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Because he couldn’t stay. And if he tried, then sooner or later he’d trip himself up. He wouldn’t be able to hide the truth from her forever and he knew it. And once she knew, once she understood what had become of her husband, how could she forgive him? She wouldn’t forgive him. He’d left her alone for over four years after he’d been rescued. He hadn’t let her come to him, he’d given his life to the Elite Ops rather than her. How could she forgive him for that? A contract he couldn’t break, missions he couldn’t refuse, and the chances would increase with each one that he wouldn’t return.
She was attached to Noah Blake. A rebound lover. She’d realized that in time, he had told himself. Tried to convince himself of it. Convince her of it.
But as he hit town, possessiveness, arousal, and sheer male fury burned through his mind, and he knew better. There was no convincing him, because he knew the truth.
No matter who or what he was, Sabella owned him. She always had, and she always would. And that left a decision he had to make soon. If he walked away, he’d have to walk away forever. If he stayed, eventually, he’d have to tell her the truth and he knew it. Because he knew his Sabella. Eventually, she would figure it out.
Friday night at the Borderline was no place for a woman to be without her husband or significant other, Sabella thought with an edge of mockery as she sipped at her wine and watched the cowboys eyeing their table.
A half dozen had already asked her, Kira, and Sienna to dance. Sienna danced. She loved to dance and she wasn’t particular about who she danced with.
Ian had joined Kira not long after they arrived. He sat in a chair behind his wife, his expression amused, his chin propped on his wife’s shoulder as she talked to him during the louder portions of the live band belting out a facsimile of country music’s current hits.
“You’re not dancing, Sabella.” Kira watched the dance floor with a gleam of laughter in her gray eyes. “I thought you’d enjoy it as much as Sienna does.”
Sabella looked out to where Sienna was dancing with two cowboys.
She used to enjoy dancing, but not with a bunch of cowboys. A smile tugged at her lips. Nathan had always made dancing fun rather than making her feel she was being interviewed as a possible one-night stand.
Her lips thinned at the thought. No, she was his one-night stand now.
“Come on, Belle. Dance with me.”
Her head lifted and she had to laugh. Martin Sloes was a friend of Rory’s. Young. His hazel eyes were filled with laughter and he was just a little bit tipsy. He held a bottle of beer in one hand.
He was swinging his hips, his snug Wranglers a little too tight in the crotch and his western shirt unbuttoned halfway down his smooth chest. His dark brown hair was close-cut, a little goatee tried to grow at his chin.
She shook her head as his gaze roved over her bare legs and he gave her a lecherous waggle of his brows.
They were the same age, but she felt years older.
“Not tonight, Martin. Maybe next time.”
“You’re a coldhearted woman,” he said, pouting, but he moved off to the next table and the little coeds sitting there.
Sabella laughed at the pout. Martin was a charmer, or wanted to be. An overgrown kid with more money in his pocket than good sense in his head. And she knew on his pay he wasn’t overrun with money.
“This is a friendly little town.” Kira leaned forward, her expression filled with laughter over the exchange.
Sabella glanced back at Ian. His gaze, for just a second, was hard, cold as he looked out over the dance floor. He was working. She just wondered what the hell Kira was doing.
“It has its moments,” she agreed as Sienna plopped into her chair and waved her hand over her flushed face.
“Damn, those cowboys are wearing me out,” she said, laughing.
For a moment, Sabella wondered at the changes she saw in her friend. Not that Sienna hadn’t always loved to dance, but she did it more vigorously now, and flirted a hell of a lot more than she used to.
As the music slid into a slower tune, Sienna was back on her feet, this time with Martin, and Kira and Ian moved from the table to the dance floor as well.
Sabella shook her head at the three offers she was given and turned her attention to the crowd filling the Borderline Bar instead.
She pretended she didn’t see Rory and Toby sitting in the back, along the side of the room she was on. Rory was nursing a beer and glowering, while Toby had what looked like a soda and was glowering at Rory. Evidently, Rory wasn’t letting him have the beer.
What the hell were they doing following her? Babysitting her?
She let her nail tap against the table as she considered that. No doubt Noah would be worrying that whatever he was up to would slap back at her, as it nearly had Toby. Which didn’t make sense, because as far as she could tell, Noah wasn’t actually doing anything. He worked on cars. Spent his evenings torturing her, and other than a few nights a week that he disappeared with Nik, she couldn’t find a single clue that he was anything other than what he pretended to be. A mechanic. One that liked to get into knife fights, obviously.
She lifted her beer and sipped at it, almost grimacing at the bitter taste. Maybe tomorrow, she’d crack open another of those vintage heirloom wines Nathan had once been so fond of. Not that he had ever drunk the damned things. He’d just collected them.
