Page 54 of Love on the Line

Chapter 17

Wyatt textedAnne that he was at her door. He didn’t want to scare her since she probably wasn’t expecting anyone. Hell, she might ignore him for all he knew. He waited a minute, but she didn’t respond to his text, so he knocked.

A muscle ticked in his neck. He hated arguing with her, but the whole “dinner charade” had been ridiculous. The more she’d told him, the worse it had gotten. Maybe this Devon dude was a complete wuss and afraid of his own shadow. If he didn’t have the backbone to say he didn’t order drinks for a business dinner, he shouldn’t have pressured Anne to play along.

Period.

Wyatt didn’t really care about whether she had a drink. It was the fact she’d done something she didn’t want to that bothered him.

He knocked again and tapped an impatient foot on the concrete. At last the knob jiggled and the door opened. Anne, dressed in a pink robe cinched tight at the waist, crossed her arms and thrust her chin up. “Why did you come here?”

Her puffy eyes and red nose meant she’d been crying. Shit. Guilt shrank his heart. “To talk to you. Can I come in, please?”

She sniffled but stepped aside, opening the door wider.

He entered, and she shut the door, taking her time to turn around. “I really wish you could have given me the benefit of the doubt tonight. You weren’t there. I told you everything that happened. I don’t know what else you want from me.”

“I’m sorry.” He stepped closer, but didn’t reach out to touch her. “I got upset. I do trust you, but put yourself in my shoes. How do you think it all sounded?”’

She rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, to be honest, I guess pretty suspicious. I mean, it’s just one thing happened after another, and I didn’t know what to do without insulting someone or hurting their feelings. And then I told you everything, and you got mad at me.”

He sighed. She had told him about the entire night and how uncomfortable she’d been. “I wasn’t mad at you. I was annoyed he put you in that situation and you went along with him. Do you understand the difference?”

She bit her lip and slowly nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure part of the reason I got so upset is that you hit a nerve. I wanted to please everyone and not make any waves.”

“I’ve noticed that.” Wyatt pulled out a chair and they both sat at the kitchen table. He took her hand. “You’re the most giving person I’ve ever known, but you don’t always stand up for yourself.”

“I know, and I’m nervous because I’ve got to change that if I intend on being a principal one day. I can’t make everyone happy in that job.”

She had a point but was overlooking her major strength. “That’s true, but you’ll be good at it because you’ll be making decisions that are for the best of your students and school. There’s no way you’d back down from the tough ones in that scenario.”

She cocked her head, and her brows wrinkled. “You’re right. I wouldn’t hesitate a second to make a hard call if I knew it was the right one for someone.”

“Exactly.” He squeezed her hand. “You’ll go to the mat for anyone else, just not always for yourself.”

“I never thought of it that way.” Her eyes sharpened, and she nodded. “I feel so much better about this now that I see it in perspective. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for pointing this out.”

A wave of pride washed over him. He’d actually talked to her about feelings and insecurities. He, the rookie at communication, had helped her. “I told you I’d get better at this talking stuff.”

“Well, I would give that an A plus.” She kissed him on the cheek, and his heart soared.

“Hey, I’d be happy to just get some A.”

She slapped his hand and grinned. “You’re so bad.”

“Just sayin’.” He shrugged.

Her smile fell. “Seriously, though. I’m sorry I transferred this onto you earlier. And don’t hold this against Devon. I think he felt as awkward as I did.”

Wyatt doubted that, but maybe he was still caught up in jealousy. The most important thing was that Anne had opened up to him.

She stood and he pulled her onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, he breathed in the sweet scent of her hair. They fit together. Perfectly.

So much for that “protecting himself” plan. He’d just dove in deeper with her.

“Thanks for coming over.” She kissed him. “If I can take back what I said earlier, I’m still up for the weekend.”

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