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“No.”
“Fucking move, Rhett. I’m not going to have you force me to stay. I can write a review on every platform out there and ensure nobody ever comes to your stupid fucking retreat again. Do you want that?”
“You fuckin’ done?”
My hands shake, I’m so angry. I look up at him with a rage that is so close to unleashing, if he doesn’t move soon, he’s going to see all of it.
“What Enzo told you ain’t the truth.”
“Oh, do not come in here and bullshit me. You didn’t answer, you had the chance in front of everyone to correct him. and you didn’t.”
“I didn’t because I wasn’t goin’ to tell the whole fuckin’ group how I feel when I hadn’t even told you. I wasn’t goin’ to feed him any further. I wasn’t goin’ to behave like an absolute fuckin’ tool in front of all our guests.”
“Stop playing games.”
“I’m not playin’ fuckin’ games. Enzo is wrong. He was right about the other women, but he’s wrong about you. I felt different about them, never kept them around but I never had any fuckin’ intention of keepin’ them around.”
“What about Maggie then, huh? She’s a great girl, the best. There is no good reason why you’d give her up if you weren’t playing games.”
“She is a good girl, a fuckin’ great one, but she ain’t my girl, Lei. She’s not the one that fits into my world the way you do.”
I pause, taking in a deep, staggering breath.
“I’m not a player, I’ve never been a fuckin’ player. I’ve always told those girls exactly what I wanted out of them, and never once did I promise them it was serious. Enzo said what he said because he cares about all of this, not just me. He doesn’t want to see it all go to shit, and neither do I, but I’m tellin’ you the fuckin’ truth.”
“You have to understand,” I whisper. “I want to believe you, I really do, but I’m scared. If I take in everything you’re saying right now, and believe that you’re not going to give me the flick a few months down the track, then I’m risking a lot...”
“You think I’m not? Fuck, this was my first retreat and it’s been a fuckin’ shit show. You think I’d risk makin’ that worse by stringin’ you along? I care about you, fuck me, what do I have to do to prove that to you?”
I swallow, holding his eyes. “I care about you too, which is why I’m scared about getting hurt.”
“Not here to hurt you, Lei. I’m just askin’ for a chance.”
I stare at him, for so long it feels like the ground beneath me might just fall.
What’s the right choice here?
I can say no, and forever wonder if this could have been something, or I can say yes and take the biggest risk of them all...heartbreak.
“I don’t want to get hurt,” I say, my voice shaky.
He takes a step forward, reaching out and putting his hand on the side of my face, running his thumb over my lip. “If I didn’t want this, Lei, I would let you leave. I would let you walk out that door and not bother. If it were so easy for me to get women, if this is what I do, it wouldn’t bother me. I wouldn’t bother fighting for it. But if you walk out...”
“What?” I ask, holding his gaze.
“It’ll fuckin’ crush me.”
He pulls me forward and I let him.
Our lips collide.
And I know in that moment, he’s not lying.
No.
Rhett wants me and he’s going to do everything it takes to make sure of it.
When he scoops me up and carries me to the bed, I know this is it.
What I’ve been waiting for.
What I’ve been writing about.
He might not be a knight in shining armor, but instead a stud on a horse.
All the same, he’s going to take my breath away.
And take my heart for the keeping.
I just know it.
19
“I have to ask you something,” Kara says the next day after spending a remarkably long time in her room.
She has been acting weird since she got back yesterday, but I haven’t had the chance to talk to her. I spent the entire afternoon in the bedroom with Rhett, and then the whole night in his bedroom at the main house. I’ve only just come back to the cabin to get a bit of rest in before we go sailing this afternoon. The second I entered the house, Kara approaches me, her face tight.
“What is it?” I ask her, narrowing my eyes.
“I took photos of the boot prints yesterday, you know, like we planned...”
“And?” I ask, eyes widening.
“I matched them up.”
“Well, are you going to tell me or are you going to keep me waiting?”
My heart is racing as I watch her.
“They’re a match to your boots, Lei.”
