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“Do you want me to be honest?”

“Always. I would like only honesty. I like knowing exactly where I stand now. Since the rules are so different here, as you say, then I want to be on equal footing and know exactly where I stand with you.”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and looked her straight in the eyes as he said, “Okay. I find you interesting, and there is something inside of me that really wants you to be okay. Like…I really want it. Whatever okay means for you, I want it. It might be for selfish reasons,” he said, shrugging. “It makes me feel good when you have big-realization moments, or when you smile, or when you relax completely. I liked it when you cried on my shoulder. I like the idea of poisoning you into never being able to go back to Sister’s Edge and settle for their bullshit again. I like stirring the pot. I like the idea of saving you, and before you get all prickly, little cactus, you asked for honesty. Maybe I have a hero complex, I don’t know. Now, I know you can march down to the main road and stick your thumb out and hitchhike to any town you want, and you will figure it out, because I believe that’s the kind of woman you are. You’ll use your savings wisely and get a job somewhere and figure out shelter and you don’t need anyone. Not really. But I like being a part of this. I want to watch you figure it all out.”

“Figure what out?” she asked softly.

He leaned back in the glider, and stretched one powerful leg out, and rocked slowly as he leveled her with a bright-eyed look. “Freedom.”

“And then you’ll trap me, right? That’s what males do.”

He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “I don’t have any interest in trapping you, Jess. I just want to be around for that wake-up moment when you figure out you don’t have to put up with anyone’s shit anymore, and you never did.” His eyes sparked brighter with intensity. He shrugged again. “Or maybe I’m just bored.”

“Liar. You lied on that last part.”

“Good. Good instincts. So, now you know where you stand with me.”

She lifted her chin higher into the air. “You said I’m pretty.”

“And?”

“You don’t want anything more from me than to be a part of my wake-up moment?”

His eyes narrowed. “See, this feels like a trap. If I say I memorized the size of your waist, and your ass, and your tits because I have looked and I enjoy the shape of your body, you won’t trust my intentions. But if I dance around the answer and convince you I don’t want you like that at all, you’ll feel rejected.”

She scoffed. “You’re full of yourself.”

“No. I’ve just been around the Cold Foot females long enough to know I’m treading murky waters right now.”

“Honesty always.”

“I’d fuck you,” he said without hesitation. He twitched his head toward the house. “If you said you had a need, and you wanted to forget everything, and you wanted me to take you into that bedroom and fuck the shit out of you, I would do it and it would be easy for me. But…I will never ever put pressure on you or talk about this unless you engage in that type of conversation. I’ll follow the same rules I had in place for myself when I cut your hand and you cut mine. I’ll protect you as long as you are here, and anything you need, if it’s in my power, I’ll provide it. There will be no strings attached for intimacy. I don’t want it that way. And that’s where I stand. You’re the boss.”

“I’m…” her voice had cracked. “I’m the boss?”

Kade offered her the devil’s smile, and stood. “Time to go, little cactus. I have things to do.”

And he left her there, staring open-mouthed after him.

His voice had held absolute and utter truth as he’d told her where he stood, and she’d loved every word he’d said.

She replayed it in her mind, and truth be told, she was kind of turned on. It had been a long damn time.

He was leaving, and that fact struck her like lightning. She stood and ran around the side of the house and called out to him just as he reached his truck parked near the curb in front. “Kade!”

He hesitated, his hand on the handle of his truck. “Yeah?”

“I lied.”

He swallowed hard and came around the front of his truck so he could see her better. “Which time are you talking about.”

“I don’t hate you.”

A slow smile stretched his lips. “Good. See you when I see you, little cactus.”

He got into his truck and drove away while she stood in the front yard feeling like a completely different person than she’d been just a couple of hours ago.

He said she was pretty.