Page 58 of The Rancher's Wedding Deception

Andie found herself blinking back unexpected tears. “I know this will sound silly, but I wish we had more time—”

“Oh, hon, it’s fine.” Kate gave her a warm hug. “We’ll still be in San Antonio.”

“And we can meet up whenever you’re free,” Eunice added.

“I’m actually going to work for Mr. Mitropoulos,” Butch shared, “so maybe we might bump into each other.”

Andie offered to help the staff when she realized they had been tasked to rouse the guests and attend to their needs, but Kate firmly rejected this and urged her to head back to her room. “Your aunt’s friends are never in the best of temper whenever they wake up with a hangover.”

Once back in her room, there wasn’t much to do except to wait...while doing her bestnotto think of what happend last night. And withwho.

At about half past one, the intercom in her room buzzed. It was Joyce, asking for her to come to the library.

“I’ll be right down.”

Her voice was steady as she spoke, but inside, her heart was already back to twisting itself in knots. Why did it have to be the library of all places?

Just keep it together, Andie.

Hang in there.

We need to keep it together until we get what we want.

She knocked on the door when she reached the library, and Joyce asked her to come in, her voice sounding a lot sweeter than she was used to hearing.

How...curious.

Andie opened the door and found herself blinking. The library from last night looked a lot smaller in daylight. But it was no less cozy or elegant. Her aunt was perched on the couch like a magazine photo, and her lips broke into a smile as soon as their gazes met.

“Andie, darling.” Her aunt gestured to the side. “I’d like you to meet Paul Mitropoulos, a dear friend of Lester. Paul, this is my niece Andromeda. But we all call her Andie.”

Andie turned to the man rising from the window chair, and that was when the world completely stopped turning.

Paul.

The stranger from last night.

His name was Paul.

And he was the man everyone said who could be her uncle if Joyce had her way?

A part of her wanted to look away. But a part of her also couldn’t stop staring. He had been very, very beautiful in the dark. But in daylight, he was sinfully breathtaking, with the way his copper hair caught fire in the sun, and how his cheekbones could cut glass, and oh, those lips of his—

Stop it, Andie!

Panic filled her, but this only caused her gaze to collide with his—

Gray.

It had been too dark last night to see the color of his eyes.

But now she knew.

It was gray.

The same shade of storm clouds, winter mornings, and heartless endings.

His eyes were emotions turned into ice, except for that glint—