Page 95 of Pretend To Be My Cowboy
Running away was exactly what she was doing. She was so grateful she'd been invited, so glad she’d met the Donahues and all their friends. But being at a wedding was a cruel and unusual torture for her already mangled heart.
Every time she looked around her, she sawwhat ifsandwhat might have beens.
Except…
She’d seen honest affection in Nash’s eyes, she knew she had.
She picked up her pace, her heels tapping against the hardwood floor as she navigated the corridor, bypassing the restrooms when she spotted double doors leading to temporary freedom.
She believed Nash had been looking out for her best interests. But that somehow made it worse. Knowing that he’d been so very kind and was actually trying to protect her only made her fall even harder.
He wanted to make sure someone was looking out forher.
How sweet is that?
He’s the kindest man I’ve ever met.
And that just made it all the more unfair. Now she couldn’t even curse him as a selfish, lying jerk when she cried her heart out to Lizzy. Oh no. Even Lizzy would agree that she’d finally gone and fallen for a good guy. A selfless guy. A guy who’d only wanted to make sure she wasn’t taken advantage of by—
“Patrick.” She stopped short at the sight of Nash’s father in the back alcove.
He slipped the phone into his jacket pocket, his handsome face creasing with a warm smile that reminded her so much of Nash her belly twisted into knots.
“Emma,” he said, as if he was happy to see her here. He probably was. Maybe he thought she and Nash had made up and were back on track. “You look beautiful,” he continued.
Which for him meant back on track to getting his hands on her land.
A surge of protectiveness had her hands clenching into fists at her sides. After days of stewing over what to do with the property, of trying to figure out what her sisters wanted and what her father had been thinking when he’d left it to all seven of them…
All that faded away in the face of this one fact. It was her land. It was their land. It was O’Sullivan property.
And she didn’t want that to change.
The realization was so stark and sudden, it left her wide eyed and gaping at the older man.
“Emma, are you all right?” He took a step toward her, his brow creased in concern.
Yeah, right.Bitterness filled her mouth and made her stomach turn.
He wasn’t concerned about her. He was just concerned with getting what he wanted—no matter who got hurt in the process.
“Emma, honey, do you want me to get Nash?”
“No.” Finally, she was able to speak. “No, I don’t want to see Nash right now.”
That was the truth. She couldn’t see him when she was this irrational and so very shaky. But while she might feel like she was walking on quicksand when it came to her feelings for Nash, facing his father gave her more clarity than ever about why she was here in the first place.
“Emma? Are you sure you’re all right?” Patrick asked again.
“I’m fi—” She stopped, blinked and realized she was about to give him her automatic response, which was the wrong thing to do. With a tight smile, she shook her head and looked Mr. Donahue in the eye. “No. I’m not all right,” she said. “Quite frankly, Mr. Donahue, I’m angry.”
His head jolted back with surprise.
Emma took a deep breath, some of that tightness in her chest easing with the admission. She could have sworn she heard Lizzy’s voice cheering her on, and the thought of her sister had her chin coming up further. “That’s right, I’m angry at your assumptions. You already think my father’s property is yours, don’t you?”
He held his hands up, and his voice was soothing to the point of being condescending. “Now, Emma, I’m not sure this is the time and place for discussing this, but you’ve got to understand. We’ve been taking care of that property—”
“No,” she interrupted. “Nashhas been taking care of it. Frank employed him to do that job. And while I appreciate that he’s been looking after the land, the cattle, the house, since Frank left, the O’Sullivan ranch does not belong to you.”
