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“I do it all the time, it’s fine.”
“If you won’t come with me then I’ll walk you.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. I can see myself home.”
“Don’t be silly, come on Rebelle. You can tell me more about the shelter on the way,” he said. He had that determined look in his eye which was probably how he got all those billions in the first place, and she knew it was pointless arguing.
She trudged ahead and they fell into polite conversation. The further from the town they got, the darker the night grew and every now and then Will paused and tipped his head back. After he did it the third time she realized what he was doing.
“You like stars?” she asked, intrigued.
He made a humming sound in the back of his throat and she felt it vibrate through her bones. “There’s too much light pollution here to see the stars well but further out, I can see some.”
They continued on in silence, him pausing regularly and humming in assent every now and then and she didn’t comment. It probably took them twice as long to make it back, but she didn’t mind.
“Wow,” he gasped.
“What?” she yelped, worried.
“Look at them all,” he said, awe in his tone and peering up at the sky. She tipped her head back, feeling slightly dizzy. The skytwinkled brightly with all the stars that had come out to greet them.
“Yeah, there’s not much light out here so you can always see the stars. Sometimes you can see shooting stars too.”
“Do you ever make a wish?”
“Not anymore.”
He grunted in response then brought a hand up to rub his jaw. “Do you think I could bring my telescope up here sometime?” He had such a cautious look on his face, and she relished his vulnerability, finally someone other than her was revealing secrets.
She arched a brow. “You have your telescope with you here?”
“It’s in my car, I take it everywhere.”
She fought a smile but failed miserably and looked at her feet, trying to hide it.
“Double wow,” he whistled low, and she looked up to find him smiling down at her. “An elusive smile. You should do that more often.”
She shook her head, this was feeling all too comfortable. “Yes, you can bring your telescope here. I can’t say no to the man who’s single-handedly funding the shelter and bought my home.”
“I didn’t think you would, but I didn’t want to push my luck,” he joked.
“Goodnight, William.”
His eyes flared. “Night Rebelle, see you in the morning.”
Chapter 11
The next two weeks flew by in a flurry of activity. The photographer turned up to take pictures of the shelter and animals for the website and to start their social media off with some content before handing over the reins to Rebelle.
She had shown Will her basic drawings of where she wanted the shelter to develop and instead of mocking her scribbles, he stared at them intently before complimenting her. She tried to shrug off the warmth that filled her at his praise. He took the pen from her, their fingers brushing, and she jerked back slightly at the electricity that jumped between them. She made a point of ignoring the wicked smirk he was shooting her.
He added to her drawings, expanding certain areas based on the growth projection he’d calculated they would have over the next few years. She couldn’t ignore the way her heart clenched when he drew a line straight through the storeroom and grunted, “We’re knocking that down, I don’t ever want to see it again.” He added a walkway between the kennels and the new cattery in its place.
“It’s no good planning for just the next few months, or we’ll just have to build all over again. You need to plan for the next five years at least until we expand into other States.”
She blinked. “Other States?”
He peered down at her, and she tried to ignore the warmth that she’d seen enter his eyes every time he looked at her. “Yeah. Expanding into other States, out from Tennessee. Although at first, we could open up a few more shelters maybe in Palm Valley or Nashville.”
