Page 124

Time to make amends.

Time to exorcise the demons.

Time to save the woman I adored.

CHAPTER 32

Juliette

What in God’s name was wrong with me? What?

Huge man.

I’d actually called Kage huge. Okay, so he was. One hand could easily wrap around both of mine. His body fit perfectly against mine, wrapping his long legs around me to keep me safe. I could still feel his hardness as he’d pressed his body against mine. He was big and strong, yet gentle when he wanted to be. Then I’d all but shattered the moment into a million pieces by laying my cards on the table.

Placing my heart on my sleeve.

And he’d crushed it. I’d been stupid to think he could see himself involved with another woman. How inconsiderate of me. The man had lost his wife, and I’d acted like a girl on a mission to gain a husband.

“Ugh,” I groaned out loud. The trouble was I’d meant what I said to him and deep down inside, I’d known he’d dismiss my thoughts as if I didn’t know him. Maybe I was crushing too hard to realize the truth, but I felt much closer to the man, walls crumbling between us. Maybe because he’d allowed me to peel away the layers he’d tightly wound around himself.

But as usual, he’d blocked my efforts.

After that, the tension between us had remained high.

It was all my fault.

“Am I an idiot, Tank?” Great. Now I was talking to a pup. At least he was paying attention to me, unlike his human father who preferred to ignore my words of wisdom.

Decent advice I rarely acknowledged myself.

Tank exhaled and I nodded. “You’re right. I am. Telling your father I cared about him was stupid. Stupid.” I groaned, pressing my fist against my head. In the heat of the moment, the words had seemed perfect, just like the timing.

But I’d been wrong as usual.

Kage’s lack of response had told me everything I didn’t want to know.

The man wasn’t interested.

No amount of passion, no wild electricity would change the fact he was a loner. There were plenty of other things I could call the man.

Frustrating.

Annoying.

Dictatorial.

“Why is your daddy dog so stubborn?” I asked Tank, wishing he could answer in human terms. He swished his tail, a single whine at least allowing me to realize he was trying to understand what I was saying to him.

Since Kage had left to head into town, all I’d done was check the locks on the doors twice and paced the floor. His reactions and warning had boosted the fear factor a thousand percent. Patience wasn’t one of my best attributes.

Well, I’d also thought of him, allowing images to pop into my mind every few seconds. That wasn’t good for my psyche at this point. He’d been very clear and I needed to get that through my head. How long had he been gone? Thirty minutes? An hour? It felt like three hours. I’d walked into the library just to be closer to him.

And not in his bedroom. Never again.

My eyes flitted to the letter from Kage’s uncle. He’d made up his mind about the sanctuary as well. I felt that in my heart.

At least he’d left the SIM card in the laptop. Maybe taking a few pictures of Tank would calm the ugly beast inside of me. I sat down behind the desk, hitting the spacebar. I was surprised to find there wasn’t any password protection on the older computer. But at least that allowed me to retrieve the card. Before I did, I noticed one of the last pictures he’d looked at.