Because if Jane was anything, it wasn’t that.
She was a warrior, and she had proven it time and time again.
Bo glanced over at him and offered him a curt nod. He didn’t seem angry, but he didn’t seem pleased, either.
“Is there something you want to say?” Noah asked. His cousin was a couple years older than he was, and he could be intimidating when he wanted to be. It was one of the reasons he was so good at running this ranch after his father had decided to take a step back. He was unstoppable and put way too many man hours into making sure everything went smoothly.
Bo cocked a brow at him, and for a moment, Noah didn’t know if he was going to get a firm talking to or if he was going to be ignored. Bo’s siblings had been just as quiet about the whole revelation, too. It hurt, if Noah was honest with himself. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he was officially an outsider.
Noah nearly gave up on Bo saying anything at all, but then his cousin shifted and gave him a firm stare. “I’m curious about something.”
“Yeah?”
Bo nodded, his brows creasing as he glanced elsewhere momentarily. “Why?”
“Why?” Noah frowned. “Why what?”
“Why did you hide who you were from everyone? Including your family?”
Noah could already feel the heat licking up the back of his neck. This was the first time that Bo had brought up Noah’s secrets. It was the first time he’d brought up anything that wasn’t work related, actually.
His frown deepened as he considered how he could best explain this. Bo’s family had come into wealth, and they didn’t seem nearly as concerned keeping it a secret. Noah couldn’t imagine that they kept much from each other as they were such a tight-knit group.
And yet, Noah hadn’t felt secure enough to share anything about his second life. He cleared his throat and nodded. There was nothing left to hide, anyway. “I was scared.”
Bo arched a brow, and he shifted in his saddle again. “Scared,” he muttered flatly. “Scared of what, exactly?”
Noah shrugged, trying to put his feelings into words. “Everything,” he finally breathed out. “I was scared that people would want to use me for the money I had. I was scared that they’d hate me for my wealth. I didn’t want to be judged or manipulated. I just wanted to keep being… me.”
Bo seemed to consider this for a moment, then he gave Noah another nod. “Yeah, I can understand that.”
Noah swallowed hard. “Didn’t help me in the end, though. It would have been better if people had just known from the beginning.”
“I don’t know. You might have had a good point.”
He glanced at his cousin with surprise.
Bo shrugged. “How else would you know if someone cared about you for you and not for the service you offered?”
Noah nodded. Exactly! That was what he’d been worried about.
“That being said…” Bo started, and Noah’s stomach bottomed out. “I think you messed up by keeping it a secret for so long. Especially when it came to Jane.”
“Jane didn’t want anything to do with people who had money. She said it changes people,” Noah blurted, the biggest fear of all out on display for his cousin to rip into. “I couldn’t tell her, or she was going to?—”
“You think she would have looked at you differently?” Bo interrupted with surprise.
“Well, yeah. And I was right.”
Bo shook his head. “I might not know Jane all that well, but if I had to guess, I would assume she wasn’t upset about the fact that you had money. Most people get upset over feeling betrayed. Hiding who you were or lying about it would have been the thing to tip her over the edge.”
Noah wanted to react to his cousin’s statement. He wanted to get angry over Bo’s willingness to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. But he couldn’t. For all intents and purposes, Bo was right. Jane had said something similar. She’d been mad thathe’d interfered in her life, not that he was wealthy. And yes, she was upset that he’d hidden it from her, too. But who wouldn’t be upset to find out the person they were dating was leading a double life?
He scraped at his jaw and turned his attention out to the cattle, hating how uncomfortable this conversation had become despite his cousin being right. “Yeah, well, she said she wanted space, and now I can’t do anything about it until she’s ready to talk to me.”
Bo scoffed, drawing a curious glance from Noah. When Bo didn’t immediately explain his reaction, Noah leaned forward to situate himself better in the saddle.
“You got something else to add?”
