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Then all at once the blood drained from her body. He’d said he loved her and like a stupid person, she’d laughed.
And what did he do? He hugged her, kissed her head, and gave her the rest of the afternoon off. That didn’t sound like Dax at all.
Sarah scrambled through the dusty corral toward the fencing that was closest to the barn. She launched between the bars and continued running even though she nearly tripped over her own feet on at least two occasions.
By the time she’d caught up to him, he was already getting ready to brush the yearling down. The muscles in his shoulders rippled, showing off his strength and many hours of labor he’d put in on the ranch.
“Dax.”
His head turned and he glanced at her in such a nonchalant way that she almost got distracted. But not quite. He had some explaining to do.
Sarah placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Dax had the audacity to look confused. He lifted his brush as if it were obvious.
“I didn’t mean that, and you know it.”
His brow arched and one side of his mouth quirked into a smile. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to elaborate.”
She moved closer to him, stepping into the stall with both him and the horse. The enclosure felt even smaller the closer she got to him. “How can you come admit something like that to me and then just walk away. It isn’t fair.”
“I feel like we’ve had this conversation before. Life isn’t fair.”
A groan left her lips in a huff. “Will you knock it off? I’m trying to have a conversation with you?”
“Really? Because it sure seems from your tone that you’d rather get mad at me for something that I have yet to figure out.”
His teasing smile both made her heart leap into her throat and beat faster than was recommended by any decent cardiologist. “You can’t tell me you love me—”
“Oh, that.” His grin widened and he turned back to the horse. “If it’s the truth, I don’t see why I can’t.”
Okay, this conversation was getting out of hand. She closed the distance between them and grasped the brush right out of his hand. Her fingers grazed his, setting off the electrical current she’d grown to love and hate at the same time. Her eyes drilled into his. “You can’t tell me you love me and expect me to just let you walk away. We should probably discuss it.”
“With all due respect, you didn’t seem all that keen on a discussion.”
Her face flushed. “You caught me off guard. What did youexpectme to say?”
Dax grasped her chin with his finger and thumb in that gentle way he did when he wanted her to focus on what he was about to say. “I didn’texpectyou to say anything. Would I havelikedit if you told me you felt the same? You bet that pretty mouth I would. Did I understand if you weren’t ready to say it back? Without a single doubt in my mind. But I’m certainly not going to wait around for you to figure out how you feel before I admit my feelings. I’m also not in the business of forcing how I feel on anyone who isn’t experiencing the same.”
His words brought Brielle to Sarah’s mind. Those two had a history, and even seeing them having a quiet conversation earlier had triggered some insecurities she’d rather not deal with at the moment.
“You really don’t care if I say it back?”
“Of course I care. I care very much. I alsoloveyou, Sarah. I’m willing to wait for you to come to your own conclusions no matter how hard it is.”
“Why are you so good to me?” She hadn’t meant to whisper that question out loud. They’d just seemed to appear. And even before he spoke his answer, she had predicted it.
“Because I love you.” He said it with such a matter-of-fact tone that she had no choice but to believe him.
The words were there, hiding just beneath the surface. She wanted to admit to him that she loved him. But for some reason they wouldn’t come. They got caught in the back of her throat and refused to budge.
“Well, I’ll say it when I’m good and ready.”
Dax’s lips twitched. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
“Fine.” She spun on her heel, listening to his chuckle as she strode down the aisle between the rows of stalls. The horses seemed to be laughing with him, nickering and tossing their heads. What was it with the animals on this ranch? First the chickens, and now the horses.
Was she so emotionally damaged that she couldn’t bring herself to tell the one guy she could actually see a future with that she loved him?
