He stops suddenly, flipping through the journal until he finds the next entry he’s looking for.
“She was wrong. We’re back in the real world, and I’m still fucking in love with her. Hawaii was only two and a half months ago, yet she acts as though it never happened. She’s fucked with my head so bad I can’t even bide my time with other women while she does whatever the hell she’s doing. Tonight was Cal’s wedding. Lucky me. I had a front-row seat to watch Charlie's friend Mark drool over her all night. They danced. Flirted. Took shots together and kissed at midnight. I practically mauled my date just to distract myself from the fact that the love of my fucking life was all over another man. A man who kissed her at midnight and not me. But my date was no substitute. I dropped Hailey at her place and now I’m home writing this.”
His voice is thick with anger, the muscles in his jaw flexing as he reads. I’m not sure how much more I can listen to, yet I have to hear it all. As hard as it is, I need to hear every word.
“I’ve tried to take nameless women home from the bar for some meaningless midnight moving on, but it doesn’t work. I’ve never come close to letting my heart get involved with someone else, because they aren’t her. I know she feels the same, but she’s too damn stubborn and too in her head for her own good... and mine. So, I’ll be damned if I let myself get involved with someone else. Why risk not being available once Daisy figures her shit out?
“Tonight was the first time seeing her with someone else since Hawaii. It knocked me on my ass. I’m not this guy. I don’t do quiet brooding in the corner. And I’m certainly not someone who has to fake being the life of the party at his best friend's wedding, like I did tonight. But I did it for Cal. And I did it for her. Making her smile fuels me. So, if a crazy speech or a little twerking on the dance floor brings a smile to her face, then that is what she’s gonna get. But I don’t want to fake it anymore. No more depressed Owen faking his way through life. I know in the end she’ll be mine, and so will all her smiles. I’ll happily—that word is underlined four times—wait as long as she needs me to.”
With that, he closes the journal, stands and puts the chair back in its corner. “I’m gonna sleep across the hall.”
“Owen—”
“I need some space. I’ll leave both bedroom doors open. Get some sleep.”
In the silence of the house, his boots echo as he exits, turning the bedroom light off on his way, leaving me alone in the dark with my heart in a vice.
Across the hall, his boots thud against the floor as he takes each one off. When his belt clanks against the hardwoods,and the bed squeaks as he climbs in, my heart sinks with the confirmation he really is sleeping elsewhere.
I’ll honor his wish for space tonight. But tomorrow we’ll talk this out. The ache in my chest is one of the most painful I’ve ever felt. I swear my caged heart is on the outside of my chest, exposed and unprotected.
Like Owen’s has been for years.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Owen
The ringing of my phone startles me awake. When I see Smith’s name on the screen, my blood runs cold. He’s posted on the outside of the house, if he’s calling, something’s wrong.
“Smith.”
“Owen, there’s a fire at the ranch.”
I put the phone on speaker and search for my pants in the dark. “Is anyone hurt?”
“From what we can tell, no people or animals have been harmed.”
“Where on the property?”
Please don’t say the house.
“The bunkhouse and the hay barn.”
“Shit!”
“We’re pretty sure it was Armstrong. The two team members on duty were checking the house and horse barn when the fires were set, so they didn’t see who did it, but someone sawa truck leaving the property that matched Armstrong's vehicle description. Reeve’s is checking the surveillance cameras now. We should have confirmation soon.”
Across the hall, Maui barks. Seconds later she skids into the room looking for whatever has me up.
“I’m on my way.”
“Sorry, sir. Can’t let you do that. We’re asking Cal to stay put too. We think they might be trying to lure the rest of you out, leaving your own homes and loved ones exposed. Angus is on scene and one of our men is at the house watching Mia and the boy, but we’d like the rest of you to remain where you are.”
He’s right. This could very well be a trap. Angus lives on the property, so it makes sense he’s there, but it is safer for Charlotte, the baby, Daisy, and our pets and homes if Cal and I hold our positions to protect them.
Staying out of the action goes against everything that I am. I don’t hide away from assholes. I catch them.
“Fuck, you’re right.”
