Page 65 of A False Start
I fucked her like a savage, and then she told me to leave. The girl who has been chasing me down and watching me squirm for months is now pulling back.
Right when I decided maybe resisting this pull between us isn’t the right move at all.
Shit, maybe I evenwantto be around her. That’s a scary realization for someone who has spent the last several years alone. I think I’ve enjoyed being alone. Usually I grow tired of company, the small talk, the smiling. I like the peace that my spot up here in the mountains provides me. I like the solitude.
The idea of sharing that space and time with someone doesn’t feel quite so off-putting right now though.
But only if that someone is Nadia.
I groan and scrub a hand over my face as my dick swells again at the mere memory of her. The way she looked over her shoulder at me, right into my soul, while I pounded into her.
I tried hard to make it just sex. I even turned her over, thinking that might help me keep a little distance. But with her, it’s just impossible. Her eyes taunt me like those couple ounces of bourbon I like to torture myself with at the pub.
At least I’ve come to the point where I can resist that.
Nadia’s warm coppery eyes?
Fucking irresistible.
I could get lost in those eyes. I’d hit the bottom, and it still wouldn’t be enough. I’ve spent months—fuck, years—telling myself I need to stay the hell away from her because of Stefan. Because I couldn’t do that to him. Because she deserves better than the disagreeable washed-up jock, the town golden boy fallen from grace, the man with a major loose end he has yet to face.
She shines so bright, so golden. She deserves someone to match.
I’m wondering if the beauty is in the contrast. Nothing makes gold sparkle quite like black.
Poetic, you head case.
I shoot up, frantically pulling my clothes on out of the pile I left them in before I fell into my sleeping bag last night. I gasp a little as the cool morning air hits me. A reminder that my days down at the ranch are drawing to a close. At the end of this month comes the end of my contract. And then it’ll be Spot and me sequestered in the mountains.
Alone.
I unzip the flap and burst from my tent, feeling like I need space. Air.Perspective.
I turn away from Nadia’s tent, but then I face the field of wildflowers. Which is no better. She’s everywhere.
I’m a thirty-five-year-old man, for crying out loud, all fucking tied up over a twenty-one-year-old with her entire life ahead of her.
A good guy would walk away and spare her the heartache of a man like me. The things I’ve done. The mistakes I’ve made. She would hate me if she knew. I’m sure of it. She grew up under the thumb of an alcoholic. The last thing she needs is to tie herself to one.
“Good morning.” Mira’s smooth voice pulls me from internally berating myself.
I spin the opposite direction and see her sitting on the back porch of the house, wrapped in a blanket, and sipping a mug of steaming liquid.
“Hi,” I huff, too agitated to say much more.
A smug smile stretches across her facial features. She’s always looking at me like that. I like Mira a lot. But I feel dumb around her. It’s fucking annoying.
“Sleep well?” One eyebrow arches, and she takes a sip, eyes scanning my face. Like if she stares hard enough, she might pry my brain open and see the filthy things I did and said to her sister-in-law last night.
I just grunt and start striding toward the house.
“Not really a morning person, huh? Long night?” Her eyes sparkle, and I work my ass off to school my features.Does she know anything? She can’t. She can’t possibly.
“Just been up for a bit.” I can’t be a total dick to her, even though there’s this raging part of me that wants to tell everyone to leave. That I need space.
I hear a zip and soft steps behind me, but I don’t stop. I need coffee. I need to get on a horse and ride out into the mountains as far away as possible from temptation. For years, I’ve been riding away from alcohol, but this time it’s the tall drink of sexual temptation standing behind me saying good morning like nothing happened.
“How’d you sleep?” Mira asks her as I take the steps up to the house two at a time.
