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Chills were the next sensation to affect her system.
“You let me kiss you,” this time he whispered.
They both knew what that step had meant. For Athena, she was giving more of herself and learning to let someone in. For Henry? She still wasn’t sure what he saw in her. On top of his endless praise regarding her strength, he didn’t shy away from complimenting her features. His favorite was her eyes. While she could appreciate that he was so verbal about what he liked, it was starting to make her wonder what he didn’t.
It was almost as if he was tiring of her in other ways, so he was hyper-focusing on the aspects of her that he did like. There was a good chance he hated how she still shied away from doing anything outside her comfort zone.
Why should she step out of what makes her comfortable? He’d said himself that she’d made changes. Wasn’t that enough?
“Hey,” he said softly, “everything okay?”
Her eyes shot up to meet his. At some point she’d looked away. He was staring. Shoot. Had he been asking her something? Athena searched her mind for any indication she’d heard him talking even a little while her mind had wandered.
His hand tightened around hers. “It’s okay. If you don’t want to do the dressage thing, then don’t. I just thought—”
Athena shook her head sharply. “It’s fine. I’ll think about it, okay?” So that was it. He was still pushing something he knew she wasn’t comfortable with. Well, if that was his only flaw, then it was worth moving past.
She’d never met anyone quite like Henry. He was the epitome of what a guy should be. She should probably stop fighting him on stuff like this. It wasn’t that she thought he knew better. It was that she wanted to be better because of him. She wanted to grow and change so she felt she was worthy of his affection.
Henry had a knack for doing that. He always made her want to be better without saying a word. It was just who he was. The way he was watching her would have been unnerving if it wasn’t so familiar. It was as if he could see the real her—the Athena she wanted everyone to know if she wasn’t so scared of sharing it.
He lifted her hand to his lips just as the back door swung open.
Hastily, he dropped his hand, and Athena spun around to find Harley standing behind her with a half-eaten apple in her hand. Her eyes darted from Athena to Henry before a slow smile stretched across her face. “Hi, guys. Whatcha doin? Am I interrupting anything?” The sing-song voice paired with her teasing gaze was more than enough to get Athena charging up the steps and away from Henry.
According to him, it was smarter to hide their budding relationship from his family because they were nosy. Harley wasn’t even related to the Keagans by blood, and she was showing just how right Henry was.
One more thing for Athena to appreciate about Henry. He might not know her well, but he knew her enough to help her avoid any embarrassment or being put on the spot.
Athena pushed past Harley. “You’re not interrupting anything.”
“Only that Athena wants to be considered as the dressage rider when we enter Beast into the competition coming up.”
She stopped, her hand on the doorknob.
“Really?” Harley’s voice rose a few octaves. “Have you talked to Brielle about it? I don’t think they’ve found anyone willing to get in that saddle just yet. I bet she’d consider you if you could show her your stuff.”
Face flaming, Athena turned slowly. She set her fiery gaze on the man she’d thought she could trust. He’d pushed her, and she’d been naïve to think he’d step back and let her decide. It didn’t matter that she’d all but chosen to offer herself as tribute for this ridiculous endeavor. She hadn’t verbalized it herself, and Henry should have known better.
“Uh-oh… it looks like that wasn’t supposed to be common knowledge.” While Harley’s voice was light, there was a slight undertone that made it clear she knew how to read a room. “You know what? I’m going to head inside. Don’t worry, Athena. I won’t say a word.” She twisted her finger and thumb at the non-existent opening of her pursed lips, then hurried inside.
Henry released that chuckle that Athena had been so fond of—until this moment. “See? Even Harley thought it was a good idea. You can’t tell me you didn’t hear that in her voice.”
Athena gave his shoulder a little shove, preventing him from being able to escape inside like Harley had done. “Why did you do that?” she accused.
To his credit, he appeared confused by her irritation. “Why did I do what?”
“Why did you say that? Now she’s gonna tell Brielle and I won’t be able to back out.” Even to her own ears, her voice sounded small. Her heart rate was working double time, but not in the pleasant way it did when she was kissing him. This was different. It was her anxiety coming back in full force. “You can’t just say stuff like that without asking me first. I have to make the decision.”
“We both know you were thinking about it. Heck, I would bet my horse that you were on board but you didn’t want to admit it until later.”
“I don’t care if I was on board.” She pushed his shoulder again, emphasizing her next words. “It’s my decision.”
He frowned. “You’re really mad at me.”
“Of course I’m mad. I don’t want you making decisions that affect my life without my say-so. We might be romantically involved, but I don’t belong to you. I’m not your plaything. You can’t make me do something I don’t want to.”
“I wasn’t trying—”
