She laughs. “Oh, I’m done.”
“Sit with me. Eat some pie, and we’ll talk. If you still want to go after that, fine. I won’t stop you,” I tell her. I feel bad, telling her earlier not to lie to me when I’m lying to her now. I don’t care if she wants away from me—it’s not going to happen.
She stops. “Fine. But if you start talking about all the women you’ve been banging in Whiskey Run, then I’m outta here.”
When she realizes what she said and how loud she said it, she glances around as if she’s wondering if anyone heard her.
I wrap my hand around her arm, spot a huge oak tree with a swing hanging from it, and set her down on it. I cross my legs and sit down next to her on the ground. I have a perfect view of her legs, but I know ogling them right now is not going to help matters, so I concentrate on her face. I take a bite of the pie. “Wow, this is good.”
She swings slowly, barely moving back and forth. “Thank you.”
I take another bite and then another. It’s really good.
“Do you want some?” I ask her.
She shakes her head, and I finish the rest of the pie in three bites. I set the empty plate next to me. “Okay, so let’s get a few things straight.”
She shrugs but doesn’t say anything.
“Can you look at me when I talk to you?”
She rolls her eyes but at least does as I ask.
“Okay, so yeah, I haven’t had time to date and yes, I’ve been around before. But I don’t know what that has to do with us. We just met.”
She nods. “I know that. It doesn’t have anything to do with me. You can do what you want. Are we done now?”
I put my hand on her knee. All right, obviously that wasn’t the right thing to say. “Listen, I don’t understand. It’s not like I’m mad that you’ve...” I grit my teeth. “I’m not mad that you’ve slept with other men. It’s not like I’m holding it against you or anything. You shouldn’t hold my past against me.”
Her mouth drops open, and she stops moving completely.
“What? It’s the truth.”
She shakes her head. “No, it’s not the same thing. I don’t sleep around.”
I curse under my breath. “I’m not saying you sleep around.”
She leans toward me. “No, I’m saying it’s not the same because I’m a virgin.” She pauses with her face red. “I don’t have sex.”
I start to laugh, but when I notice that she’s not, I stop in shock. “A virgin? How old are you?”
She answers me through gritted teeth. “Twenty-two.”
“Twenty-two... and you’re telling me you’ve never had sex.”
She looks around at the families, and I know the exact moment her gaze lands on her father. She straightens her back and pulls her knee from under my hand. “No, I haven’t, and I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
I drag my eyes off her. Her little revelation is affecting me in ways it shouldn’t. How in the world can she be twenty-two years old and a virgin? Does that even happen in today’s world? And why am I not running out of here? I should get up and walk away. I’ve never been with a virgin, but the way she’s looking at me now, I know that she’s not someone I can just have my fun with and go the other way. She’s looking at me with forever in her eyes.
I wait for the sick feeling to come, the stomachache, the fear... something. But nothing happens, and I don’t get up. As a matter of fact, I know there’s no way I can walk away from her right now.
“Come with me riding?”
She holds on to the hem of her skirt, pulling it down over her legs. “At your ranch?”
I shake my head. “No, the Yates Ranch. Mine doesn’t have any horses yet.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts up to the V-neck opening of her dress. I don’t have a clue what is wrong with the men of Whiskey Run. How in the world is this woman still untouched?
“Did you hear me? I’m a...” She blows a breath out. “I don’t sleep around.”
I clench my hands into fists. “Good, I don’t want you to.”
“Well, that means that me and you... it’s not going to happen. You’d have better luck with Ginger over there.”
I don’t even look over where she’s gesturing. I’m sure Ginger’s watching me, waiting for her chance to jump in. “I’m not asking you to go riding with me so I can have sex with you.”
“Good, because it’s not going to happen.”
I grab on to the rope of the swing and pull her to me. “I want to spend time with you. That’s all. I just want to get to know you.”