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“No. That cannot happen again.”
It would, but he left that thought in his head.
“Sure, I got it. I won’t kiss you unless you ask me to. But the sparks between us are strong enough that you will, Bailey. You’ve felt them, I know you have, because you’ve been avoiding me.”
“I have n-not!”
“Yes, you have. But I’ll wait for you to come to me.”
“That won’t happen,” she snapped.
“Want to bet?”
“I d-don’t b-bet.” She stuttered out the words.
“You never stuttered as a child. How come you sometimes do now?”
She sucked in a sharp breath and turned away from him, so he was left staring at the back of her head.
“Why the stutter, Bailey?”
“It… just happens sometimes.”
“There has to be a reason. When did it start?”
She didn’t want to tell him, so he left it alone for now. She’d called him arrogant for believing he was the only one who’d hurt her, and yet he had a feeling that leaving Ryker, and him, had something to do with the person she had become.
Once she’d been fierce in her determination to achieve the goals she had set for her life.“I want to be independent and strong, Joe. I want to walk into a room and people see that I’m courageous.”He’d told her she was already courageous as far as he was concerned, but she’d dismissed his words.“I want to be more, Joe. I want to climb mountains and swim rivers.”They’d laughed over that one, as swimming hadn’t been her strength, but she’d vowed to change that.
“You ever learn to swim better?”
“Some” was all she said, so he decided to see if he could annoy her like he used to.
“So, for someone who doesn’t like kissing, you have a lovely mouth.”
She ignored him, her spine straightening.
“You sure grew up well, Miss Jones.” He tried to tease a response out of her. It usually worked with Piper. She ignored him again, so he stopped trying, and restored peace between them with small talk.
“I’ll take you on a tour if you like. Show you the changes?”
“I could get on a horse for that.”
“No point, when you’re already on one.” He was enjoying holding her, so he wasn’t letting her go until he had to.
“Piper, Jack, and Luke live in the main house. We added on a place at the rear for Aunt Jess, but she’s out of town at the moment.”
Joe loved that house. First, because it had once belonged to the woman in his arms, and had a very special place they’d both shared on the property, and second because it had brought the Trainer siblings together through blood, sweat, and a whole lot of swearing. They’d learned about each other, the people they really were, not the people their father had turned them into.
“It looks good, Joe. Don’t you live there too?”
“No, I need my space.” He couldn’t live that close to someone again and not go crazy.
“Because you had to share with your brothers for so long?”
“Something like that,” he said, not surprised she knew the reasons why. She’d always been able to do that. In fact, he’d once thought that Bailey knew him better than he knew himself.
“D-did you learn to ride a Harley, Joe, and get out of Ryker?”
