Page 83 of Second Chance with the Rancher

Like an arrow had just flown through the sky and landed directly in his heart, Nate sucked in a breath, then struggled to draw in a second one. “Huh?”

Her eyes closed and her lips twisted. “In Toronto.”

“Toronto? Doing what? Dancing?” The arrow had pierced his lungs, too. He couldn’t breathe.

She opened her eyes and shook her head. “No. Selling real estate.”

“What?” He jerked back. He was expecting her to say with a dance company. That would have made sense. That he would understand and be on board with. But selling fucking real estate? What the fuck?

“My friend Joanie from the ships was just ‘let go’ the way I was. They didn’t renew her contract, either. Her brother is a big real estate broker in Toronto and is going to bring her on as an agent at his firm. There’s a lot of money to be made in this market right now. She told him about me and he said there’s a spot for me, too. Joanie and I could get an apartment together, become a team.”

“So that’s what you want to do? Sell houses?”

Her brittle smile dropped. “I don’t know. Maybe? I might be really good at it. You never know.”

“Oh, I have no doubt you’d excel at it, Minx. But my question is, is it what you want to do? Will it make you happy? ”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“I don’t know.” Her tone was getting more exasperated and he could see the shine of unshed tears glimmering more and more in her eyes under the strings of white lights. “But I need to figure something out.”

Shaking his head, he started to pack up their picnic. “And selling houses in a city you know nothing about is it then, huh? What happened to making your passion your career?

“That ship might have sailed. Now I have to be like everyone else and find a job that pays the bills and turn my passion into a hobby.”

“That’s what you want, huh? You want to live in Toronto, sell houses and dance for fun on the weekends or evenings.”

“I’ve been to Toronto before. And I’ll have Joanie and her brother. I’ll make friends. I always do.”

“I don’t doubt that,” he said, his tone snider than he intended it to be. This date was taking a turn he hadn’t intended it to at all. At this point of the date, he’d hoped to have her bent over a hay bale with her pretty floral dress up around her waist and his balls slapping against her ass. He took a deep breath. “So you’ve agreed to take the job?”

She shook her head. “No. I just wanted to talk to you. To communicate. I wanted to tell you about the offer. Get your opinion.” She hung her head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He shook his head, dismissing her claim. She might not want to hurt him, but she was anyway. And he knew this wasn’t the right path for her. She was desperate and scared and jumping at any opportunity that came to her, even if they both knew it was the wrong one. “What happens when work takes over your life and you can’t dance at all anymore because clients want you to show them houses in the evenings and on weekends? Are you ready to give up what you love?”

They both knew his last question held way more meaning that just her giving up dance so she could cater to the demanding schedule of her hypothetical clients.

“I need a job, Nate. I need purpose. I’m floundering and I no longer feel like I have any kind of identity.”

“When do you leave?”

Her shoulder lifted on one side and she returned her gaze to his face. “I have nothing booked. Maybe next week? Just to go talk to Joanie’s brother and see if I might be a good fit.”

Next week!

“I asked you to give me a month, and you can’t even do that.” Glancing skyward, he tried to collect his thoughts and rein in his temper. Bruno had stood up and his head was swiveling back and forth between them like he was at a tennis match. “Have I convinced you at all? Or have you just been humoring me?”

“I haven’t been humoring you,” she said quickly. “This has all been very real to me.”

“Real but temporary.” He regretted the scoff that came with his words, the moment it was out because the hurt in her eyes was debilitating.

“I just don’t know if this is the life for me. I just … I can’t see myself here long-term, okay? I’ve always pictured myself making a home in a busy city, teaching dance in a studio, riding the subway, going out for cocktails with friends to a hot new lounge, running through a city park pushing a stroller. I thought I’d live in a brownstone or something or maybe a high-rise condo. I never even entertained the idea of living in the country. I need the hustle and bustle of a city. The go-go-go kind of life.”

“We go-go-go here from before sunrise to long past sunset,” he retorted. “And selling real estate in Toronto doesn’t sound like the kind of life you just described to me either.”

Her eyes closed and she sucked in a breath through her nose, held it there for a moment, then slowly released it. “I know. I just … I’m feeling really lost right now and I think you’re trying to force me to find something. You’re trying to force a square peg into a round hole.”

---