She was dating Beau fucking Romero. Really? And what had he done that she was too embarrassed to tell me? I wish I knew, so I could make him pay.
Talking about my dad always fucked with me. Years ago, a therapist taught me a number of ways to turn my unresolved pain into something productive. It’s why I maintained a strict physical fitness regimen even now.
I asked to join Dani for coffee to bridge this weird distance I noticed the other night, not to hit on her. But then the talk turned to Katelyn, and I almost blurted it out. She could never find out I dated Katelyn becauseshe was the anti-Dani.
Once Dani left for the university, it was clear she was never coming back. She loved Sierra Rose Ridge, but not the way I did. I needed a way to get over her.
But everyone I dated or fucked around with reminded me of her in some way. Except Katelyn. It was like she made a study of Dani and worked to be her opposite in looks, temperament, attitude, everything. I wasn’t proud of myself for using her that way, but I was good to her.
Dark emotions threatened to choke me. I needed to think about something else. Luckily, my order at the hardware store was in, so I picked it up.
I drove around for about ten minutes so I didn’t run in to Dani again so soon after our coffee date. Hang out. Reunion. Whatever it was called when you sat across from the person you’d loved most of your life who saw you as a brother.
By the time I pulled into my driveway, I’d worked myself into a state, and I wanted my punching bag. However, Dani was standing outside in her parent’s driveway, arguing with someone.
I couldn’t see him well. From her body language, she wasn’t happy to see him.
“Everything okay, Dani?” I moved towards them as I spoke.
“It’s none of your business, friend,” the guy called out.
“I didn’t ask you; I asked her.”
As I hoped, that got his attention. He swung around, and his eyes widened in surprise when he got a good look at me. This had to be Beau, but he changed.
That guy was a charmer and a goofball, but he planned to work at the ranch his whole life. The ranch life wasn’t for me, which made it easier to leave.
He didn’t look like a working ranch hand now. More like he was on a date or running for office with a fresh cowboy hat, new boots, and stiffblack denim. It was lunchtime on a work day, but these clearly weren’t work clothes.
Is this what impressed Dani these days?
“Who are you?” he demanded.
Before I answered, he rounded on her.
“Is this who you’re cheating on me with?” he demanded.
I hadn’t noticed the grip he had on her upper arm until he shook her. He wasn’t a big man, but Dani was petite.
“Whoa, man, nobody’s cheating on anybody.” My hands spread in a calm down gesture. “I’m the neighbor, Jacob. We all went to school together a while back. Moved home again a few days ago. Everything’s cool here.”
His expression morphed into a big, fake smile, and he dropped Dani’s arm. My jaw ticked at the finger marks on her suntanned skin, but it was the embarrassment in her expression that ate at me.
“Jacob Brown? Is that really you?” He guffawed. “Aw, hell, that’s fine, then. Everybody knows you’re practically family. Whew. Thought I had to worry for a second.”
“Dani’s not a cheater,” I said with a frown.
I might not have been around her for a decade, but no way the person I was closest to in the world for fifteen years could have changed that much. Not when she dropped everything to move home for her parents, worked two jobs to help pay their bills on top of her own, and everything else I knew about her.
He leaned closer to me like we were friends sharing secrets. It took everything in me not to recoil, especially when he spoke.
“Gotta keep her in line somehow, and I don’t like to hit women. But this way makes her eager to prove her loyalty, if you catch my drift.”
I’d never wanted to punch a man more, including when I found my second lieutenant in bed with my then-fiancée. My face conveyed my disgust.
“I kid, I kid. Can you blame me for being a jealous guy? Dani’s a treasure. She does so much for me.”
I glanced at her to see if she was buying this bullshit, but she averted her face. Her body was rigid with tension, though.
