Page 36 of Here With Me

“Aren’t you gonna say anythin’?”

I turn around with only a few inches between us. It’d be so easy to lean down and taste her sorry lips.

“What for, Noah? Snoopin’ through my wallet when I was asleep? Or for ditchin’ me without so much as a goodbye? Perhaps for ghostin’ me, which even havin’ to say that word at my age should be a felony. Possibly for insultin’ my credibility as a farrier?” Instead of inching closer like my dick wants, I widen my stance and cross my arms over my broad chest. “So which one are you sorry for?”

She grinds down on her teeth, clearly unhappy about being called out. Her eyes flicker to the ground as if she’s contemplating her next move and her leg twitches. For a second, I’m worried she might knee me in the nuts. She’s definitely close enough to cause substantial damage.

“Okay, first...I wasn’t snoopin’ through your wallet.” Her gaze moves up and finds mine. “I just wanted to see your ID so I knew how old you were.”

“Is that what scared you off? My age?”

“No, not really. I figured you were about twice my age. Maybe not quite, but it wasn’t the problem.”

So something ran her off...

I lower my arms, but I have to interrupt our conversation to finish Buttercup’s shoe. Once I grab my tongs and take the shoe out of the forge, I mold and smooth it down.

“Can you bring me a bucket of water, please?” I ask when I realize I forgot to grab one.

Without responding, Noah walks into the barn, and I proceed to test the shoe against Buttercup’s hoof. It burns against it as I place it on and off a few times. Some of the edging needs to be adjusted, so I go back to my rig and put it in the forge so I can hammer it down again.

Once Noah returns, I take it out and tweak it. Then I check it against Buttercup’s hoof and decide it’s nearly perfect. Before nailing it in, I place it in the bucket of water to cool it down.

While I wait, I continue our conversation. “Tell me what the problem was. Maybe I can fix it?”

She inhales sharply through her nose and pinches her lips before exhaling slowly. “You can’t. It’s not somethin’ that can be undone.”

“If it’s not my age, then you gotta give me somethin’ else here. You didn’t know I was workin’ here, so I know that ain’t it. What else is there?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if it was something we did that turned her off, somethingIdid, but by her moaning and screaming that almost made me go deaf, I doubt that was the issue. We shared a strong and intense connection that night. From the way she was begging me not to stop, it wasn’t one-sided. Even now, seeing her again and being close enough to touch, a spark lingers between us that she’s trying to pretend doesn’t exist.

The pulse in her throat moves as she swallows hard as if she can’t physically get the words out. My heart hammers at the idea of there being something so wrong about us being together that I won’t be able to fix or change.

She shakes her head. “I-I don’t think we should be havin’ this conversation here. Or ever. It was just one night. There’s no reason we can’t be professionals and work on the same ranch.”

My brows furrow at her quick dismissal of us.

“Noah, tell me.” I step closer until we’re nearly touching, until our arms brush, and I can smell her floral shampoo. “Please.” Tipping up her chin, I lean in and test how far she’ll allow me to go. Even with her jabs, I can’t stop thinking about tasting her lips again.

Her shallow breathing comes to a stop when my mouth breaches hers, but then she slams her eyes closed and blurts out, “Your son!”

I rear back, nearly falling on my ass because those are the last two words I expected to hear.

“What about my son?”

Finally, she looks at me and her expression forms into one of distress. “We used to date. It’s been a while, but we were together on and off for most of my high school years and up until I was twenty.”

“Jase? You...and...Jase?” I point at her and an imaginary shadow of my son next to her.

Her lips stay sealed as she nods.

I brush a hand through my hair, trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I not only slept with a woman twenty-two years younger than me, but she’s my son’s girlfriend.

Well...ex-girlfriend.

But I don’t think technicalities matter much anyway. The two of them dated. They have a history. One I wasn’t a part of because I only tried to reconnect with my son a few months ago. Long after they were dating and broken up. Long after he would’ve told her what a piece of shit father he had.

“Jesus Christ...” Those are the only words I can form. Of all the reasons I imagined she ditched me, this was never on the fucking radar of possibilities.