“We want to have sex. That’s all.”
“Maybe. But maybe it’s more. It could be more, if we let it.”
She stared at him with her mouth open. “What are you saying?”
“Think about it. Why are we working so hard to stay away from each other when that’s exactly what we both want?”
“I thought you wanted a fling. This sounds like—you want to have a relationship? With me?”
“Yes. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“You follow the rodeo circuit. You’re rarely home unless you’re hurt. How could that work? As a relationship, I mean.”
“It works for a lot of people.”
He sounded annoyed. Too bad. It was a reasonable question. “And it doesn’t work for just as many. It didn’t work for me.”
He looked at her for a long moment, fraught with tension. Then he shrugged and said, “Got it. Come on, let’s get back to the party.”
“Wait a minute. Got it? What does that mean?”
“It means you don’t want a relationship. Or maybe it’s simply that you don’t want one with me. Whatever. I get it.”
“Chase, that’s not it.” She’d hurt his feelings. And her own feelings were in such a jumble that she didn’t know what to think. “I was surprised. I never thought—”
“Shit, Ella, I get it. Can we just drop the damn subject?”
“Fine.”
They walked back to the reception without speaking. Right before they reached the barn, Ella put her hand on his arm to stop him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was surprised.”
The light coming from inside the barn threw his face into sharp relief. His beautiful blue eyes were hard, unlike any expression she was accustomed to seeing from him when he looked at her. “Don’t apologize. You want what you want, and that’s clearly not me.”
He opened the door and let her walk in. When she turned around he’d disappeared. Shit. Shit, damn, hell. What had she done? How had she managed to screw things up so completely?
