Page 44 of Rope Me In

DEREK: You were never good enough, anyway.

You were never good enough, anyway.

You were never good enough, anyway.

You were never good enough, anyway.

Tears well up again, and I almost choke on the emotion clogging my throat. Never good enough? I’ll admit that I let Derek get in my head about my talent, but I’m a good fiddle player. More than good—I’m one of the best in Texas, but I let my ex’s own insecurities and hurtful comments make me think otherwise. I let him influence my life and the choices I’ve made. I let him worm his way into every part of my mind, making me question who I am and every dream I’ve ever had.

My phone buzzes with another text, and all my muscles bunch in my body.

“Screw you, Derek!” I scream.

“Who’s Derek?”

I scream again, this time from surprise as Kade strolls through the door from the other connecting bedroom.

“Kade!” I place a hand over my heart. “You scared the crap out of me!”

He steps up in front of the table, and I stand, my entire body vibrating. His hair is wet from a shower, and he’s got on his Night Hawk T-shirt and a pair of jeans with boots. For a moment, I forget about my anger and the fact that I have tears in my eyes, because I swear every time I see him, he gets more attractive.

Kade’s gaze narrows as he looks me up and down. The intensity of it makes my stomach muscles clench and my body tingle. I swear he looks concerned again—like he was when I fainted.

“What happened?” he asks.

I shove my phone in the back pocket of my jeans and take a breath. I realize it sounds shaky, but I’ve never been a good actress. “Nothing.”

Kade steps into my space like he did the first day I met him, and he brings his thumb up to wipe a tear from my cheek. My entire body freezes at the tingling sensation the brief touch left in its wake as blood rushes into my ears. He studies the wetness on his thumb, observing it as if he’s never seen tears before.

“Doesn’t look like nothing, Lemon.” His hazel gaze flicks to me, our bodies so close that I can see they’re mostly green with little flecks of brown and gold in them. I think I even see a little blue. They’re beautiful.

“What did this Derek do?” he asks.

The breath that I’ve been holding breaks free at the sound of Derek’s name on Kade’s lips. I blink away the tears and step back, folding my arms over my chest.

“Personal space much?”

The corner of Kade’s lips turn up into what I can only describe as a rogue smirk. “You want me to punch his lights out for you? I’m not above wiping the floor with an asshole.”

I stare at him, this man who doesn’t know me, who has done nothing but confuse and arouse me since the day I got here.

“I have to leave for work,” I say, ignoring his question. I would love to see someone punch Derek in the face, especially this handsome cowboy, but I don’t need a man defending me. Kade doesn’t even like me—though maybe that assumption is wrong given our interactions over the last twenty-four hours.

He lowers his hand, the smile from before still on his face. “You’re good at keeping the focus off yourself, aren’t you?”

Not wanting to get into this now—or ever—I step back from him. I walk away, grabbing my keys and small purse from the kitchen counter. When I turn around, Kade is standing right there again, his tall body in my path.

“Who’s Derek?” he asks.

“I’ll see you later.” I move to step around him, but he blocks my path.

“We can drive together. I’m working tonight.”

“I’d rather drive alone.”

“Well, see, that’s impossible.”

I cross my arms over my chest and chuff in annoyance. “Why is that impossible?”