Page 14

“So what happens next time we have a fight? Next time you’re upset?” I asked, my voice shaking. “I come home from work and see you with someone else?” The pain was growing, transforming, slicing through my chest. I pressed my hand over my heart, trying to soothe myself. “I can’t do that again, Rhett. Do you know how bad it hurt, knowing I was going to come back and say yes to you, only to see you’d already moved on just that fast?”

“But that’s the thing, Mags.I hadn’t moved on. I still haven’t.”

I scoffed at him. “It’s been over a decade, Rhett. And your reputation isn’t exactly a secret. People have told me you’vemoved onwith plenty of other women.”

“I fucked plenty of other women,” he said roughly. “I’ve only ever made love to you.”

His words pulled at the last stich covering the old wound, and now my eyes were stinging with tears. “I loved you, Rhett. I loved you with everything I had, but we were young, and I wasafraid. That’s why I said no. I didn’t want something happening to us like what happened with my mom and my dad. But when I came to my senses and wanted to say yes...” I shook my head, pressing at the corners of my eyes to stem the flow of tears. “It’s been so long. I don’t want to go back there. I don’t want to hurt like that again.”

He reached across the table, holding my hand. “Please,” he breathed.

And that word, his touch, was my undoing. I looked into his hazel eyes, unable to look away. “Okay.”

His lips spread into a happy grin. “Okay?”

I nodded, sniffing back moisture, but his smile was contagious. “I will get to know you again. Platonically. But we’re taking itslow. I mean a snail’s pace.”

He held up his hands. “Slow down, killer. We haven’t even had dinner yet.”

Agatha approached our table with two dishes of food. “Let’s change that.”

The plate in front of me with a chicken bacon ranch sandwich and fries looked so freaking good. “No one in Austin makes a CBR like Woody’s.”

“Eat up,” he replied, and it didn’t take long for me to indulge in a mouthwatering bite.

“Oh my gosh,” I said, wiping at the corners of my mouth. “So good.”

He laughed. “I wish I liked any kind of food as much as you like that sandwich.”

I finished chewing and stuck out my tongue.

He only smiled, eyes crinkling as he did.

I couldn’t deny that old familiarity trying to creep back. So I leaned in, trying to set aside my old assumptions. “Are you still riding bulls?” I asked.

He nodded. “Coop and I go to rodeos once or twice a month all summer.”

“Coop?” I asked. I didn’t recognize the name.

“He works out at Finnigans with me,” Rhett explained. “Pretty much my best friend aside from Fletcher. He rides saddle broncs.”

“Oh, nice... How is Fletcher? I haven’t heard from him in forever.” One of the casualties of our breakup. Fletcher and Rhett were inseparable in high school, which meant when Rhett and I broke up, my friendship with Fletcher ended too.

Rhett’s features softened when he talked about his friend. “He married Liv, has a ten-year-old little girl with his first wife and then he and Liv have a baby on the way. Due in six months now. Owns the practice, like I said earlier. Living the American Dream as far as I’m concerned.”

“Good for him.” I smiled. “I always thought he and Liv had a thing.”

“You did not,” he replied.

I nodded fervently. “I did! Remember them dancing together at prom? You were so pissed because you thought he was moving in on your sister.”

“I guess I didn’t know the feelings went both ways,” he said. “But they’re good for each other. She helps him move forward, and he keeps her grounded, you know?”

I smiled at his description. “I miss Liv too.”

“I’m sure we can all hang out sometime.”

My chest tightened at the hope that sentence brought. “Maybe someday.” I needed to protect myself. Keep things moving slowly.