Page 62 of The Reason I Married Him
I know that look. I’ve seen it many times before.
She thinks she sees something, knows something.
And there’s no doubt in my mind that Ryland has said something to her about last night, how Wyatt draped his arm over my chair possessively, or how he caught us in the kitchen close to each other.
“Uh, hey . . . there,” I say awkwardly.
Hattie smiles even brighter as she looks between us. “Hey.” She beams. “So . . . what are you two doing?”
Clearly making a huge mistake by being out and about in town together. Sometimes when I’m hungry, I don’t think things through. This is one of those times.
“Grabbing sandwiches,” Wyatt says while bumping my shoulder with his. “We finished the chicken coop just as Aubree’s stomach barked at us.”
Hattie chuckles. “I’ve heard it bark before, quite a terrifying thing.”
“Very terrifying,” he says. “What about you?” I hate how casual he is. How he’s able to chat it up without a worry in the world. While I’m over here sweating, my skin prickling, my stomach flipping, and every anxious bone in my body sending out warning signs that this was a bad idea.
“Heading up to By the Slice for some pizza with Hayes. After, we’re going to drive up the coast for a hike. Just got done with a few things at the store. Marlene is closing, so we thought we’d have a fun afternoon.”
“I tried to get this girl to have a fun afternoon with me, but you know how she is, work, work, work.” He nudges me, and I feel my mouth go dry as Hattie looks at me gleefully. When I don’t say anything, Wyatt nudges me again. “Tell them, Aubree. Tell them how much you denied me fun today.”
“You were the one who got up at five thirty this morning.”
“You, uh . . . you know what time he woke up?” Hattie asks, implying that I was there when he woke up.
“Oh my God, no.”
“You know what time I woke up,” Wyatt says, not making any of this better. “Don’t lie.”
God, I could kick him in the shin right now. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
Trying to gather myself, I add, “I mean, yes, I know what time he woke up, but only because he told me, not because I was there in person to see him rise from his bed. I wasn’t there. I was in my house, and he was at the inn. There was no knowledge of wake-up times other than what has been communicated between us, not from . . . firsthand experience.”
Wyatt drapes his arm over my shoulders and says, “What your sister so eloquently is trying to say is that we didn’t sleep together.”
Hattie chuckles. “Good to know.” She then eyes me suspiciously like I have something to say to her that I’m not saying, and I really don’t. All I’m hiding is the fact that he asked me to be his wife and I said no.
And for the briefest moments, when he offered me the land, I considered taking him up on the deal. It was so brief, though, it was not even worth mentioning.
Also, if I have to admit to it, Wyatt is an attractive man.
But like I said, not things she needs to know.
“Are you blushing, Aubree?” she asks.
“No,” I say, covering my cheeks with my hands. “Why would I be blushing? There’s nothing to blush about. Not a single thing.”
“Probably sunburn,” Wyatt says as he continues to hang his arm wrapped around me, which is not helping the situation. “I told her to put some sunscreen on her face, but she wouldn’t listen to me.”
Hattie folds her arms against her chest. “She can be stubborn, can’t she?”
“So stubborn, but it’s one of the things we love about her, isn’t it?” Wyatt asks.
“Yes . . .” Hattie says in a knowing tone. “One of the many things weloveabout her.”
Her emphasis on love doesn’t slip by me, nor does the way she keeps looking between me and Wyatt. I can only imagine the narrative going on in her head.
“Well, I’ll let you two get your food so there is no more barking from Aubree’s stomach,” Hattie says with a grin. “Wouldn’t want to unleash the beast.”
