Page 155 of Tempting Wyatt

“Which brother?”

I inhale deeply, gathering my strength. “The, um, broody one.”

She mumbles what sounds like “oh, thank God,” before she hangs up.

I pocket the phone just as Wyatt brings Lucifer to a stopright in front of me. Patrons of both the diner and the gas station stop to stare.

“Have you lost your complete mind?”

He’s panting as he climbs down off Lucifer while holding onto his lead line. “Yeah. Think so.” He holds a hand up. “Give me just a second to catch my breath.”

Part of me, okay several parts, wants to launch myself into his arms. Some other parts want to punch him in the throat.

He’s the light, the warmth I’ve been missing since the moment I left the ranch. I ache for him, for the comfort I know being wrapped in him will bring.

But it’s not worth the pain. Being locked out of his house triggered the most painful parts of my past.

“You locked me out,” I say quietly. My eyes drop, the weight of a lifetime of being shut out weighing on my heart. “Now you’re chasing me down. I’m confused.” I lift my head in defiance, vowing never to make myself small ever again. “And frankly, I’ve had enough of the emotional whiplash for one lifetime.”

His fingers reach out and gently cup my chin until I meet his gaze. The pain in my words is reflected in his stare.

“I’m so sorry, baby.”

I step back, out of his reach. “Great. You’ve apologized. You can go now.” He reaches for me, but I hold my hand up, using every ounce of self-control that I have left to maintain an invisible barrier between us. “No.”

Not this time. Even if he did ride a horse all this way to apologize or explain himself, his words won’t fix what’s broken inside me. Only I can fix that. I see that now.

I keep shaking my head, because my whole damn life I’ve let it go when people hurt me. Forgiven and forgotten because that was easier. . . for them.I didn’t want to be too muchtrouble, didn’t want to inconvenience anyone, or ask for more than they were comfortable giving.

No matter how much I suffered as a result.

I won’t do that to myself anymore. And I won’t sell myself short, giving my trust and love and my whole fucking heart to people who shut me out, who can’t give me the same in return.

I’d rather be alone. I’m used to it.

He opens his mouth to speak, but I keep my hand up and shake my head to stop him. I’m the one who needs a minute now because it hurts, this hurts so much it’s painful to breathe.

“I’ve always sucked it up,” I tell him, swallowing hard and hearing the tremble in my voice but no longer caring. “Always been the bigger person, let it go, left the past in the past. Accepted every shitty thing everyone ever did to me because what was the alternative? Cry? Admit I was human and had feelings? Then they’d turn me over to foster care, leave me home alone, break up with me, cheat on me. Find someone who’s less trouble, less complicated, less messy.”

I pause when I run out of oxygen in my lungs.

“You can be messy, baby,” Wyatt says evenly. “Yell at me. Throw shit. Tell me I’m a fucking asshole. I deserve it. Get it out, angel.”

His words threaten to break through the wall I’m currently constructing around my heart.

When I speak again, my voice is barely above a whisper.

“I can’t be the little girl on the wrong side of a locked door anymore.”

Never again. Because now? I’m keeping my promises to myself. My eyes fill with moisture and his broad frame blurs before me.

“I will remove the damn lock as soon as I get back to theranch. I’ll remove every single one of them. My door is your door, angel. My home is your home.” He steps closer. “My heart is your heart.”

Damn this man.

I do not cry in front of anyoneever. A lesson hard-wired into me from the time I was a child. But my traitorous tears fall. Instinctively, I wipe them quickly because I’m still more comfortable hiding the hurt.

Wyatt grips my wrists, pulling my hands gently from my face. “Leave ‘em, cowgirl. You earned ‘em.”