Hell, he was probably worse than I’d envisioned back then.
It was truly a shame that a man that attractive could be such a total asshole.
However, to be entirely fair, I hadn’t exactly been nice to him, either.
“Well,” my aunt mused. “I think you should get to know Wyatt better. He’s a very eligible bachelor, and he’s been completely charming every time we’ve met. He’s also attractive, not to mention wealthy and accomplished.”
I wanted to strangle my three cousins as they all grinned.
They were probably happy and relieved that their mother was turning her matchmaking tendencies toward me instead of them for a change.
“I think it’s very unlikely that we’ll run into each other again, Aunt Millie,” I said firmly.
My aunt was a bulldog when she set her mind on something, and I didn’t want her to assume there was even a possibility that anything would ever happen between Wyatt Durand and me.
Not only did we not like each other, but he was also an outrageously wealthy billionaire who owned Durand Industries, the most successful luxury product and high fashion business in the world.
I was a working-class chef.
Under normal circumstances, our paths would never cross again. We didn’t exactly live or work in the same world.
Thank God!
“You might meet up again in the future,” Aunt Millie considered thoughtfully, obviously unwilling to give up hope. “You’re getting close to Tori Montgomery, and she’s his younger sister.”
I rolled my eyes in frustration, and then sent a pleading look to each of my male cousins.
Unfortunately, none of them wiped the grins off their faces or even tried to help me out.
Traitors!
Kaleb winked at me, and I got the sudden urge to smack the smile off his handsome face.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” I cautioned my aunt. “It’s unlikely we’ll bump into each other, and Wyatt Durand isn’t my type.”
He was probably more into high-fashion models and the gorgeous women in his industry.
Everything that I…wasn’t.
I was a female who was as tall as some men at five foot nine, and even though I had the height of a model, I certainly didn’t have the willowy body of a model. I was a chef. I liked comfort food, and I had the curvy body of a woman who really liked to eat.
I’d also inherited my father’s red hair, and it made me stand out, but not always in a good way because it was curly.
My best feature was probably my green eyes, but they hardly made up for all of my other not-so-attractive traits.
I was pretty content with who I was and my physical appearance most of the time, but being rejected by someone like Wyatt Durand had made me evaluate every flaw I had for months after he’d adamantly rejected the idea of us meeting up a year ago.
Maybe that was one of the reasons I disliked him so damn much.
I’d already been down on myself a year ago, and not even close to recovering my confidence.
The last thing I’d needed back then was some arrogant asshole reminding me of everything I wasn’t by flatly refusing to meet me in person.
Kaleb was the only one who knew that Wyatt had turned down a possible date with me over a year ago, and he’d apparently kept that knowledge to himself.
If anyone else in my family knew, they wouldn’t be encouraging me to cozy up to a guy who had already rejected me.
Well, except for Kaleb, who was really close to Wyatt, and still insisted that his good friend wasn’t a bad guy.
“If you’re going to Tori’s barbecue, won’t you see Wyatt there?” Tanner asked.
“Wyatt is apparently out of the country,” I informed my family.
I definitely wouldn’t have agreed to go to Tori’s place this evening if there was even a chance I’d run into Wyatt Durand again.
I’d deliberately avoided him since my friendship with Tori had developed, and I planned on doing so in the future.
I could be friends with Tori without seeing her arrogant, unpleasant older brother.
I felt a twinge of remorse when I saw the wistful look on my aunt’s face as she replied, “That’s too bad. Will there be anyone else who’s single there?”
I snorted. “You’re not being very subtle, Aunt Millie. As far as I know, it’s just couples, and I’m not looking for single guys right now. Maybe you should work on your sons instead.”
My cousins all shot me a disgruntled look, and I smiled sweetly back at them. I didn’t have a single bit of sympathy for any of them after they’d refused to rescue me from my aunt’s matchmaking attempts.
Aunt Millie shook her head. “They’re hopeless. All three of them. Not one of my single sons are interested in settling down. But maybe they’ll meet someone nice at the annual picnic. Most of the town will be here. You will be here this year, won’t you, Shelby?”
I sighed, even though I’d already known that subject would come up in this virtual conversation. We were already well into summer, and the event wasn’t that far away. It was always held in September, after the summer heat, but before the cold weather started.
I hadn’t seen my aunt in person since the first of the year. Not since we’d gotten together here for the holidays.
My cousins had brought Aunt Millie to San Diego for Christmas and New Year’s. They’d rented an enormous house here so we could spend the holidays together, but I hadn’t set foot in Montana since the day I’d left.
I’d skipped the annual Remington picnic at my aunt’s ranch to avoid the gossip last year.
God, I still missed Montana sometimes.
It was still home because I’d grown up there with plenty of happy memories, despite the nightmare that occurred later.
I missed my cousins and my Aunt Millie.
I missed the ranch, and I really missed the small town of Crystal Fork.
Unfortunately, I could never go back there for good.
Things would never be the same.
I couldn’t change what had happened there, and those fond childhood memories would probably forever be clouded by my more recent history in Montana.
“It’s not news here anymore, Shelby,” Kaleb informed me in a gruff voice. “People have moved on, and your friends have been asking about you. Everyone who cares about you wants to see you. Especially the four of us.”
I looked at the hopeful faces on my computer screen, my heart aching as I answered, “I’ll…think about it.”