I nod, and my brother makes himself scarce.
Paige limps up to me, and I barely keep myself from growling. “Where are your crutches? Shouldn’t you use them?”
“Yeah. I should.” She shrugs. “I’m tired of hauling them around. I wish I could fling them off a cliff.”
Her red hair’s pulled up in one of those messy buns that makes her look effortlessly sexy.
I scrub my face. I will not think of Paige in that light.
A barn cat runs up to her and rubs his head against her leg. Lucky bastard.
Turning my back to her, I reach for the shovel so I can finish shoveling out the stalls. I listen to her coo at the cat.
It finally goes quiet.
“Rhett.”
“Yeah?” I scoop up a pile of crap.
“I’ll do it.”
“Do what?”
“Marry you.”
My heart damn near stops, and I turn to face her. “Paige, you don’t have to?—”
“I want to. For six months, that is. Like you said, it’ll be mutually beneficial. I’ll get the physical therapy I need and save some money, and you’ll get the ranch back on track. Then we’ll call it quits. Everyone wins.”
I rub the back of my neck.
She must see something on my face because she takes a wobbly step back. “What?”
“Maybe you’re not the best person to do this.” This is awkward as fuck, but it needs to be said. “With our history… I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Her eyes go icy, and she lets out a hard laugh. “Are you afraid pathetic little Paige is going to fall in love with you and won’t let you file for divorce? Think again. Here’s some good news, Rhett. I don’t fall in love. I never have, and I probably never will. That dumb crush I had on you when I was a kid was just that—a crush. Let me ask you this. Do you still have feelings for people you had crushes on when you were fifteen?”
“Well, no, but?—”
“But nothing. This is no different. Guess what? Sometime in the last seven years, I grew up. And here’s a shocker—I’ve even had full-fledged relationships with other men. But if you’re squeamish about this, that’s fine. Call up your friend with benefits. Let her do the honors.”
She turns and starts to limp away.
Shit. She’s pissed.
I drop the shovel and jog after her.
“Paige.” I grab her arm and turn her to face me. “Don’t be a delicate little flower. I was just being honest. If we do this, I don’t wanna cross any lines. We’re one hundred percent platonic unless we need to be affectionate around other people to pull this off. Otherwise, we’re friends, that’s it.”
She finally turns those big blue eyes up to me. Glaciers in Antarctica are warmer. “We’re not friends. We haven’t been friends for a long time.”
Ouch.
I don’t know why, but this woman twists me up. “You’re right, and that’s my fault. Maybe… maybe we could work on that. We could learn to be friends again. I’ll help you get back on your feet, and you’ll save my ranch. I think that’s a pretty good deal for both of us.”
Some of that animosity melts away, and she nods. “It is.”
This way, I’m keeping my promise to Danny. What better way to watch out for his sister than to move her in with me?
