Page 68 of A False Start
“You absolutely were. And I felt very scandalized about it.” I feign offense, pressing a hand to my chest. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you only want me for my body.”
“Who says I don’t?” She shrugs while forcing her face into a neutral expression, not missing a beat.
I point a finger at her sparkling brown eyes. The pools of truth that give her away every time. “They do.”
She blinks in confusion.
“You look at me likethattoo, Wildflower.”
She stops in her tracks, a little stunned. “I hate you, Griffin Sinclaire!”
I laugh at her feigned outrage and keep walking. Gotta feed the girl before I make her my dessert. “What is it they say? Hate and love are two sides of the same coin?”
“Huh. Must be areally oldsaying. I’ve never heard it.”
“Brat.” I grin, but don’t turn around as I march up the back stairs.
“I’ll teach you a lesson later after dinner, Wildflower!” I call back, hearing her musical laughter filter in behind me as I stomp into my house to make her dinner.
She sounds so good here with me.
* * *
The night is warm,and Nadia can’t stop staring at the view from the back porch. I’m not entirely sure if she’s enjoying the scenery or if she’s just avoiding looking at me, but I’m not overly concerned about it either way. It’s giving me the perfect opportunity to take her in without getting caught.
And bytake her in, I mean stare. Gawk.
I’m here. In my space. With the woman who has occupied her own little corner of my mind for the last two years. I shoved her in there, thinking some dark corner in the recesses of my fucked-up mind might keep me from obsessing about her.
Now I realize how wrong I was. How monumentally stupid that was. I’ve forgotten and ignored a lot of mistakes I’ve made. I thought I’d be able to do the same with her.
The problem is, Nadia isn’t a mistake.
The night we met. The riding lessons. The horse I bought her. The fucking dog. It’s all one big cosmic joke, shoving her in my path at every turn.
“I want to go watch the sunset from the flower field.”
She’s trying to kill me.
“Alright,” I say, never wanting to stop her from doing anything she wants. Plus, I love watching her in that field.
With no further words, she stands and saunters toward the long wooden gate separating the field from the rest of the yard and paddocks. The small red barn to her left and the simple post-style paddocks to her right. This place isn’t quite Cascade Acres. I bought Cascade when I was all about glitz and glam and show. This place is...me.
It’s simple, it’s cozy, it possesses a wild and unruly sort of beauty.
She fits here perfectly.
I watch her go and feel a jerk at the center of my chest, like she’s got me by a leash and just gave me a tug. My lips quirk up. This girl has me by the throat, and I’m not even sure she realizes it.
Shit, I’m not even sure she wants it.
Up here is one thing. We’re in a bubble away from the realities of all the reasons we can’t be together. But it might be different once we get back down into the valley.
And if I only have tonight, then I shouldn’t waste it sitting here watching her. I should experience it. I’ve spent a lot of years watching my life pass me by, but with Nadia around, I want more.
I want a dog. I want friends. I wanther.
My legs are moving toward her before I even have time to realize what I just figured out. I stop only to grab the gray blanket out of my tent, the one that I shoved into a corner last night to escape the way she smells. Those fucking sweet roses taunted me all night long.
