Page 127 of Branded Betrayal

His eyebrows knit together. “Can I call you?”

“No. I’ll reach out when I’m ready.” My eyes latch onto his longing ones. “If I’m ever ready.”

Someone knocks on the door. I peer out the window to see Ryan pointing at his watch.

I turn back to Blaze, and with every last shred of strength and resolve left in my body, I say, “You need to go.”

He nods, completely dejected. He runs his fingers down the side of my face.

I steel myself, resisting the urge to launch my body into his strong arms.

“I am so sorry. I hate myself for what I did to you,” he says. Then he reaches for the door handle and looks back. “The ranch is yours, though. Whether or not you want it. I’ll keep running it until you decide.”

I blink fast, steadying myself as he walks out of the conference room and toward the elevator. Alyssa rushes into the room. “Are you okay? Was that—?”

“Yes.”

“Holy shit,” she whispers. “I know it’s not the right time, but my Gawd!”

“Not the right time,” I say with a sniffle.

“Good luck,” she says. “Drinks on me later.”

“Many drinks,” I say, giving her arm a squeeze. Then I rush out the door and down the hall toward the client meeting.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” I say in the most artificially cheerful voice I can manage when I walk into the room. “I am so excited to talk to you this afternoon about your fourth-quarter ad-campaign results.”

It’s absolute hell, talking through the slides in a chirpy voice while inside I’m dying a slow and painful death. But the clients love the work I’ve done, and Tom and Caroline can’t stop beaming at me.

I feel completely numb, though. The love of my life just proposed, and I said no. I sent him away after he made the grand gestures I’d dreamed about for so long, the promise of a future I’d hoped for since the first time he made love to me at Red Rock. I wanted all of him, and here he was, offering it.

Then I sent him packing.

I sink into my desk chair and cover my head with my hands. Alyssa has texted me no fewer than ten times in the past five minutes to make sure I’m okay, but I can’t bear to type the truth that, no, I’m most definitely not okay. That my heart is shattered, that my soul is crushed.

My phone buzzes on the desk. I pick it up, expecting another text from Alyssa. But I furrow my brow at the unknown number.

Clicking the notification, I peer at the message that appears on my screen.

Hey, it’s Colt. Just so you know, he’s been a mess since you left. Hasn’t eaten or slept. He bought your ranch with every penny he’d ever earned. Not trying to pressure you. But I want you to know he’s really trying.

My jaw drops. Colt is reaching out? Colt, who I was sure hated me because he never gave me the time of day, is texting me to let me know how much Blaze is hurting.

I give my head a quick shake. He never really had much to do with Blaze, either, so I clearly have missed a lot in these weeks away.

The phone buzzes again.

He doesn’t know I texted you. Would kill me if he did. But I wanted to let you know he’s not trying to control you. He’s just desperate. And really fucking bad at this stuff.

I stuff my phone into my handbag and open a spreadsheet, pretending it actually matters.

Maybe I made the right choice by sending him away.

Or maybe I just destroyed any chance at happiness either of us might ever find.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Blaze