Page 91 of The Rancher's Wedding Deception

He made a run for it.

Don’t go.

The words detonated in his chest.

Don’t leave me.

His Andromeda was fast, surprisingly so for someone in heels and a wedding dress.

But too bad for her...

He was faster, with his legs eating up the distance between them, years of morning runs finally proving useful for something other than maintaining his physique.

Paul caught up with her just before she reached the stairwell door.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Chapter Nine

“WHERE DO YOU THINKyou’re going?”

The words hit her back like bullets, and Andie’s whole body jerked to a stop.

No, no, no.

She couldn’t turn around. If she turned around, she would see his face. And if she saw his face—

“Andromeda.”

Just her name. Nothing else. But the way he said it—raw, ragged, like it had been ripped from somewhere deep inside him—

She turned around.

And immediately wished she hadn’t.

Paul stood ten feet away, chest heaving, his perfectly tailored tuxedo slightly askew from the chase. His copper hair had fallen across his forehead, and his gray eyes—

Oh, those eyes.

They were storms. Hurricanes. The kind of weather that destroyed everything in its path and left you standing in the wreckage wondering how you’d survived.

She started shaking.

She started crying.

Again.

Still.

She couldn’t seem to stop, the tears streaming down her cheeks in hot tracks that probably destroyed whatever was left of her makeup. She opened her mouth to explain, to apologize, to say something—anything—

But all that came out was a broken sob.

“Why are you leaving me?”

His voice was hoarse. Shattered. Nothing like the smooth, controlled billionaire who had tracked her through a library and kissed her senseless in the back of his limo.

This was something else.