Page 38 of Maple Kissed by the Mountain Man

She stood three feet away wearing a rust-colored sweater dress that clung to every mouthwatering curve of her body. Dark brown leather boots reached up to her knees. Her dark curls hung loose and wild over her shoulders, and her berry-colored lips were set in a flat, unsmiling line.

She looked so fucking beautiful my chest physically ached.

She also looked ready to tear my head off if I took a wrong step or said a wrong word.

“I know,” I said, my voice coming out low and thick.

“What are you doing here, Ford?” she asked again.

“I came for you.”

“You hate festivals.”

“I do.”

“You hate crowds.”

“Yes.”

“Quinn at the bakery told me you hate funnel cake.”

“I don’t trust food covered in that much powdered sugar.”

The corner of her mouth twitched. She caught it fast and flattened her lips again, but I saw it.

That tiny, stubborn flare of heat gave me the strength to step closer, narrowing the distance between us until I could smell the scent of apples I had come to associate only with her.

“I lied to you, Maggie,” I said.

Her dark eyes flashed, her expression closing down cold. “Which time?”

“When you asked me if last night meant something,” I forced myself to keep my eyes locked on hers, letting her see every jagged piece of what I’d hidden behind my anger, “I couldn’t answer you. Not because it didn’t. Because it did, more than anything ever has and I didn’t have the first idea what to do with that.”

“Ford—”

“No, listen to me.” I stepped toward her, my boot almost touching hers. “I’ve spent years making sure nothing in my life mattered enough to lose. That’s what I thought I wanted. Then you stood at my gate for weeks until I let you in, and by the time I understood what that meant, it was too late to protect myself from it. That scared the absolute hell out of me.”

Maggie’s lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but didn’t.

I didn’t touch her. My hands were balled into heavy fists at my sides, every instinct screaming at me to wrap my arms around her waist and drag her against me, but I stayed right where I was.

“I’ve been telling myself I only noticed you because you wouldn’t shut up,” I continued, my voice dropping lower. “Then you kept asking. Doing everything you could to convince me you were right and I should have you let in. I was so wrong, Maggie.”

She swallowed hard, her chest rising and falling beneath the knit of her dress. “You hurt me, Ford.”

“I know.”

“You don’t get to decide you want me now and expect me to just fall into your lap.”

“I know that too.”

“I’m still furious with you.”

“You should be.”

That caught her off guard. Her chin jerked up, her eyes wide as she searched my face for a lie.

“I’m sorry,” I said, the words heavy and unyielding. “You didn’t deserve what I said. I’ll apologize every day for the rest of my life if that’s what it takes, but I am not leaving this town until you know the truth.”