of his ass and ask out the bookworm. I don’t get what’s so complicated about it.”

“Right. You don’t get it.” I turned and went back to pacing.

“Then explain it.” God, she wouldn’t stop. “Is it because Dad told you to man up and ask her out?”

“No.”

“Is it because of your reputation?”

“Maybe.”

“Then fix it.” She argued. “Tell her the truth.”

“I did.”

“Then keep telling her.” She pushed. “If you really want her, then tell her over and over until she believes you.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Why?”

“Because.” I curled my fingers tight.

“Because why?”

“Because she deserves better than me,” I shouted.

The room went so quiet that I couldn’t even hear any of us breathe. I kept my back to them. I didn’t need to see the expression on their faces. Either they agreed, which would kill me, or they would feel sorry for me.

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” I spun around at the fire in Hailey’s voice. She sat up on the bed staring at me as if she was about to push me into the wall like she did when I was six and tried to flush her doll down the toilet.

“What?”

“You are a Wynters.” She stared me down. “What the hell would make you think she deserves better than you? As if there is someone better than you.”

I blew out a breath. I loved my sisters. They could be one hundred percent pains in my ass, but besides the occasionalfights and sibling jokes, they were the best. I should have known they would take my side. There has never been a moment where they didn’t.

“I know I’m a Wynters and that we own half of Bliss Haven, but what do I have to offer her? Me? Personally? What do I have?” I asked. “Hell, I can’t even get a sponsorship that isn’t my family or some company you roped into doing it.” I pointed at Hailey. She had been handling that since she graduated from business school. Before that, it was Dad.

“If I lay all my cards on the table, then I am still that boy from high school,” I admitted. “I still live at home, my big sister handles my finances, everyone thinks I’m screwing around like I don’t know how to keep it in my pants, and how many times does Dad remind me that riding isn’t a long-term career? If he or you, Hailey, tell me one more time that I need more in my life besides the rodeo, I just might scream.”

“Kat is smart and beautiful, and she deserves someone who has a stable career. Someone that she can talk about all the books she reads with and who can take her out without someone hitting on them right in front of her and expecting him to be interested.” I still couldn’t forget that hostess and how jealous it made Kat.

“She should have someone like an accountant or a doctor.” Devon was an ass, but he had been right. How long would it be before Kat realized she could do so much better than me being gone half the year riding around the country?

“I love her enough to want her to be happy.” I had never said the words, but they felt more right than anything in my life. Even the rodeo.

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