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“What? No. Of course not.” The heat crawled up the back of his neck and flooded his face. “It was a first date. I don’t expect that sort of thing from women on the first date.”
Agatha’s lips twitched at the corners. “No, you just corner them and kiss them without warning.”
Zeke gaped at her. She’d caught him in a tough spot, and she knew it. What could he say to that? There was nothing. He couldn’t argue with her, nor could he make excuses. “My apologies,” he finally said. Zeke stepped back another few feet. “I’ve overstepped.”
“Yes, you have.”
He waited for her to open the door, to shoo him out of her home and let him run with his tail between his legs, but she didn’t move. Instead, she studied him, her head tilted, her eyes still bright. “You really only just met her?”
Zeke stiffened. What possible reason would she have to ask such a thing? “I wouldn’t lie to you, Agatha. Certainly not about that.”
“And what you said about… that you couldn’t stop thinking about me…”
“All of it was true.”
She shook her head. “This isn’t a good idea.”
“Why not?” he blurted. “You were the one who asked me out.”
“Yes, I did. And I was wrong to do so.”
Zeke spun around, taking a few steps away from her as he ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Agatha, but you’re going to have to explain a little more than that.”
“It wasn’t until I saw you at the country club with Charlotte that the truth really settled with me. It’s not just the fact that people around here stick their noses where they don’t belong—though that’s a pretty big reason.”
“That shouldn’t matter.”
“You’re right. It shouldn’t. But it does. Because I don’t want my relationship to be public knowledge. Not with you—not with anyone.”
Zeke let out a sigh. He could understand where she was coming from, but something about her words didn’t match up with what he knew of her. “I thought you didn’t care what other people thought.”
“I don’t,” she insisted. “But I’ll not have my love life gossiped about when it comes to my son. You’re his boss. How do you think that would look? His mother dating the man who pays his bills?”
He stilled. Everything inside him wanted to brush her off, to remind her that Thomas was an adult and he could handle any kind of gossip that made the rounds. But it wasn’t just Thomas’s feelings that mattered. Based on how his daughters had reacted when he was getting ready for his date, he could tell they had their hopes up as well.
Agatha wasn’t the kind of woman he would have ever picked out for himself. The way he was so irrevocably drawn to her even made him nervous.
“See? You know I’m telling the truth. Besides Thomas and the folks in town, I just don’t see a way that we’d be able to work it out—especially considering your personality.”
Zeke straightened to his full height and set stern eyes on her. “What about my personality?”
Her smile was tentative this time. “It’s not a bad thing. You’re just… controlling.”
“Controlling?”
“Well, yeah. Everything is your way or the highway. That’s how it’s been since the moment we met.”
“Me? What about you? You’re the most irritatingly stubborn woman I have ever met. I’d say you’d give a mule a run for his money, but you’re so far out of his league you’d make a mockery of him.”
Her smile faded, and her lips pressed into a tight line. “You just can’t seem to get your head around the fact that I’m my own person. I’ve lived my life raising my son without any help from anyone. I didn’t need it then, and I don’t need it now.”
“Everyone needs help—even you. Without me, your house wouldn’t be getting rebuilt for another year, probably.”
“And if I didn’t put my foot down on certain aspects of that rebuild, then you’d end up behind schedule. Or have you forgotten about the time your men were going to start drywalling the upstairs without the proper insulation?”
They stared at each other, neither wavering, for what felt like an eternity. Then Zeke released a pent-up breath. “Fine. We’re both too stubborn for our own good.”
“Exactly. I don’t know what I was even thinking when I asked you out on a date. It would never work.” Agatha dropped her hands to her sides and shook her head. “I should have just kept my mouth shut.”
