Page 83 of The Rancher's Wedding Deception

He inclined his head, and...she supposed that meant she should continue speaking.Right?Or no? Why couldn’t he just answer her with words? Or maybe he had changed his mind, and what he really meant—

Stop panicking, Andie!

“I’ll do it!” The words tumbled out of her lips in a nervous rush.

His gaze narrowed, and Andie bit her lip. How would she now tell him—

“There’s a but, isn’t there?”

His intuition left her feeling torn. Was it good or bad that he found it so easy to read her mind?

“I...want to know how you feel about my aunt. Because if you two had an under—”

“Her husband was my mentor,” Paul interrupted her coolly, “and she was a good wife to him. If not for those two things, I would rather not have anything to do with her.”

Oh.

That was...not what she’d expected. She’d braced herself for some declaration of lingering feelings, some complicated history that would make this whole situation even messier than it already was.

Instead, she got dismissal.

Complete and utter dismissal of Joyce Bernard as anything other than a social obligation.

“Then is it alright if I call her—”

“If you let her know about us, she’ll fly back immediately.”

Right.

Joyce would not take kindly to discovering that her plain little niece had somehow captured the attention of the man she wanted for herself. However—

“You won’t have to lie to her if you don’t answer her calls. Matters like this are best discussed in person, don’t you agree?”

Andie could only look at him, wide-eyed. Was this how he was as a litigator? Not only had he correctly guessed her misgivings, but he was also terribly good at convincing her to see things his way.

“Is there anything else?” Paul asked.

Oh, right.

Therewasone last thing, but...

“There is,” she confessed awkwardly, “but it’s a pretty big one.”

“I’m sure it’s not—”

“I want you to marry me.”

Paul ended up choking, and she looked at him in concern. “Are you okay?”

“You...”

She looked at him hopefully.

“You...”

Was he about to say ‘yes’?

“You’ll need to give me a really good reason for that.”