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At least his reasons for not wanting to jump into something new and potentially complicated made sense. But did I have to abide by his reasons?
That didn’t make much sense to me, but then again, I did things that didn’t make a damn bit of sense on a regular basis.
“What are you thinking about?” Janessa asked, pulling me from my thoughts as I belatedly realized I’d been staring at her for God only knew how long. “I can tell there’s something on your mind.”
I snorted. Man, I wished I could have told her everything that was on my mind. But I wouldn’t have even known where to begin.
“I’m wondering if that bastard is going to try showing up again tonight,” I said. It wasn’t a lie—worrying about the Thoresons' ranch had been taking up a lot of my time over the past twenty-four hours.
But it obviously wasn’t the only thing on my mind, and I was pretty sure Janessa had picked up on that fact.
“What will we do if he does come back?” she asked. She didn’t sound worried, though. Not that she should be. Whoever it was would have to get through me, Boone, and Justin Thoreson before they could even think about hurting Janessa. And even then, my money was on her.
“You will go back inside where it’s safe,” I answered. “And I’ll show him what we do to people who like to hurt animals and stir up trouble around here.”
“Oh, right,” she said, drawing out the words in a tone that was already dripping with sarcasm. I might not have been able to see her expression very well in the darkness, but I still had a pretty good idea of the look she was giving me. And whatever she was about to say probably wasn’t going to be good. “I almost forgot that everyone around here thinks I’m completely incapable of doing anything but cooking and cleaning. God forbid I might be able to take care of myself if I needed to.”
“I think we might have our wires crossed a little,” I said, trying to choose my words carefully. “Just for the record, I never said any of those things. And I wasn’t thinking them, either.”
“But you’d still have me go back inside until you decided it was safe,” she said. It wasn’t a question. More of a challenge, really. And it also happened to be the absolute truth.
“I won’t apologize for trying to keep you out of harm’s way,” I said. “But the reason I’m here has nothing to do with whether or not I think you can take care of yourself.”
She was quiet for a moment, and I wasn’t sure if I’d calmed her down or just pissed her off even more. “Why are you here, then?” she asked, finally.
Shit.
Now what was I supposed to say? I wasn’t going to lie to her, but it didn’t really seem like the right time to tell her how sexy she was, either.
“I came here last night because you invited me,” I answered, throwing in a smile even though I was pretty sure it wouldn’t have mattered even if she’d been able to see it.
“Fair enough.” She was starting to sound a little annoyed. “So, what made you come back tonight?”
“Is it too hard to believe that I just want to make sure you’re okay?” I asked, feeling a little irritated myself that I had to dance around the issue like this. I didn’t want to talk in circles, and I damn sure wasn’t going to say something I didn’t mean, but I was running out of ways to avoid the simple truth without being rude.
I wasn’t sure which would be worse, though—getting the third degree from Janessa and pissing her off in the process or dealing with her uncle and Boone if I fucked up and told her how I really felt.
At least I knew where I stood with the other guys, though.
“I believe you,” she said, standing up from the chair where she’d been sitting next to me. “I just don’t know why you care.”
She started to walk past me to go inside, but I stopped her. I was on my feet and had stepped in front of her before I’d even made the conscious decision to move. I couldn’t let our conversation end like this—not with all of this awkward tension and uncertainty.
“I care because…” My voice trailed off and I swallowed hard. Damn, I’d made a mess of this situation. Boone and I had agreed to one simple rule—hands off Janessa.
One rule.
“Because?” she prompted, sounding breathless as she moved in even closer.
Oh, fuck.
There were only a couple of inches separating our bodies now, and I could clearly see her beautiful face when she looked up at me.
One rule.
But I’d never been good at following rules. This seemed like a lousy time to try and start.
I’d also never been very good with words. I liked action. And since I couldn’t seem to find the words to describe how I was feeling, I went with the next best thing. I showed her.
