Page 54 of The Rancher's Wedding Deception

She shook her head, and she couldfeelrather than see the way his eyes glinted in amusement at her response.

“Do I scare you?”

“I’m just...shy.”

“Shy...” He repeated the word as if it were foreign. “And you’re not lying about it, are you?”

The question so surprised her it had Andie forgetting the very shyness he found puzzling. “Why would I lie about being shy?”

“Why indeed.”

His tone was rather...strange, and her shyness faded even more, replaced as it was with a growing sense of curiosity. “Have you been surrounded by friendly people all your life?”

He startled her again, this time with a laugh that sounded terribly...rusty.

“No, unfortunately,koukla mou.”

She mentally repeated the words to herself.Kukla mu.She would ask for Google to translate that later for sure.

“If I had to describe it, I supposed I’ve always been surrounded by people who want to be friends with me.”

“So...you’ve always been popular.”

She saw him almost start to laugh again before stopping himself.

How weird.

And now his gaze had narrowed at her, almost as if he was gauging...what?

“Do you always say what’s on your mind?”

“No.”

His beautiful face turned expressionless, but curiously enough, it was at this moment that she found him rather easier to read. Or maybe, it was more like a gut feeling. She could sense his frustration and disconcertment. It seemed that he found all of her answers unexpected, and he didn’t like that it was so.

“I never thought I’d meet someone like you,koukla mou.”

“I understand.” She didn’t belong in his world, and it would be silly to deny this. Everyone here, her own aunt and this stranger included, were all glamorous and glossy, and a million times richer, literally.

“I don’t think you do.”

Instead of being hurt or offended, the way he bit the words out with a tone of impatience only added to her confusion. Why did she keep rubbing this man the wrong way?

“You’re different from everyone else here because you don’t seem to care about what others think.” His lips twisted in a smile that somehow hurt her heart.

How weird.

It was just so, so weird, how this stranger had the power to make her...feel.

“And you probably don’t even want to be my friend.”

Oh.

“Do you?”

“I...I...” Were all rich people like him? That was the most unbelievably awkward question anyone had asked of her, and she just didn’t know what to say.

“Do you want to be my friend,koukla mou?”