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I shook my head quickly in an effort to rid it of the thoughts racing through my mind. “I don’t understand. Why would you want to know any of that, though?”
He swallowed hard with his eyes pinned on me. “Why do you think?”
He didn’t need to tell me. He had already made it clear.
And I was right back to feeling as horrible as I’d felt when I was staring at myself in the mirror, wondering if he’d like my dress.
This was unfair.
“Wyatt, I’m… this is… what you’re attempting to do would just be complicated,” I told him. “I’ll admit I was wrong in the beginning to judge you the way that I did, but we can’t have something romantic come from this. It would just be messy.”
Disappointment, the likes I’d never seen before, consumed him. “So, if I had walked into your ice cream shop one day and ordered myself a vanilla cone without my family ever having approached yours, I might have stood a chance.”
I didn’t want to tell him that was the case. I didn’t want to crush him more than he already seemed to be. Plus, if I was honest with myself, it would have crushed me, too.
Why?
Why couldn’t we have met under different circumstances?
“Wyatt, we’ve come a long way over the last few weeks. I think we could be good friends who go for runs together, but no matter how much attraction there is here, we’d be foolish to take that step. I’d be constantly worried about you resenting me because of this business issue.”
“That wouldn’t happen.”
“I think it’s easy to say that now, when there’s something you think you want,” I reasoned. “Look, I don’t want this to get awkward between us. I’d love for us to remain friends. I would hate for this to change that.”
Wyatt seemed to effortlessly push past whatever thoughts he had about what he wanted to have happen between us. He smiled at me and gave me a nod. “This won’t change anything, Rhea.”
I felt some relief as guilt moved through me.
I’d been honest with him, and yet, it still felt as though I was the villain. Maybe my stubborn streak was going to get the best of me after all.
By some miracle, Wyatt and I managed to enjoy the rest of our dinner. He redirected the conversation to other topics, and he never got inappropriate again.
Afterward, he took me home and walked me to my door.
“Thank you for dinner tonight, Wyatt. I really had a lovely time with you,” I said after I’d unlocked my door.
His eyes roamed over my face with longing. “You’re welcome. I had a great time, too.”
There was an awkward pause, one that might have not been there if I hadn’t shut down on him. While I was hellbent on making sure Wyatt knew I wanted nothing romantic with him, it didn’t change the fact there were a lot of things I liked about him, things I wouldn’t be able to resist in another situation.
Wyatt was the one to break out of the stupor we both seemed to be in. “Well, I should let you get inside.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”
Part of me wanted to give him a hug or something like that, but I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.
“I’ll see you on Monday morning, then,” he declared.
I smiled. “I’ll be there.”
With one final nod, Wyatt said, “Goodnight, Rhea.”
“Goodnight, Wyatt.”
A moment later, he was gone, and I felt nothing but overwhelming regret for having turned him down.
But I knew it was the smartest thing to do. I had to protect my family, myself, and even Wyatt.
