“That feeling is mutual,” she murmured, and kissed him gently once more before pulling back.
She was pretending like nothing was wrong, but something was definitely still off.She’d been gone again when he’d woken up this morning and had only come back to the room a few minutes ago, right before he had to leave to meet the others.She was going out of her way to avoid talking about the issue between them.
He didn’t know why she couldn’t let it go, but he was getting to the point where he just wanted to confront her and get the damn conversation over with.Now wasn’t a good time, though, not when he was about to go away for the better part of two days.Because if things got heated, he didn’t want to leave things worse between them and give it time to fester.
Not that he was a genius with shit like that, but he knew that much.
“We’d better get a move on so you can get acquainted with your horse,” she said, and moved to the door like she couldn’t get out of the room fast enough.Like she couldn’t wait to escape him.
His patience snapped.
He stopped her with a hand on the shoulder and spun her around.“All right,” he said, staring down into her face.They’d avoided this long enough.“What’s the matter?”
Her expression shuttered and she broke eye contact.“I don’t want to do this right now.Not right before you’re about to head off and we won’t see each other for a couple days.”
Normally he would leave it, but it was driving him nuts that she was holding back.It also surprised him, since Candace had never been one to mince words when she had something on her mind.“No.Tell me what the problem is.”
Her dark eyes flashed up to meet his, and a spark of resentment burned there.“Pretty sure you already know what the problem is.”
Nope.“If this is because I snapped at you on the phone that time, I already apologized.”
Her lips thinned, outrage flashing in her eyes.“You seriously think that’s what’s been bothering me all this time?That you snapped at me?”
Releasing her, he took a step back and folded his arms.“Okay, fine.Then tell me whatisbothering you, so we can deal with it.”They would resolve whatever it was, move past it, and then make the most of their time here together.
“I’m not doing this right now.We don’t have time,” she muttered, and turned back for the door.
Her response pushed his frustration even higher.“When are we going to talk about it then?Tomorrow night after the big dinner with Erin’s and Wade’s families?Between the wedding and the reception?Or were you planning to wait until we were on the way to the airport on Sunday morning?”Because as far as he could see, basically there was no good time for this discussion, and they couldn’t leave things the way they were.
Her spine stiffened.She spun around to face him, her jaw set.“I don’t need or appreciate the attitude.I’ve been biting my tongue since you got here, trying to keep things peaceful.”
“Is that what you call it?Avoiding me whenever you can is keeping things peaceful?”He raised an eyebrow.“For who?You, or everyone else?”
Anger sparked in her eyes.“For everyone.And you know exactly what’s wrong, so don’t stand there and pretend you don’t.”
They were both strong-willed people, and neither of them backed down when they felt strongly about something.Thankfully, they didn’t fight all that often.“Okay, then let’s hear it.”
“Fine.”Her chin came up.“I want out.”
He went still, his gut tightening.She couldn’t mean them.Their marriage.“Out of what?”
“The Air Force.”
He frowned, his insides relaxing.That’s what all this was about?“I thought we already decided that would be a mistake.”
“No,youdecided it would be a mistake, and at the time, I was only talking about the possibility of leaving.”Her dark eyes speared his, and he was actually glad to see the anger there because it meant they were going to have this out here and now.
Her leaving the military made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever.Bewildered him, actually.“You’ve worked so hard to get where you are.Now you’re saying you want out?To do what?”
Some of the anger faded from her gaze, replaced by a vulnerability she rarely let anyone see, even him.“I don’tknow, Ryan.That’s the problem, and why I tried to talk to you about it before.”
“So then why not stay in until you do?Why the huge rush to get out, lose a steady paycheck and benefits?”
“Money’s not everything, Ryan.”
“Easy for you to say.”As soon as the words were out of his mouth he felt like a total dick and wanted to take them back.“I didn’t mean...”Yeah, he had.“I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have said that.”
To her credit, rather than exploding at him, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking.“Look, I know things were really tight for you when you were growing up, and I realize I had a privileged childhood.But we’re both good with our money and we’ve saved a lot since we’ve been in.Financially we’re fine, even if I take a few months to find another job.”
