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Who was he kidding? Wade knew he loved Brielle the second he saw her. They hadn’t even said two words to each other and he knew he wanted to make her his. This man had just managed to get to her first.
Wade worked his jaw, shaking out his hand, then stepped back. His plans to woo her were crumbling before his eyes. This man, whoever he was, had the upper hand. Brielle’s only prayer to get rid of him was to hire a lawyer and stand before a judge. That would require her telling her father, and based on the way she’d frantically begged to bring this guy to Wade’s property, she wasn’t prepared to make such a sacrifice.
He dragged his attention back to Brielle.
Guilt.
Fear.
Sorrow.
Her face could have been the model for a renaissance painting. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“So what now?” Wade muttered. “You gonna go riding off into the sunset with this imbecile? Start a family and dress them all in cutoffs?”
“Hey,” the man cut in.
“Of course not,” Brielle shot back.
“Then what’s gonna happen? From the sounds of it, this—idiot—”
“The name’s Tad.” He rose to his full stature and his eyes flashed with defiance. “And I have every right to be here.”
“Over my dead body,” Wade growled, stepping toward Tad, who shrank back slightly.
Brielle jumped forward as if prepared to get between them again. She gave Wade a warning look and then faced her husband. “He’s right. You can’t just come waltzing back into my life and expect me to be your wife. It’s been ten years, and I barely remember that night. It… wasn’t one of my finest moments.”
Tad reached for her hand, but she lifted it out of his reach. Wade nearly felt bad for the guy. He had no idea what he was getting into. The brief hurt that flooded his features faded just as quickly. “I’m prepared to do it right this time. I’ll court you like I should have before.”
Brielle shook her head. “No.”
“Why not?” Tad demanded.
“The woman made her choice. Now do the right thing and give her what she wants,” Wade said, his voice a low growl.
Tad shot a dark look at Wade before bringing his gaze to Brielle. “I wasn’t lying when I said I fell in love with you. All these years, I’ve been trying to find you—”
“Do you hear how insane that sounds?” Brielle snapped.
“Of course I do. About five years ago, I nearly gave up. I tried to get you out of my head, but I couldn’t. Everyone I met I compared to you.” He swallowed, glancing once at Wade. “Just give me a month. Get to know me and let me show you that we can work.”
Wade couldn’t believe it. He shot a surprised look at Brielle to find her actually considering what he had to say. “You’re not seriously going to go along with this, are you?”
Brielle held up a hand. “And if after that month, I still want a divorce?”
“I’ll draw up the papers myself.”
She pressed her lips together, presumably staring at nothing.
“Bri, you can’t actually be considering—”
“Okay,” she murmured.
“What?” Wade grasped her hand, turning her to face him. “No. You don’t have to do this. We can figure out something else—hire a lawyer—”
“I made some big mistakes when I was younger, and this is just one of the consequences.”
He shook his head. “No. I can’t let you do this. What are you going to tell your father?”
