I was finishing up when a knock against the doorframe grabbed my attention. I looked up, fully expecting to see Dean, but instead in my doorway were sharp blue eyes staring back at me.
Noah. Sandy blond hair, blue eyes, and his lean, tall frame were standing in my doorway.Is this really happening?I clearly was speechless because he cleared his throat to break the silence and smiled. “Hey, Addi.” He walked into my office and sat down in the chair across from me.
“Noah? What the hell are you doing here?”
“Okay, not the greeting I had hoped for, but you haven’t answered any of my texts over the last, I don’t know, six months. I was worried about you, and I miss you.”
“That’s rich. You had me for eight years, but that didn’t stop you from cheating on me.”
He ignored my comment as he looked around my office and glanced out the window at the horse-filled pastures. “I’ve gotta give it to you, Addi, this place is beautiful. You actually did it.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, no thanks to you. Is there a reason you’re here? I have a business to run.”
A wounded look crossed Noah’s face. “Jesus, Addi, I came here for you. Like I said, I miss you, and I want to talk. You keep ignoring me, so I found you. Like you just said, we were together for eight years. Please at least give me a conversation.”
I shook my head in disbelief. Noah was always used to getting his way. It was how his life was set up. “I don’t owe you anything.”
Just as Noah was about to argue, Dean’s large body took up the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, staring daggers at the back of Noah’s head.Shit.“Everything okay in here, baby?” He must have overheard some of the conversation.
Noah whipped his head around, looking Dean up and down. Then the fuckerlaughed. He actually laughed and shook his head. “You can’t make this shit up,” he mumbled to himself, and then looked directly back at Dean. “Oh, there you are, cuz. Nice to see you, been a while.”
What the fuck did he just say?
I looked up at Dean, confusion written all over my face. Noah stood up and made his way in front of Dean, holding his fist out for Dean to bump. Dean just looked down at his hand in disgust, keeping his arms crossed defensively.
Noah chuckled. “Okay, then. Tough crowd. Addison, I don’t know if the big guy here mentioned it to you, but Dean’s my cousin.”
I felt the color completely drain from my face. I felt sick to my stomach. I braced my hands against my desk to steady myself.That can’t be true.They can’t be cousins.Dean would have told me when I told him in depth all about Noah. I looked up at Dean, my eyes searching his, looking for answers, looking for reassurance that Noah was lying. But all he did was close his eyes in defeat, exhaling a deep breath. I knew right then and there that Noah was telling the truth.
Noah looked back and forth at the unspoken exchange happening between Dean and me. “Oh, you didn’t know that, Addi?” He looked back at Dean. “I heard over the holidays from Aunt Daphne that you took over a practice in some small town in Texas. Heard that you got yourself a girlfriend too. Didn’t realize that it was my fiancée.”
“I’m not your fiancée anymore, Noah,” I said through gritted teeth. I looked back at Dean. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I felt a lump in my throat, my eyes beginning to sting. This couldn’t be happening, and I sure as hell was not going to cry in front of Noah.
Dean still hadn’t taken his eyes off of Noah, pure rage radiating from his body. “Get the fuck out, Noah,” he growled.
Noah chuckled arrogantly and turned to me. “Like I said, Addi, I want to talk. There are clearly things that you should know.” He glanced toward Dean. “I’ll be in town for a little bit. Text me when you’re ready.” With that, he made his way out of my office. Instead of explaining what the fuck just happened, Dean immediately turned around to follow him out, leaving me there stunned with a million questions running through my mind.
Chapter 20
Dean
Thiscannotbehappening.I’d heard the angry tone in Addison’s voice from the aisle of the barn and immediately went to her office to check on her before starting the procedure I was there to do for her lesson horses. And who did I find? None other than my dipshit cousin sitting in the chair across from her.
I stalked after Noah as he made his way toward his rental car. I was going to make some things clear before he took off. Noah knew I was following him, but took his sweet-ass time to turn around and face me. He was always such a little shit who loved to play games. “Oh, hey, buddy. Did you want to say bye?” I wanted to punch the smug look off his pretty-boy face.
“What are you doing here, Noah?” I stood in front of him, arms crossed. He was tall, but I had a couple of inches on him and used them to my advantage, looking down on him.
“Just came to see my girl.” He matched my stance, crossing his arms over his chest.
“She’s not your fucking girl. My mother clearly told you where I was and must have mentioned Addison. You are so full of shit, acting like you didn’t know. That’s really the onlyreason you’re here, isn’t it? You want what I have?”
He chuckled. “She may have mentioned your location, and that you had this new girlfriend who had her own hunter/jumper facility. Seemed too coincidental, so I had to come and see for myself. Plus, does it even matter? After I talk to Addi, she’ll know exactly who you really are and your involvement in everything. You think she’s still going to want you then?”
I clenched my jaw, hard. I could feel my back molars grinding. “Get the fuck over it, Noah. She doesn’t want you anymore. You fucking cheated on her and lied to her. She’s moved on. Leave her alone. You want her because I have her now. Just like when we were kids, you always wanted whatever Arch and I had.”
That pissed Noah off. “I was with her for eight years, asshole. You’ve been with her for, what, two months? She can forgive my indiscretions because we had eight years together, a history. You already lied to her after only two months,” he growled back.
“I didn’t tell her, because it doesn’t matter. You have nothing to fucking do with our relationship, and I suggest that you keep it that way,” I said, warning lacing my tone. “As hard as it is for you to wrap your head around, she’s happy, and getting into the details of the past is irrelevant.”
