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She put her glasses back over her eyes and slightly lifted her chin up. “That’s a bit dramatic even for you. I had Quinn answer my door for me. I had no desire to listen to more of your lies. I am sure Quinn would resent being called a wolf.”
“She threatened to skin me alive if I went near you again. She’s fierce. I believed her.” Chance snorted thinking of the redheaded dynamo Noelle called her best friend. “Besides, I had no choice but to report back to base. I knew you were hurting, and I wanted to give us both time to cool off. I had no idea my mission would last so long. I wanted to write you, but I figured my letters would get burned unopened.”
She shrugged her shoulders in a careless manner. “Who knows? It’s pointless now.”
Her skin was smooth and golden. Fighting his need to kiss her and remind her what they had was making him sweat more than the warm sun.
“I am not on a schedule this time, so we will talk sooner or later,” he warned her.
“We have nothing left to say, Chance. It was over between us the moment you slept with another woman. Maybe you didn’t return my feelings, but we agreed to be exclusive. You cheated on me.” Her voice rose with unresolved fury. He could see the conflict she was trying to deny. She felt the pull between them, but she was fighting it. It gave him hope that it wasn’t too late.
He hated muscling his way in, but he knew softness and begging would get him nowhere. He needed to be strong and prove to her that he was ready to treat their relationship seriously. He had plenty of time to think over what went wrong between them. Noelle was insecure, and he had not realized how deep it went. She never spoke about her parents, but his mother told him how they had neglected their only daughter. They had been a selfish couple who didn’t deserve a child. Everyone in town knew it, but no one did anything besides gossip about it. He knew she had trust issues, and he hadn’t realized until it was too late how hard it had been for her to allow him into her heart. He had fought his own feelings for Noelle, giving her the impression he was just using her for sex. Not taking her concerns seriously over Carly had been another huge mistake on his part. He had thought of Carly as a harmless flirt who meant no harm. That was the furthest thing from the truth.
“I did not have sex with Carly. I am guilty of not stopping the kiss between us the night you saw us. I was drunk,” he yelled, no longer caring about not making a scene or being patient. If people overheard it would save him from having to repeat himself over and over. The residents of his hometown were known for their nosiness.
“I will regret that night to my dying day. I was too blind to see the real Carly, but those days are over.” He forced himself to breathe through his nose and stay calm.
Noelle didn’t respond for a second. She gave him a look filled with hatred. “According to the gossip sh
e started, you were having an affair with her right under my nose.”
He started to deny it, feeling like he could shake Carly for her stupidity, but she put her hand up, stopping him. “I am exhausted. It’s been a long, busy day at the store. I can’t do this right now, Chance.”
“I am not giving up, Noelle. I’ll let it be for now because you do look exhausted, and so am I. Mark my words, angel, you and I will talk this out,” he said firmly, letting her know he was serious. “A day hasn’t gone by that I haven’t thought about you. I am sorry for my actions, but that doesn’t mean I am willing to give up on us. Are you?”
“There is no us, Chance.” She put a strand of hair behind her ear, and he saw her hand shaking. Despite the months apart, the wound was still fresh. Six months had not lessened the pain for either of them.
“The only us lived in my imagination. I was someone you had sex with, and according to Carly, you had sex with her, too. My eyes are open now,” she snapped with such bitterness it shocked him.
Every instinct he had told him to throw her over his shoulder and take her somewhere where they could be alone. She was too angry and emotional right now, so he would let it go for a few days. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her skin was pale. He wondered if she had been sick.
“You can’t hide from me, Noelle, so don’t even try, for both of our sakes.” He turned and walked back to his truck, not caring if people were staring or whispering to each other.
It took all his control to not turn around and taste those sweet, lush lips of hers. He still remembered everything about Noelle. How she laughed, how sweet her lips tasted, and how her body felt wrapped around his.
He got in his truck and slammed the door hard, but it didn’t make him feel any better. Damn, that woman drove him nuts, but she was embedded deep in his heart, and there was no turning back. Come hell or high water, he would fix things between them.
* * * *
Noelle sat in her car waiting for her hands to stop shaking so she could start her car. She unconsciously put her hands across her stomach, remembering the night she miscarried the baby she conceived with Chance. Not that he knew of her pregnancy. He had left town by the time she got brave enough to take a test. She had wanted the baby so much, but it had been another broken dream.
She hoped never to see Chance Brooks again, but at the same time, she knew it was inevitable. This was also his hometown. She thought about moving away and starting over somewhere new. Maybe she should seriously consider it now. Carly was still around making her hatred for Noelle obvious and spreading her stories. Noelle wasn’t sure how much of Carly’s story was made up and how much was real. She was afraid to put her trust in Chance again. His sudden reappearance really messed with her emotions. She liked having them under control, not all over the place.
She was just convincing herself she could live without Chance Brooks. Last weekend she had gone out with Quinn to a new dance club outside of town, The Red Barn. She had found herself genuinely smiling. Not the fake, strained smiles everyone was used to seeing on her. She laughed, danced, and truly enjoyed herself. She had even slow danced with a few sexy cowboys. She wasn’t ready to engage in sex yet, but she was able to have fun again and allow herself to relax. What if Chance’s presence ruined her road to recovery? She had worked hard to just arrive at this place where she was sort of sleeping and eating occasionally.
Facing him had been harder than she had imagined. She had thought months apart would make her stronger, able to resist him. It hadn’t. He looked tired but still ruggedly handsome. His blond hair was cut military short, and his brown eyes had been filled with determination. That determination would have been appreciated before. Now it was too late. He had stood so close to her. Her pulse had started racing with excitement, and her chest felt like it would burst open. All she had wanted to do was throw herself in his arms and sob with joy that he was safe. She did not want to put herself in any triangle love story though. According to Carly, they loved each other, and Noelle should stay away from him. Like she wanted to open herself up to all that devastation and chaos. She worked so hard to get Chance out of her heart, and she would not break down the wall she built.
She had wanted to believe that Chance would love her forever. She had been so foolish and naive. Her own parents had not loved her. Love was just a fairytale.
After about ten minutes, she was able to start her car and drive home. She wanted to forget about Chance if she could. Her greatest fear was that it would be an impossible task.
Chapter 2
“He has a lot of nerve to just surprise you out of the blue like that, Noelle.” Quinn Parker, Noelle’s best friend, shook her head in outrage the next day. She was cleaning the store windows of Noelle’s Nook, Noelle’s clothing store in the downtown district of the small rural town in Missouri. Quinn’s long, red ponytail swayed as she scrubbed the window until it was shiny. She worked for Noelle since the store opened three years ago. Noelle would be lost without Quinn. Not only was Quinn a loyal friend, but she helped Noelle a lot with the business, too. Quinn had gone to college and majored in business. Noelle just learned things on her own.
“Yeah. It caught me off guard,” Noelle admitted, feeling a little calmer now that she had time to process his return. She had always known Chance would return sooner or later. He always did. Willow Springs was his hometown, too. Only now it felt too small for the both of them, or should she say the three of them? She would never be able to handle Chance and Carly being a couple.
“Did you tell him to fuck off and take his slut with him?” Quinn arched her eyebrow at Noelle. Quinn was blunt and open. Noelle liked that about her. Quinn was also a good listener. Noelle would not trust any other person with her feelings.
