“All?” I jerk back, stunned. “I had other women glaring at me all day. I’m assuming those were your other conquests and they were royally pissed that you got engaged without telling them. And the ones that weren’t glaring at me were laughing and telling me that they’d gladly help me plan the wedding!”
He groans and then his mouth quirks. “You know. We should just let it ride for awhile. Let everyone realize that we’re not right for each other. Then we can just quietly drift apart.”
My heart bumps against my rib cage and sadness overwhelms me. But of course he doesn’t want to marry me.
Like he hears me, he sighs. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s nothing to do with you, Sugar. I don’t want to marry any woman.”
“Oh. Oh.” I step back from him and smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. You should just tell your mom that you’re not interested in any woman that way. She seems nice. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
He jerks back, his eyes wide and huffs angrily. “I’m not fucking into guys! I just don’t want a woman.” He pauses. Then his hand pushes at his dark hair and he growls. “I had a girlfriend. My first one. She seemed so sweet. She was a visitor but she said that she intended to make Heart’s Bend her home. Started looking for a job and everything. But then she ran across the job that she’d always been looking for and it wasn’t here. It was in Colorado. So the night that I intended to ask her to marry me, she just disappeared, leaving a note on my damn door that said she had no intention of tying herself down to a man in Nowhere, Texas who maybe couldn’t give her the life she wanted.”
“Oof.” Wincing, I pat his hand. “I’m so sorry. That’s mean. Why didn’t she do it in person and a helluva lot nicer than that?’
“Who knows?” He shrugs casually but I can still see the hurt in his deep green eyes.
Now I understand why he’s not interested.
We have something in common I guess.
CHAPTER 7
Stone
Hell’s bells. She’s so damn pretty. Her lower lip is caught between her teeth and she’s eyeing Honeypot happily.
But there’s something else in her soft gray eyes. Something sad.
“I hope you don’t think that it’s anything to do with you. I just don’t intend to get involved with any woman again. Nothing personal.”
She huffs and her pretty silver eyes slew my way. “Everything like that is personal. But I know what you mean. I’m just surprised is all. I can’t imagine any woman leaving you. I mean you’re….” Her slim hand waves at my body up and down and she flushes, catching her lip between her teeth again.
Lord, why is she so damn pretty! My cock stretches in my tight jeans and it feels like I’m getting a zipper branded on it.
But my brows lift and I grin cheekily at her. “Yeah? What am I?”
She growls under her breath, her full pink lips tightening. “You know that you’re good-looking. I don’t have to tell you that! Stop teasing me, dammit!”
Chuckling, I reach out to run my fingers down her arm. “You’re easy to tease, Sugar.” I lean on the stall and eyeher closely. “Why are you not more upset about my mother’s machinations?’
She glances away and bites that full lip again and I really want to reach over and pull it out of her teeth, soothing it with my tongue. A flash of heat runs up my spine and around to settle in my dick again.
At this rate I’m gonna have to cut my damn jeans off!
Sighing, she leans against the wall between the stalls. “I’ve never really had a boyfriend. Or anything like that. I move around too much.”
Ice coats my veins when I think about her leaving. Shuffling my feet, I stare at the floor like it’s the most fascinating thing in the world. It’s either that or her and right now I don’t want her to know what I’m feeling.
“What about your family?”
“I grew up in the system. I was an only child of only children and they were in a car accident when I was twelve. Nobody wants a twelve-year old so I just aged out of the system. And as soon as I did, I started traveling.”
“Why?”
Her eyes come up, wary, guarded. Stormy as hell. “I don’t know. I guess maybe I’m looking for something. I haven’t found it yet if I am.”
“Maybe you’re looking for a man of your own?” I hold my breath, waiting to see what she says.
Shaking her head, she mutters, “I don’t think so. Each place is different. And although men check me out, I just don’t seem to be what they’re looking for.”
