Page 10 of Hung Up (Shadow Ridge #1)

“You can, doesn’t mean I’ll tell you.” We stare at each other for a while, the silence stretching between us even after the waitress has dropped off our food and left.

She sighs, her shoulders slumping as she averts her gaze and avoids eye contact, picking up her fork to push her eggs around her plate.

“My ex cheated on me, the guy before that cheated on me, and the guy before that cheated on me. I serial date cheaters so I’ve decided enough is enough.

I seem to just push men into other women’s arms and dating stopped being fun for me. ”

I’m taking a bite of my bacon when her words finally sink in. “Did they tell you it was your fault?”

“Among other things,” she murmurs, finally bringing her fork full of eggs to her mouth.

“Faith, no,” I start to say, but she holds up a hand to stop me.

“I know it’s not my fault. I know they could’ve broken up with me first, and what they did was wrong, and their actions aren’t a reflection of me.” She looks down once more. “Doesn’t mean it gets any easier.”

We sit in silence for a while, only the sound of our forks scraping our plates filling the air between us.

I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from asking what exactly it was that these men said to her to make it her fault, how they tried to place the blame on her.

I may not be a relationship expert, and I don’t claim to understand women, but it’s clear whatever was said to her is sitting like a heavy weight on her shoulders.

Her defensiveness and confrontational energy from the last couple weekends suddenly makes sense.

She’s in the mindset of ‘all men’ and I can’t say I blame her.

Three of her exes all doing the same thing?

I'd even start to wonder if it was my fault and question what I was doing wrong. A small part of me can’t help but ponder what she’s like in a relationship.

Is she the type to only give as good as she gets?

Is she a private or public person with her dating life?

Does she bend over backward for the one she loves?

Suddenly, I want nothing more than to find out.

“When I was in the seventh grade, I tried to kiss the girl I liked but I tripped as I was going in and smacked my head against her face. She got a bloody nose and lost a tooth.”

The laugh that comes out of Faith is one of surprise and completely carefree, which makes me start to laugh, too.

She covers her mouth with her hand as she closes her eyes, tears welling in the corner as she tries her best to get her giggles under control.

As she starts to quiet down, I take a risk and tell her, “I love it when you laugh. And I really like your smile.”

Her cheeks flush a bright red as her hands fall away, and she nervously tucks her hair behind her ear.

She clears her throat and looks at me from under her lashes as she catches her breath.

Faith gives me an easy smile as we stare at one another, and it feels like I’m having heart palpitations knowing I’m the one who put that smile on her face.

“Thank you,” she whispers, adjusting the napkin she had placed in her lap. “Maybe you’re not so bad, after all.”

Holy shit. I think the ice is thawing.

“Not so bad,” I repeat, which causes her to chuckle. “Something tells me that’s high praise coming from you.”

“Take it or leave it, Pretty Boy.”

I snag the check before she can when our waitress comes back, ignoring her protests to pay for her own breakfast. Once the bill is settled, she slides out of the booth and I trail behind her, heading for the lobby.

All the other bull riders have disappeared so it’s quiet as we reach the elevators, but she spins to face me before she hits the button.

“Thank you for breakfast, but please let me pay next time.”

“Not a chance, Sweetheart,” I tell her before I ask, “There’s going to be a next time?”

She shrugs, the corner of her lip tilting slightly. “If you’re lucky.”

Faith hits the button and I watch as the numbers on the screen descend, the elevator getting closer to the lobby.

Making the split-second decision that I’m not ready for our time together to end, I climb on after her before I can think better of it.

She hits the button for the fifth floor and I hit the one for the seventh.

“Don’t you have an arena to get to?”

“I left my hat in my room.” There. Not a total lie.

She hums at that, her attention fixed on the doors. “And here I thought you cowboys never went anywhere without them.”

“You’re right, but I won’t wear mine when my hair is wet. Ruins the waves.”

“Now that I can understand,” she tells me, laughter lacing her voice.

The elevator stops and the bell chimes before the doors open. She steps off without a word, and I watch as she disappears from view. I hastily step forward and prevent the doors from closing as I call out to her, “Can I give you one piece of advice?”

Faith stops and turns around to face me, her eyebrow raised. “You can, sure, but I can’t guarantee I’m going to listen to it.”

“You’re really starting to mesh well with all us riders, and please don’t take that as me ever doubting you or thinking you weren’t capable.

” She scoffs, but her posture softens just as quickly as it had gone rigid.

“Maybe it’s time you start to look the part.

You aren’t on camera this weekend, if that’s what you're worried about. If you brought a pair of jeans, it might be time to wear them.”

“Who says I want to look the part?” she fires back, her eyes narrowing slightly as she crosses her arms.

“Just a hunch.”

I step back into the elevator before she can reply, the smile staying planted on my face as I return to my room and grab my hat, never vanishing as I get back on the elevator and head back down to the lobby.

Glancing around, I spot a woman working at the front desk and walk up to her, deciding maybe it’s time for some kind of romantic gesture.

I just need to hope it doesn’t send her walls flying back up.