Page 7 of Wilde Sanctuary

She closed the distance between them, lifting a hand towards him and then dropping it when he flinched away. “I’m the same person?—”

He laughed again, and she ground her teeth in frustration.

“—despite what you think of my father’s company.”

He turns on her, staring daggers at her. “You’re Sinclair’s daughter?”

Oh, that was a mistake. She grimaced and nodded.

“Your father—” he almost spat the word “—would come to town every year or two, trying to bribe my grandfather to sell the land. Pop had the same answer that I do. No.”

She felt torn. This deal had to work, or she’d lose everything she’d worked so hard for. But all her daydreams about a future with Rhett were slipping through her fingers, too. There had to be a way she could make this work, or she’d lose Rhett and her father would never give her any responsibility again.

“Look, this time it’s me, not him, and there’s a different proposal. Would you just look?—”

Rhett smiled like a predator. “Oh no, beautiful. I’ve been running this business since I was fifteen years old. Trust me when I say there will never be a deal with your dad.”

Charlie blinks up at him, not sure what to say. This has not gone at all like she’d planned. It felt like someone had taken her entire world, turned it upside down and was shaking it. How had everything gone so wrong?

“Will you at least look at the offer?” She tried again, her tone pleading as she held out the folio, expecting him to take it from her hands. His lips pressed together in a thin line and his gaze was icy. She stepped back and let go of the folio, but he didn’t take it.

She watched as the contents fluttered to the ground, paper spilling around his feet like all her lost hopes and dreams.

Her father will never let her take on anything of importance. She’ll never be his heir. She would always be the unworthy daughter.

“Get out,” Rhett practically snarled.

Charlie reared back at the venom in his tone. Biting her lip, she tried one more time. “Rhett, I?—”

“I said get out!” He didn’t shout, but it was a near thing. The tendons in his neck strained and he was practically spitting with anger.

Charlie turned and darted for the door, barely hearing the cheery jangle of the bell as she made her escape.

Chapter Four

Rhett

The rest of the day went in a blur. Rhett hadn’t bothered to pick up the papers where they’d fallen from Charlie’s hand that morning. He’d just turned his back on them and gone back to work. He was repairing a tear in a tent’s zipper when his cousin, Cassie, strolled into the workroom.

“Lunch, Rhett?” She said with a smile, turning down the speaker he’d been blasting rock music through. She held up two paper bags. “Chicken or beef?”

He lifted an eyebrow and put aside the canvas he was stitching.

“You have to ask?”

She laughed and handed him one of the bags. “Always worth a try. People change, you know.”

Rhett knew his cousin far too well to believe this was a casual visit. He took the bag and pulled out a beef burger, closing his eyes as he breathed in the delicious aroma. He may as well enjoy the food while he waited for whatever it was she had to say.

“Didn’t eat breakfast again, huh?” Cassie asked as she watched him from her perch on the edge of a crate.

She was wearing scrubs with octopus on them today. Bright pink scrubs with rainbow colored octopus. Rhett had lost count of how many pairs she had. She maintained that as a vet she got filthy so often she had to have multiple pairs on hand at work so she would look presentable.

He thought it was just a way to appease her cartoon animal loving side.

“Cute scrubs,” he said between bites.

She smiled. “Thanks.”

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