Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
I nod my head. “Right. So I’m going to go up and grab the other snowmobile in a few days, once the snow clears a little. I’ll bring it back to the ranch.”
She waves her hand and purses her lips. “Sure, no problem. It’s not like the cows are going to bother it or anything.”
I clap my hand on my hip. “Okay… well, I guess I better go. I’m going to put this in the barn.” I point at the snowmobile we rode here.
She shrugs. “I can get it.”
I give her a pointed look. “It’s okay, I can do it.”
She still isn’t looking at me, and it’s gutting me. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll go.”
She smiles and finally meets my eyes. “Okay. Thanks, Rhett. I’ll see you around.”
Before I can answer her, she’s turning on her heel and walking up the front steps. When she closes the front door, I stomp across the yard, and after a little work, I get my truck doors open. I start it up, turn on the heat and the defrost, and then get back out. I make my way back to the snowmobile and move it around to the spot at the back of the barn. I remove Elliott’s snow gear and hang it up, and the whole time, I’m fuming. Maddie acted like nothing happened between us, as if the last two days meant nothing to her.
I’m almost to my truck before I take a turn toward the house. I stomp up to the front porch and pound on the door.
When Maddie opens it, her cheeks are flushed, and she’s breathless. She’s back to looking at my chin instead of my eyes. “Look at me,” I say with anger in my voice.
“What?”
I reach for her to tip her chin but pull away before I touch her. I don’t trust myself. “I said, look at me.”
She leans her head back to look at me, and I don’t miss the defiance in her eyes. “What? What do you want, Rhett?”
I don’t want this to be over. I want to hold you and not let you go. I want to hold your hand, touch you, taste you. I want to do everything with you. But of course I don’t say any of that out loud.
She waves her hand in my face. “Rhett. What is it?”
I stutter over the words. “I want you.”
She rears back, and her eyes widen in surprise. “You want me?”
I nod.
She puts a hand on her hip. “What does that mean, exactly? You want me.”
I regret the words as they’re coming out, but like a fool, I finish them. “One more night, Maddie. Let me have you… for one more night.”
Her gaze drops before I can read her expression, and she leans against the door. “No.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “No?”
She shakes her head. “I can’t, Rhett. I think it’s best if…”
I swear it’s like someone has taken a sledge hammer to my chest. My hand comes up, and I rub it over my heart as she finishes. “I think we need a clean break. You said you wanted one night, and it turned into two. I just think… if we’re going to end it, we need to do it now.”
All I can do is stare at her. I want to beg her to be mine. I want to tell her I know I’m not the man she needs but I promise I can work on it. But of course I don’t say it. I take a step back. “Okay, yeah, sure. I understand.”
I walk away before I lose my mind and start to beg her to be mine. She’s not interested. She made that clear.
I go straight to my truck and get in. I sit with my hands wrapped around the steering wheel. My knuckles turn white, and I have to force myself to loosen my grip. I was a fool to think something could come of Maddie and me. I should never have touched her. I was obsessed before, but now, after having her, there’s no way I’ll be able to forget her. There’s no such a thing as moving on from Maddie. The feel of her pressed against my body, the way she made me smile when I haven’t smiled in what feels like forever, and the way we fit as if we were made for each other. Yeah, having Maddie by my side would be like all my dreams came true. But it’s not going to happen. Our time is over.
CHAPTER 11
MADDIE
I push my foot on the porch, and the swing starts to rock. “Tell me everything. I want to hear all about it.”
My brother is back from Vegas, and after checking out the ranch, he joined me on the porch. “It was good. The conference was great. I learned about some new ways to improve the health of our soil and—”