Page 113 of Cowboy's Last Stand
“You don’t need time alone,” he said in a scathing tone.“You’re just afraid of the way I make you feel.”
“You’re right, I’m afraid.It’s how normal people react to danger.”
A muscle in his jaw flexed as the barb struck.“You think I’m dangerous?”
Natalie didn’t answer.She knew it wasn’t a fair statement, but she couldn’t retract it.She couldn’t stop pushing his buttons.
“Not only dangerous but short-fused and unstable,” he said with deceptive calm.
“If the shoe fits…”
He closed the distance between them and spoke directly to her face.“This isn’t about my temper, or my sleeping habits, or my eagerness to defend you.What scares you is the fact that I’m in love with you.”
She inhaled a sharp breath of dismay and staggered backward.The other day, he’d told her he was falling for her, and she’d cut him off.Now he’d said it again, loud and clear.He’d put himself out there, voicing the emotions she was so terrified of.He’d named the exact thing she was feeling, and she couldn’t even blame him because she’d goaded him into it.Why hadn’t she just kept her mouth shut?
Jason studied her for a long moment, his signature intensity coming off him in waves.He seemed to be waiting for her to respond.When she didn’t, he straightened abruptly.His eyes become shuttered, and his features hardened into stone.He gave her a curt nod as if her silence was answer enough.
Then he strode down the porch steps and disappeared into the dark.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jason grabbed hisbackpack from the garage on his way upstairs.
He set the pack on the unfinished kitchen countertop and began shoving items into it at random.When he realized that he couldn’t make everything fit, especially the new clothes, he dumped it out and started over.
He’d told her that he loved her in no uncertain terms, and she’d stared at him like a deer in headlights.She didn’t share his feelings.She was too hung up on Mike, too devastated by loss.He’d been overconfident about his chances with her.He’d assumed she wanted more than a meaningless fling.He’d been wrong.
There was no reason to tell her about his connection to Mike now.It would only hurt them both.He would leave Texas the same way he’d come in, on foot.He’d head to the outskirts of town and head west toward San Diego.Maybe if he walked all the way there, he’d feel better by the time he arrived.
Jason doubted it, but it was worth a try.
Natalie appeared in the doorway, to his surprise.She knocked on the open door as if it wasn’t her own goddamned house.She was still wearing her librarian outfit, pinstriped pants, and a prim blouse.Her hair was in loose curls, framing her beautiful face.The sight of her made his heart twist in his chest.
“What are you doing?”she asked, venturing inside.
He heard the clink of the brass knuckles at the bottom of his pack.He was going to throw the weapon into the nearest river.“I’m leaving.”
“Why?”
Jason tossed socks into his backpack with more force than necessary.“You said you needed to be alone.”
She moved closer to him, covering his hands with hers.Jason felt a muscle in his jaw tick.He was too agitated for stillness, his nerves as taut as a bowstring.He closed his eyes and counted to ten.It was a strategy his therapist had recommended for regaining control.When he was finished, he studied her warily.
“I didn’t mean it,” she said.“I want you to stay.”
“Tonight?”
“More than tonight.”
His brow furrowed in confusion.
She turned his hand over and traced the calluses on his palm.“It’s not easy for me to let go of the past.When Mike died, it almost killed me.I can’t bear to lose someone again.Is that so hard to understand?”
“No,” he admitted.
“I’m afraid of moving too fast, emotionally.”
He concentrated on the gentle sweep of her fingertips.Memories from the other night swarmed his senses, crowding out the hurt from her rejection.His pulse leaped with excitement as she stroked his hand.
