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Another compliment. Was it any wonder that she was developing feelings for him? He had all the qualities she’d want in a guy. Aside from the usual stuff, he also cared about his family and friends enough to stick around. He’d shown as much when he’d come home to work for his dad and refused to leave when she practically told him to less than an hour ago.
“You really shouldn’t say stuff like that.”
“Why not?”
Her eyes widened. Had she seriously said that out loud? Shoot! What was wrong with her? She’d asked herself this question so many times over the last few weeks that it was becoming her new mantra. Faye cleared her throat and let out a strangled laugh. Maybe he would believe she didn’t know what he was talking about. “What?”
“Why shouldn’t I say that your laugh is nice?”
Oh goodness. The way he said thatreallywasn’t helping her move on.
“Because.”
“Because why?”
She shrugged. “Because you have a girlfriend.”
“Dahlia isn’t my girlfriend.”
Faye gave him a pointed look. “Your crush, then. It doesn’t matter. Just—please treat me like you’re supposed to—like a friend—so I can get back to pretending none of today actually happened.”
He studied her with those clear eyes that could see into the future if he really wanted them to. She squirmed under his scrutiny, hating and loving every second his focus was on her. Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer and she tore her eyes away from his. “Do a few more tries and then we need to head back. I should probably go make peace with Brielle. She wasn’t too thrilled about Wade showing up on our doorstep last night.”
“Why is that, exactly?”
She groaned. “Not that again. Can we just not talk about Wade anymore? I really just want to stay as far away from those conversations as I can, if possible.” Faye ran her fingers through Blaze’s mane, letting the coarse hair wrap around her fingers tight enough to turn her fingertips purple before she released it. She could have sworn she felt his focus on her, but when she glanced up, he had wandered farther away and was about to release the rope onto the post.
At the last second, he looked at her. His lasso missed by a few inches, and she bit back a smile. Dahlia was a lucky girl. Eloise had made some good points, but there was something she was wrong about. When a guy consumes one’s thoughts to the extent that Adam consumed Faye’s, there was no denying she’d found the one she wanted to be with.
Somehow Faye knew that if she dated ten, twenty, even fifty men, she’d not feel the same way about them as she did for Adam.
Was it love? Of course not.
Did she want to test the waters with anyone else?
Not on her life.
Yep, she was ruined. There was no going back from where she was, and if that meant she’d have to live her life as an old maid, so be it. She’d do what she had to in order to keep her heart intact.
They unsaddled the horses in silence. As frustrating as it was, the tension had returned the second they entered the barn. But that was probably all her fault. She’d allowed herself to watch him with the eyes of someone who desired him. Had she been smart, she wouldn’t have let that happen.
Adam had shown no indication he wanted her in that way, and she needed to be okay with that.
“Hey,” his quiet voice pulled her from her thoughts. She jumped, finding him standing in the stall doorway. Her eyes darted to Bella’s stall and back to Adam.
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you something?”
Faye rolled her eyes but only in an attempt to keep her heart from beating a hole out of her chest. “Not this again.”
“No. Not that.”
She didn’t dare look at him. “What is it then?”
“I feel like you don’t approve of Dahlia.”
Faye snorted. “Thatis not a question.”
