Page 55 of The Rancher's Rejected Bride

"I don't want to hear another word,"she said jerkily.

"But when I saw you again—-"

She tried covering her ears, and God, it was just like before. He was suddenly close, too painfully close, and she fell back against the headboard of her bed as he pushed her arms down.

"I can't fucking pretend anymore," Damian said rawly. "I love you—-"

A sob escaped her.

"I love you—-"

"It's too late," she whispered brokenly.

Damian whitened.

"I c-can't—-"

But she could no longer speak, with his mouth cutting her words off with a deep, hard kiss.

The kiss stunned Sarah to the core, rendering her frozen in his hold. It had been so long. So, so long, and oh, the feel of his lips...it was even agonizingly sweeter than she had ever allowed herself to remember, and if she had still been the old Sarah, she would've let the kiss do its usual job and have it sweep her off her feet. But things had changed. She knew better now, knew and remembered enough that she couldn't afford to let the past happen all over again.

But even so, it hurt to hear herself whisper, "No."

It broke her heart to deny him, and a part of her was already shaking in fear, dreading the moment he might force her to reject him again.

But that moment never came.

The billionaire pulled away, and when he rose to his feet, she couldn't help looking up—-

Ah.

The look in his eyes said everything.

He had only let her go because he had known it would hurt her even more to say no to him again, and the knowledge killed her, her hands flying up to cover her mouth just as a heavy sob tore out of her throat. She tried to end it there, willing herself to stop crying, but the tears only fell faster, and when another sob escaped her lips, she heard him curse under his breath—-

And then he was leaning down.

"No—-"She couldn't let him kiss her again. Didn't think she'd be able to handle it. "Damian—-"

But all he did was gently wipe the tears off her cheeks.

"I obviously need a lot more practice in not making you cry."

She choked back a teary laugh.

"Hush now, love. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"I don't want—-"

"Tough." But his voice was casual, and he was also reaching for her as he spoke, and before she knew it, the billionaire had her tucked back under the covers. "Good night, Sarah."

She flipped to her side and pointedly refused to answer even as her stomach started churning at the rudeness of it all.

"Just say good night back." The billionaire's tone was faintly amused. "There are other and better ways to get back at me, but doing something that you hate isn't one of them."

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"You're already beating yourself up for it, aren't you?"