Page 75 of Hometown Hottie

Nova was stubborn and tough, but she also got in her head a lot. Ryan must have said some things that made her think I was only after a fling. Something fun for a bit that would never lead to more. I needed to make her see he was wrong about me.

Her brother, who was like a superhero to her, had misjudged me and my feelings for her and he was way off base in his assessment of what was happening between us. And that’s not going to be easy.

As I walked into her cozy little cottage, I was determined to prove it to her, though. Easy or not, here I come.

Nova looked adorable in a pair of pale purple pajamas, the shorts real short and the shirt a sleeveless top that revealed a distracting amount of side-boob. Once she shut the door behind us, I glued my eyes to her face, refusing to get sidetracked.

“Have you given any thought about what you and I are going to look like?” I asked again.

She strode to her kitchen and started making tea. “I don’t know, Carson. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve got in mind, and we’ll take it from there?”

I braced my hands against the stone countertop and watched her fussing with cups and sugar, wishing she’d just fucking look at me. But I didn’t press her.

This woman had a mind of her own and telling her what to do wasn’t going to end well for me. Besides, she didn’t have to look at me as long as she listened. I breathed through the need to see her eyes while I said what I was about to and simply laid it all out for her.

“I want you, Nova. I want to have breakfast with you in public and kiss you whenever and wherever I want. I want to hold your hand and fall asleep next to you at night. I don’t want to pretend you’re not all I see when you walk into a room.” I smiled, even though she couldn’t see me. “Nova, I want to ride jet skis with you.”

Her shoulders stiffened before she shook her head. “We can’t be together, Carson. Everything you’re describing sounds like a relationship, but you and I can’t have that.”

“Why not?” I challenged. “Because of Ryan? Because of the ranch? Give me just one legitimate reason why we can’t have what we’ve both wanted for so damn long.”

“Well, for starters, yes. Because of Ryan,” she murmured. “He’d freak out and I don’t know if he’ll ever get over it, but you’re also buying half the damn ranch to save my family from financial ruin. It’s just too complicated, Carson. There are so many ways we can end up getting hurt—and only one way we don’t.”

My heart cracked in my chest but I wasn’t giving up. “What we have is real and it’s worth fighting for. I don’t know why you can’t see that, but I sure as hell do, and I’m not leaving until you do too.”

With the tea still brewing, she finally spun to face me, her cheeks flushed but not with embarrassment or arousal. Unless I was very much mistaken, they were flushed with anger.

Her eyes narrowed to slits and tears welled on her lower lids. I realized she wasn’t just angry. She was on the verge of sobbing. I had no idea why.

“That’s what you said before, Carson.” Her voice wobbled as she planted her own palms against the counter, clearly bracing herself for a fight. “You told me that you had real feelings for me, but then Ryan found out and you left.”

“You knew I was going to leave, though,” I argued, really not understanding why we were talking about the past at all right now. “I never told you that I was going to stay.”

“No, you didn’t. All you said was that what we had was real and that you were never going to forget me, but you did. As soon as Ryan saw us together, you forgot all about me. Suddenly, you were so focused on his feelings that mine didn’t matter. You didn’t think we were worth fighting for back then. So what makes things different now?”

“You’re not in high school anymore,” I said emphatically. “I’m not the college student about to get drafted whose entire future can be stripped away if someone posts a damn picture online of me kissing a girl who hasn’t even graduated yet.”

She stumbled back a step, but I wasn’t done yet. “My feelings for you have always been real, Nova. Hell, if I could’ve married you back then and taken you with me, I would’ve done it in a heartbeat, but again, you were in high school and you had dreams of your own that didn’t involve becoming the teenage wife to a college ballplayer with an uncertain future.”

“That’s not what happened,” she whispered. “That’s not why you left.”

“Isn’t it?” I asked, my face collapsing in on itself as I breathed hard. “From where I was standing, that was very much part of it. Sure, Ryan finding out was part of it too, but we were at different phases in our lives. That was a massive issue to him that doesn’t exist anymore.”

Crossing her arms, she held her chin up and her gaze on mine. “From where I was standing, it wasn’t like that at all. What I saw was a guy who’d been telling me everything I wanted to hear, and I had such a crush on him that I fell for it. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker, and I know you didn’t make me any promises about a future together, but shit, Carson. The way you were talking, you sure made it seem like you were always going to feel that way. Fast forward to five minutes later, and you’re defending yourself against Ryan, jumping in your truck, and speeding away.”

My heart pounded in my chest. I wanted to yell and rage that it hadn’t been that way, but to her, that was exactly what it had been. I couldn’t argue with the way she’d experienced it any more than she could argue with the way I’d seen it back then.

Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I tried to calm the fire inside and took a few steps around the counter, trying to gauge her reaction to me coming closer before I closed the distance between us. Her nostrils flared when she noticed I was moving toward her, but she turned toward me instead of backing up.

“We’re adults now, Nova. You’re an adult.” I stopped when we were only a foot apart. “I’m sorry that I hurt you back then. I’m sorry that I gave you reasons to doubt me. I know it doesn’t make it better, but that was never my intention. My feelings for you were as real then as they are now. The only difference is that then, I didn’t have much of a choice about what to do with them. Whereas now, we’ve both got choices. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

Her eyes bounced between my own, doubt still written in the crease between her brows and the slight parting of her lips. “What if you get bored of Silver Springs? Of me? You can afford to go anywhere in the world without having to work another day in your life. You’ve had women who are worldly and sophisticated. Women who can afford to go on those adventures with you and who won’t be missing their little corner of countryside every minute they’re away.”

“Do you really think I’m going to get bored of you?” I asked softly, gently, and disbelievingly. My head shook, and I reached for her face as I finally took that last step closer. “Silver Springs has always been my home as much as it yours, Nova. I had to go away for a little while because I couldn’t do the job I wanted to do from here, but I’m back now. For good. I promise. If I wanted to travel, I’d have done it. I wouldn’t be here right now.”

I bowed my head with my eyes fixed firmly on hers. “As for getting bored of you, that’s never going to happen. I know I made you feel like I forgot about you after I promised I wouldn’t, but I didn’t. Not even for one day. I could never forget about you. If I’m more than just someone to hook up with for the summer, then I’m in. I’m all in.”

She turned a little red, so I asked again. “Is there something here, Nova? Or am I losing my mind for thinking that there is?”