“Unless you’re just having fun, these things matter.If you’re having fun, recognize it, own it, enjoy it.But if you’re looking for something long-term, choose a man who deserves you.One who will get up in the middle of the night with the kids or drive the catering van.”
After the ice cream, Zoe was an entirely new woman.She blocked Todd’s number and deleted all the messages in her phone.She even went so as far as to trashcan his pictures.
Maybe Sofia had been hasty in avoiding the ice cream.
“Have you ever been really in love?”Zoe asked, licking the front of the spoon to capture the very last bit of heavy-cream heaven.
To cover her non-answer, Sofia picked up the carton and took the spoon from her sister.
Zoe got up and followed her to the kitchen.“Come on.”
“You lived with me.How much time do I spend dating?”
“OMG.”
“What?”
“It’s Cade Donovan!Ha!I knew it.”
She shook her head and tried not to let heat chase up her cheeks to give her away.“It’s not,” Sofia said firmly.
“It’s not?”
“No.”It wasn’t a lie, but damn, she wished it were.
“You spent the night there.”
“He has fourteen bedrooms.”Again, not a lie.
Zoe frowned with sisterly skepticism.
Sofia picked up a dishtowel and tossed it at Zoe’s head.Sofia hadn’t slept for more than a few hours at a time since she’d left the ranch, and the exhaustion was beginning to wear at the edges of her energy and focus.
She prided herself on the ability to work through anything, but that had been until Cade.She imagined his scent everywhere, something probably not helped by the fact she still had his unwashed T-shirt in her closet.Every time she caught a glimpse of a rugged cowboy in a hat, her heart would momentarily be paralyzed.
Even now, she didn’t question her decision to flee.Escape had been her only hope of survival.
Tonight, she’d had the right words for Zoe, mainly because she’d repeated them to herself like a mantra over the last few days.
She knew herself well enough to realize that she did want to fix him, wanted to soothe the beast inside him, hold up a bayonet to keep his demons at bay.He’d been right about everything.Everything.She couldn’t know that kind of pain, anguish, loss.Being responsible for the death of someone she loved…?She wasn’t sure she’d ever recover from that.
Sofia had realized that only Cade could save Cade, and she had no idea if he was even interested in trying.If she had stayed, he’d have destroyed her along with him.
At least she could be as strong as Zoe.
“Can I crash here?”Zoe asked.
“As long as I can, too,” Sofia replied wryly.
“I know, I know.”
“Go get the linens and make up the couch.”With a laugh that she needed, she hugged her sister before going to her bedroom
* * * *
Maybe because Sofia was thinking about Cade, she dreamed of him.
She woke up in the darkest of the night hours, aroused as she would be if Cade were in bed next to her.Though she hadn’t touched herself since she’d left the Running Wind, she closed her eyes and lay on her back.
