Page 62 of Phoenix


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“And your father was going to sell it from under you.”

“Oh, my father is a ruthless man. He’s also a greedy son of a bitch.”

“To get you back here.”

He nodded, half laughing after he did. “I guess it worked.”

“How did we manage to grow up with such uncaring parents?”

He laughed. “Just lucky, I guess. If you love Missoula so much, then move back.”

Was that an invitation? I studied his face, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He wore a mask as tightly as I had the armor I’d placed around myself the day I left Missoula.

“You know why I can’t. With Cammie refusing to marry Marcus, my dad will try and set me up for marriage constantly. I won’t marry unless I’m in love with the man and I don’t see that happening. Ever. He’d just make my life miserable here.” I gathered what I’d just said didn’t bother him in the least. Was I just testing him?

Ugh. When I’d seen him standing near the fence, my first instinct had been to run into his arms. Then I’d reminded myself I wasn’t living out some crazy fantasy that would turn into real life. There were no princes ready to scoop me up.

“What I know is that it’s time for you to spread your wings, Wren. You’re a grown woman with a love of animals. Do something with it.”

“You’re right. I’ll think about it.” An awkward moment settled in, both of us lingering in the truck. There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but nothing seemed right. So I took the easy way out and it hurt, my heart aching. “I know you need to get Justin.”

“Yes, but I had a thought.” He turned his head, his intense eyes twinkling.

“Uh-oh.”

“The weekend isn’t over. As I said, you still belong to me for a full day. Are you up for an adventure?”

I turned to face him, surprised to see an actual genuine smile cross his face. “What did you have in mind, cowboy?”

“I’m going to take you back to your cabin to get a few different clothes.”

“Jeans?”

“Yep.”

“Then what?”

“We’re going to pick up Justin.” His eyes searched mine.

“O-kay. Then what?”

I knew how huge it was for him to want me to meet his son. I was shocked, my heart lurching in my chest. Did this mean he cared about me? At least it had to mean he trusted me. Right? Oh, God. What if I fucked something up? What if the kid hated me? What if… shit. When I hesitated, all the light in his gorgeous eyes faded to black.

“Don’t worry about it.” He immediately turned away.

“Don’t do that, Phoenix. Don’t shut down. You don’t have any idea what I was going to say.” When he still wouldn’t look at me, I grabbed his arm. “Please look at me.”

He slowly turned his head, anger replacing joy. “What?”

“I am honored you’d think highly enough of me to allow me to meet your incredible son. You don’t know what it means to me.”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. It don’t mean shit.”

“Damn you! Just fucking damn you. You never want to listen to anyone else. You’re pigheaded and opinionated and you think you’re all that and a goddamn bag of chips. Well, you’re not. You’re an arrogant asshole who… who I care about and I don’t want to fuck it up. Okay? I don’t want to hurt you. Like ever. I don’t want your son thinking I’m someone special to you when I’m just a girl you rescued from the side of the road who propositioned you for a terrible event. I just…” Geez. I was rambling again. I looked away, horrified that I had tears in my eyes. What the hell was wrong with me?

You love him, you idiot.

Love. Love…

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