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She sighed. “Will, you’ve clearly had a long day and-”
He ended the call, he didn’t need his mother trying to gaslight him. He tried to put on his positivity pants but struggled and paced the shelter, frustrated and needing something to vent his frustration. He wanted Belle. Her presence calmed him and he was at ease around her.
Will felt a lot of things around her and their encounter the other night played on repeat in his memory. An encounter unlike any he’d ever experienced before. She’d driven him wild, found his untapped fantasies and made him see stars, so many and so clear that he could have almost picked out each constellation if he hadn’t been so wrung dry.
Except while she’d watched him with a pleasure and intensity he would never forget, he hadn’t been able to touch her. And now she was insisting they keep things strictly professional, and he didn’t know where to go from here.
Damn her practicality and the fact that she had a level-headedness that he struggled to display around her. He just wanted to prove to her all the ways it would be so much better if it wasn’t just one time.
His phone beeped and he looked down, praying it was another message from Rebelle but it was from Taylor.
Taylor: What color is your suit jacket for the ball?
Will: Navy blue, why?
Taylor: Just want to make sure you and Beau aren’t twinning.
He stuffed his phone back into his pocket, not sure why it mattered if he and Beau were twinning. Grown men could wear the same color if they wanted.
Now he was thinking about the ball and Rebelle’s refusal to come. Was he disappointed he wouldn’t get her in a social setting? Yes. But he was also disappointed from a work point of view too. No one was more knowledgeable or passionate about the shelter than she was, and he wanted her to use that passion to inspire others to be involved. Sure, he could get his fat cat friends to part with their easily earned cash, but she was the ultimate ambassador for the shelter.
He tried to shrug off her words. Did she really think he was just another rich asshole with more money than sense? Hedidn’t want her to think like that about him. He wanted to mean more to her than an bottomless bank account. He wanted to do something more with his money. Something meaningful. Did she think he was just flashing his cash and not caring about the shelter? Or her?
A soft press against his leg distracted him and he looked down to find Oscar, the stray cat from the vets, peering up at him.
Will bent down and scooped Oscar into his arms and buried his face in Oscars soft fur. Will had been spending time with the old bruiser, trying to socialize him and get him used to company. Like most stray cats there had been an affectionate beast inside Oscar trying to break out which was now freed. Oscar’s deep rumbling purr soothed Will’s raw nerves until he was calm again.
“Thanks buddy, I needed that feline therapy,” Will said, putting Oscar down and the cat immediately ran over to Betty and began rubbing around her, his tail wafting under her nose. She didn’t seem impressed. Why were the women of this shelter so damn hard to impress?
Will finished cleaning, the routine of it soothing him, then spent the afternoon on the phone to the new contractor arranging dates and any permits needed to develop the land.
All of a sudden it was evening, like Will just blinked and darkness had come. He shut up the shelter and drove back to his room at The Rusty Bucket Inn and showered. He stopped by the diner for dinner and a chat with Ruby before he went back to the cabin.
He paced, restless. He didn’t want to go to the bar, he couldn’t handle the fans tonight, he just wanted peace. He wanted Rebelle.
“Fuck it,” he grunted and headed for his Bugatti. Ten minutes later he was outside her home but the lights were off.Where was she? Was she on a date?Jealousy flared before he could stopit and he took deep breaths to calm himself before he got back behind the wheel.
He tilted his head back, looking at the sky for comfort. The stars and moon so blindingly bright that suddenly he knew exactly what he wanted. He opened the trunk and pulled out his telescope, assembled it on the deck of the home and lost himself in the stars.
He checked off the usual constellations, looking for somethingmoreand was so lost in his quest that he didn’t notice Rebelle until her scent caught him.
“Hi,” she said, softly. Not quite smiling but notnotsmiling either. Just seeing her brought him a happiness that was unrivalled. He ran his eyes over her, spotting the bags weighing her down and smiled when he realized she’d been shopping. He was glad she’d had a day with a friend and focused on herself for once, spent some of her money. She deserved to be spoiled, she deserved everything.
“Hey you,” he replied, his voice deepening with lust. She glowed under the moonlight, an aura of happiness emanating from her. The tension that she carried in her shoulders had evaporated and the caution had fled from her eyes. “Nice day?”
Her eyes darted to the telescope. “Yes, thank you. How was everyone?”
He shrugged. “Just fine. Oscar’s the big man of the kitchen now. I think he’s got a thing for Betty but she’s playing hard to get.” He hoped the double meaning in his words would be clear. She either missed it or chose to ignore it, he suspected the latter.
“Doing some stargazing?”
“Yep, it helps to calm me when I’m feeling stressed.”
She cocked her head. “It does? How so?”
He rubbed his thumb across his lip, considering. “I don’t know really. It gives me something to focus on and distractmyself. Something about it being bigger, vaster than anything here puts it all into perspective, I guess.”
She nodded, looking about them, then pinned him with her dark stare. “What’re you stressed about?”
