So maybe I’d expected him to end it a week ago, when he’d set out a very romantic picnic on the boat for me.
Or the day we’d returned from New York, when he’d invited me over for dinner.
I was a girl who’d had the rug pulled out from beneath her feet a few times before. I didn’t want to be caught off guard.
This was why I used a gratitude journal and vision boards. It was an effort to stop myself from expecting people to let me down.
“Fine. This isn’t doomsday. I’m just letting you know that when that day comes, I’m going to be fine.”
“So you keep telling me. Now get your ass out of the car so I can show you something.”
“This place is abandoned. We could get arrested for trespassing.”
“Just get out of the damn car, woman.”
He came around to the passenger side of his rented Tesla just as I pushed my door open. “Why do you seem so nervous, then?”
He huffed out a breath and whipped around, and my chest slammed into his. “Maybe because this is new for me. Has that ever dawned on you?”
My eyes widened. “What’s new for you? A fling that lasts a few weeks?”
“I see you every single day. You’re in my bed every single night. It’s a bit more than a fucking fling, yeah?”
Why is he so angry? He’s the one who made the rules. I just agreed to them.
“Fine. I misspoke. It’s a relationship that ends in three weeks. When you move away, and we don’t see one another anymore.”
He shook his head and cursed under his breath. “Can you just stop analyzing it, and let me give you a goddamn surprise?”
“You’re so touchy today.” I chuckled and then tried to catch up to him as he stormed toward the old farmhouse.
“You don’t make surprising you very easy.” He paused when we walked up the few steps to the front porch. “Now close your eyes and prepare to be dazzled.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Fine. Dazzle me, Moneybags.”
He took my hand and walked me forward a few steps. “Open your eyes.”
Chapter SixteenMyles
This was not the norm for me. I didn’t do romantic gestures.
I based business decisions on the bottom line.
Always.
But when this opportunity came up, I didn’t hesitate. I knew that this would solve all of Montana’s business issues while they waited for the hotel to be built, as well as give her the opportunity to invest further in her business and herself.
Maybe it was seeing the way my father had cut Caleb down.
Hell, he’d cut Samuel and me down the same way, more times than I could count.
Maybe I didn’t want to be anything like him.
Or maybe it was just that I saw something in her. Something special.
I’d taken her by my office when we were in New York, and I was surprised how interested she was in what I did. I showed her a few projects we were working on, and she was fascinated. She met my assistant, Connor, who of course made it a big fucking deal that I’d brought a woman to my place of work.
It was a first.
