Page 55 of The Reason I Married Him
“Do you really have to ask?” He pours himself some coffee. “My future bride is here, and I want to spend as much time with her as I can. Would I prefer to do it somewhere besides a chicken coop or dusty potato fields? Of course, but she has this stubborn streak that I have to work around.”
“Have you ever taken the hint that maybe I don’t want you around?”
“Babe, I was able to read your distaste for me the minute I walked into the farmhouse the first night I was here. Trust me, I’m well aware of your feelings, but you need to understand I have every right to be here on the land, and I plan on being here for as long as I want. Might even extend my stay. I know Ethel has been waiting on confirmation for me to do so. I have nothing better to do, and I have goals to meet. So stop fighting it. I’m here to stay.”
“You are not here to stay,” I say as I take another bite of my muffin. “You’ll be here until you get bored with the monotony of farm life or a new book idea pops into your head.”
“Honestly, I like it here.” He leans against the tractor wheel, looking up at me. “I like the town, the people, the atmosphere. Ethel told me last night that I could write anywhere in the inn that I wanted to, so I’m taking that as an open invitation. I was looking at real estate last night, and there are quite a few places I’m interested in.”
“Stop,” I say, lowering my muffin. “No, you’re not.”
“I think it would be good to be closer to Mac. Help out Ryland. I know Clarke would have appreciated that.”
“Ryland has all the help he needs.”
“Wait,” he says, turning toward me. “Is that . . . is that panic I see in your eyes?”
“No,” I answer even though I feel panicked.
“I think it is.” He smirks. “Why would you panic about me moving here? Worried that you might have to see me every day on the farm, attempting to stake out my side of the property?”
“There’s no panic.”
“There is,” he says as he comes up to me now, standing right in front of me so his chest touches my knees. “Afraid you might fall for me?”
“Oh my God.” I roll my eyes. “No, not even a little.”
“Then why the panic?”
“There is no panic,” I try to say as casually as possible. “If you want to move here, move here. If you want to spend your days on this farm, by all means, spend your days here. That is your choice, but there will be rules about who works on what project, and right now, this chicken coop is my project, so you can figure out something else to do.”
“Ooo.” He winces. “I actually worked really hard on the framing, and if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be as far as you are on this project, so . . . technically, it’s mine too.” He places his hand on my leg and says, “But we can work on it together.”
“Over my dead body.” I hop off the tractor, ready to move toward the coop, when he pins me in place, using his large body to keep me from moving.
One hand on the tractor, the other on my hip, he leans forward and says, “Come on, Aubree, it’ll be fun.”
“Your definition of fun is much different from mine.”
His hand grips my hip tighter, just like last night, and if my head were on straight, I’d push him away. I’d kick him in the shin. I’d do anything to free myself of his imposing self.
Yet I stay here, grounded by him.Which is so strange as I never felt grounded by Matt.
“Maybe we can talk about what we find fun,” he says, his thumb rubbing along my hipbone.
“If you really think you’re going to win me over by attempting to turn me on, you’re interacting with the wrong woman.” The words fly out of my mouth, but I don’t think I necessarily believe them.
“Turn you on?” he asks. “I’m just trying to get you to look at me without creasing your brow in disdain.”
“Your chances of that happening are slim to none,” I answer.
He sighs and leans forward as he says softly, “Why do you hate me, Aubree?”
His deep brown eyes with a hint of green around the outer edge stare back at me, looking for answers I don’t have. Because I don’t know if I can pinpoint what annoys me about him.
Maybe it’s because he came out of nowhere and started claiming the land he shouldn’t have in his possession.
Maybe it’s because he waltzed into town looking like a hero and sweeping everyone off their feet.
