“Good.” Brielle walked toward Harper, a slight smirk on her face. “I wanted to let you know Jack and I worked things out.”
“Okay.” Those two were made for each other.
“We’ll be moving back to Bentonville soon. I’ll be keeping my office open here, though.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Brielle moved closer to her. “Because I won,” she said in a low voice. “I always do.” Then she turned around and left.
Harper rolled her eyes and walked out the door. What exactly had Brielle won? A fickle boyfriend? A business competition with Harper that she didn’t even know about? For the first time, she felt sorry for Brielle.That woman needs to relax.
She left the Mercedes and went to unlock the gate. She walked through it and into a large open space surrounded by trees that had lost half their leaves. This was gorgeous. It even smelled good out here—a fresh, earthy scent. She took in a deep breath. A few minutes later, she heard a vehicle coming down the road. As Rusty pulled over on the side of the road behind her Mercedes, she turned and watched him get out of the cab. Her breath hitched, as it always did when she was around him. He wore his work clothes, only this time instead of a ball cap he had on a black beanie with the garage logo on the brim. He hadn’t shaved, and from the grease stains on his clothes she could see he’d come straight from work. He must have decided to work on the GTO, since the garage was always closed on Sundays. He even smelled like oil.
Swoon.
“Hi, Rusty.” Years of practiced smiling came in handy right now. “Ready to tour the property?”
He nodded, his expression wooden. It remained that way as they walked the land, Harper pointing out different places where he could build his and Senior’s new house. When they reached the pond, they both stopped at the bank. “What do you think?”
Rusty stared at the pond as if in deep thought. Kicked at a stray leaf. Then turned to Harper. “Where do I sign?”
“You don’t want to see the rest—”
“No. I’m ready to buy it.”
This was it. With one stroke of a pen—after going through all the legal documents, of course—her financial woes would be solved, and his and Senior’s housing problem would be taken care of. Next step, selling Rusty’s house. Piece of cake.
Her eyes met his... and she knew the truth. “You don’t want this, do you?”
His brow quirked. “Yes. I told you I want to buy it.”
She moved closer to him. “Do you? Or are you doing this to make Amber and Senior happy? Or to help me?”
“Both,” he said without hesitation.
“What about you?” she asked. “What do you want?”
***
Harper had asked the million-dollar question, and he didn’t know what to say. He knew what hewantedto say.You. Iwant you.But because he wasn’t a masochist, he said, “I’m fine with whatever they want.”
“I don’t think you are.”
He faced her, confused. “You’re not makin’ a lick of sense. Just give me the contract, and I’ll sign it.”
“No,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’m not selling you this property.”
Now he understood her game. “Because Brielle would make money off it?”
She frowned. “What? No. That’s not the reason.”
“But if I don’t buy it, she loses the sale.”
“There’s plenty of people wanting to buy this place. She’ll make money whether you buy it or not.”
He scratched his chin, feeling the whiskers there. He hadn’t bothered to shave or change out of his dirty work clothes after spending the morning working on the GTO instead of going to church. He felt a nag of guilt for missing the service, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with people. “You won’t make any money, then.”
“I’m okay with that.”
