Page 87 of Rebellious Hearts

This wasn’t supposed to happen. We weren’t supposed to fall for each other. This should all have been pretend and I’d told myself that now that the project was in the bag, there was no reason to keep going withthis… whateverthiswas.

It would just end in heartbreak, and it would be easier to end it right away rather than wait for the end of the trip.

Yes, all those things were the right thing to do. All those things were what I’d meant to do.

But maybe, just maybe, I would be here with him… just a little longer.

27

BEN

We sat in the dining room, waiting for Richard. I had all the paperwork ready for him to sign on the tablet that we always used. Alex had had the lawyers draw it up and I’d received it this morning, just in time for this meeting.

Sofia sat next to me, but she was closed off from me.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Sofia nodded, but she looked pale, and she didn’t keep eye contact with me for long. Her hands were knotted together in her lap.

“Talk to me.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I just feel a little sick. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

I frowned, concerned. “What kind of sick?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” She was short with me, closed off. I didn’t know how to reach her.

Last night, she’d been so open with me and the sex we’d had… I’d never had that with a woman before. I’d never had sex be so… loving. Now, it was as if everything had changed. It was as if some kind of barrier had fallen back into place between us, andthe woman I’d been able to reach last night was too far away for me to find.

I would try to figure it out later. Richard was going to be here any second, and I couldn’t let my worries about Sofia distract me from sealing the deal once and for all.

We waited in silence, and I watched the door.

Time ticked on, and Richard was later and later.

“Where the hell is he?” I asked. I was getting frustrated—both with Richard being late and with Sofia being so distant. I had no idea what was going on, and this tension that came from being with a woman was new to me and quite frankly, I hated it.

Was this part and parcel of being in a relationship? Because this wasn’t what I’d had in mind when I’d told her I was falling for her. What we’d had last night…thatwas what I’d imagined, but long term.

My phone rang.

“That’s Richard now,” I muttered when I saw his name on my caller ID. I put on a smile. “Richard, how are things?”

“Not good,” Richard said. His voice was strained. “I’m going to need to postpone. I have a medical emergency I can’t ignore.”

“Oh, no,” I said, blood draining from my face. Postponing was never good. Postponing could lead to canceling and we couldn’t afford that. I usually wanted a contract signed as soon as possible, so the window for someone to change their mind was small.

The longer we left it, the more time Richard had to think about it without me or Sofia being able to convince him and I didn’t want him to find some reason to change his mind.

“I hope everything is okay,” I said.

“Me too. I’m having pains in my chest and my left arm and I don’t want this thing to turn into a heart attack.”

“Oh, God, no. Please, take care of yourself and let me know how you are once you know what’s going on.”

“I will, I will,” Richard said and ended the call.

Dread settled in my stomach.