Page 19 of Our Sweet Destiny
“Yeah, geez, where did you grow up? The horse his father bought for his mother when she first got sick. I swear they treat that horse like it’s really their mother.”
“That’s so sad.” The ache in Jade’s heart wasn’t new. She’d known about Rex’s mother dying when he was just a boy, but now, with her new feelings for him, the ache was deeper.
“I know. Now focus. Look at that fine specimen of a man.” She leaned on Jade’s shoulder and spoke into her ear. “Strong, wide back, butt made of stone, thick thighs, good for, well, you know.”
Jade swallowed hard. She knew just how thick his thighs were, not to mention the other thick parts she’d felt against her in the truck. She shook her head to clear away the heated memory. “So you brought me here to…ogle him?”
“Ogling is nice, isn’t it? But no. I figured you could go down there and actually talk to him.”
Jade shook her head and tried to back up, but Riley was standing behind her like a blockade. “No, not a good idea. The whole town knows about the feud, and it’ll get back to my father somehow. Besides, I don’t know if he’ll even talk to me in public.”
“That’s not true. You said he talked to you at the volunteer meeting.”
“Like I said, I’ve got to stop telling you things.” Butterflies swirled in her stomach as she watched Rex walk into the feed store.
“Go talk to him. I have to go back to work anyway.” Riley bent down and kissed Jade’s cheek. As she hurried away, she held her pinky and thumb out and wiggled them by her face. “Call me!”
I could retreat, pretend I was never here. I don’t have to do what Riley tells me to do, although she’s always been right in the past. She told me to leave Kane before I ever opened my practice.Jade was contemplating leaving when the feed store door swung open and Rex walked out carrying a feed bag over his shoulder and a brown bag in his arms. He held the door open for a woman and her daughter, and when he glanced up the hill, Jade turned her back, hoping he hadn’t seen her.
When she turned back around, Rex was heading up the hill toward her. She clutched her stomach as he closed the gap between them, the bag from the store in his arms.Who gave the butterflies speed?
“Jade.” His face was a blank slate, his eyes just as silent.
“Hi,” she said, feeling her cheeks flush and privately wincing from the heat.
With his silence, Jade felt like a bubble had formed around them and nothing else existed. She wanted to reach out and touch him, anywhere, everywhere, just to know he was real. She wondered if he wanted the same thing.
The silence was deafening. Maybe she misread him.How embarrassing.She had to remember that he’d said being together was a mistake, and unless she wanted to drive a wedge the size of Nebraska between her and Rex, she’d better go along with it. Being able to talk to him was better than being forced to ignore each other forever. She reminded herself that it was only one night. One make-out session, one blissful orgasm.Oh no, stop thinking about that. Friends. I can do this. Focus on being friends. Right. Friends who aren’t allowed to really be friends at all.
JADE STOOD ON the hill in her sexy boots with the sun illuminating her from behind like an angel. Rex took it as a sign. He’d been existing on cold showers and coffee for days, wrestling with how to handle the situation with Jade. Maybe some things were meant to be, like his mother and father and Treat and Max. Maybe he was supposed to be with Jade, even if only secretly…for now.
She wasn’t smiling when he approached. A lump formed in his throat over the way he’d ended things so abruptly when they were together. She looked wicked cute in her tight scoop-neck T-shirt withTHOROUGHBREDprinted across her chest. His body remembered the feel of her against him. He shifted the bag to cover the evidence.
He wanted to talk to her about what happened between them, clear the air, but after saying her name, he felt a rush of adrenaline, an overwhelming urge to take her in his arms and apologize, throw caution to the wind and stand up for whatever might be. He could take the heat. He would do just about anything for her.
“You were right,” Jade said. “What happened was a mistake, and it should never happen again.”
The air expelled from his lungs, like he’d been punched in the gut.A mistake?A mistake. Isn’t that what he’d told her, after all? Just being this close to her made his heart beat a little harder. He didn’t need to sleep with her. He just wanted to be with her, to get to know her better.A mistake?He couldn’t be with her anyway. It was a pipe dream, a fantasy. He had all the intimate time he’d ever get with the woman he’d pined for year after year, and if that was all he was going to get, then it was better than nothing, even if it wasn’t near enough.
“I’m glad you understand.” The lie tasted like acid, like it was burning a hole through him even as it came off his tongue.
“I do.” She nodded. “Our fathers…they’d never be okay with”—she ran her finger in a line between them—“this.”
He wanted to take her hand and pull her to him, just to feel her heart beat against his.
“Right.” He looked away to hide the sadness that he knew was written all over his face. He’d never been able to hide his feelings well, and the emotions he was riding were coming in powerful, evident gusts.
“What’d you get at the feed store?” she asked.
He looked down at the bag. He’d forgotten he even had it in his arms. “Molasses cookies.” His voice sounded like all the energy had been sucked from it, and he noticed Jade’s eyes shoot up at his. He cleared his throat, then said, “I come by and get sweet feed and molasses cookies for my mom’s horse.”
She nodded, still holding his gaze. “Horses love both those things.”
How could she be so calm and cool about this while his heart was being torn to shreds right in his chest?
“Is it an older horse?”
“Huh?”
