I glanced at her car. At the apartment door above the bar. At the life I'd detonated. "Look," I pushed on, because apparently diggin' holes was my cardio now, "you can stay in the apartment if it's easier for you. I didn't mean to make you homeless. I can stay at my house or with my mo?—"
"Your house?" She let out a sharp laugh that didn't carry an ounce of humor. "Dang, ditch your girl, buy a house, fuck a stranger. Whole new you, huh?"
That one landed square in the ribs. I was an asshole.
"Goddamn, can I please say one fucking thing right?"
"Apparently not."
I blew out a breath and stared past her at the gravel parking lot at the end of the alley, because lookin' at her right here, right now felt like pressin' on a bruise.
"The house was for you."
The wind kicked up a little dust between us. She blinked like she hadn't heard me right.
"You bought me a house."
"Yeah."
She searched my face for a joke. Didn't find one.
"Then called it all off days before our wedding."
"Well… yeah." I forced myself to look at her. "You deserve more than what we had. And I think you'll find it right under your stubborn nose."
I'd known her long enough to be a master in the art of Sassy Expressions. And the tired, frustrated one she'd been wearin' since I nearly knocked her on her ass turned into something a little bit more murderous.
And I was man enough to admit that I was kinda afraid.
"You don't get to decide what's best for me," she snapped, jabbing a finger into my chest.Ouch. "I make that call. Who the hell do you think you are?"
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
Didn't have a damn answer that didn't make me sound like an asshole.
With a final sneer, she sidestepped me and hustled to her car. Gravel popped under her tires when she peeled out of the lot.
I stood there a second longer than necessary, thumb throbbing, pride throbbing worse.
Welp, that went well.
CHAPTERELEVEN
"Hey, Calvin!"Rhett hollered from the fence line. "Need you to run into town—pick up a couple rolls of barbed wire and a sack of staples before the feed store closes."
I gave Rhett a little salute. "You got it! Need anything else?"
"I, uh, wouldn't mind a case of beer." He laughed and smiled—which I returned. Five days on this ranch, and it was already starting to feel like home.
"Only if you're sharing!"
"You got it! Get yourself a fuckin' hat, too. Your face looks like a tomato."
I rolled my eyes and gave him aone-fingersalute this time.
I tossed my gloves in the barn before making for my truck, phone in hand.
