Sharp Shootin' Cowboy (Hot Cowboy Nights, #3)(66)

“I’m not screwing around here.” In all truth, his resolve was weakening, his threats growing emptier by the second. It took all he had to turn her down, but he vowed he wasn’t going to break this time. “I want to know exactly what I’m dealing with before we take this any further. I need your unconditional trust.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you have to stop jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst of me. You need to give me the benefit of the doubt when we disagree. That’s what I’m asking for. What I expect. Those are my terms, Haley. I can’t compromise on that. I’m an all-or-nothing deal.”

He rose, deposited her in the bathtub, jerked the curtain closed, and walked out, leaving the door half open behind him. He leaned against the wall, his chest heaving, while he tried to will away a raging hard-on. He shut his eyes on a mumbled curse. Why did he always seem to get punished for doing the right thing?

Watching that grizzly attack had flipped a switch. The thought of losing her had nearly eviscerated him. He still had so much more to say to her, but she still wasn’t near ready to hear it. Maybe she never would be, but until then, he swore he’d keep his dick zipped if it killed him.

*

Haley found a set of pink sweats sitting beside the sink when she got out of the tub. Apparently he didn’t want to see her in his T-shirt anymore. His earlier rejection had stung, but she was too tired to think about it anymore. Although the bath had soothed her sore body, it had also made her incredibly sleepy.

She dressed and toweled her hair dry. When she emerged from the bathroom, the smell of homemade bread and a steaming bowl of vegetable soup greeted her. Her stomach reacted vociferously.

“So you’re hungry after all.” He spoke casually, as if nothing had happened. She wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“Yeah. I am,” she replied.

“Did the bath help?” His tone was a little too polite, his manner too reserved.

“It did. Immensely.”

He might be able to ignore what happened—or better said, what didn’t—but she couldn’t deal with awkwardness. “I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I shouldn’t have pushed myself on you like that. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

His mouth curved into a dry smile. “I was uncomfortable all right. Just not the way you imply.” He laid his hands on her shoulders, his gaze holding hers. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Haley. It wasn’t because I don’t want you.”

She chewed on that. “Then I guess I should thank you for not taking advantage of me.”

“Let’s forget it. Come and sit down before it gets cold.”

Reid took a seat across from her, slouching back in his chair.

“Aren’t you going to eat, too?” she asked, feeling self-conscious.

“I ate earlier while you were sleeping.”

She sipped broth from her spoon, testing the temperature before diving into the bowl. The soup was wonderful, definitely not the Campbell’s variety. “Your mom brought this over?”

“Yeah. I’m a lousy cook. I mostly eat at the house.”

“But you don’t live over there.”

“No. The cabin’s not much, but I need my own space. Eventually, I’d like to buy my own spread, but there’s no reason to.” His gaze met hers. “Not yet anyway.”

“What kind of place do you want?” she asked.

“Probably a ranch like this one, but smaller.”

“You want to stay in the same kind of business?”

He shrugged. “It’s what I know. What I’m good at. ’Sides that, we’ve always made a decent living at it, which is more than many ranchers can say these days. What about you? Do you ever think about what you want a few years down the road?”

“I’ve started to,” she said. “I think it began when Yolanda married last year. She already has a baby boy.” She couldn’t help the note of wistfulness.

His brows rose. “You want kids, Haley?”

“I do. I’ve always wanted a big family, maybe because it was always just me and my grandparents.”

“That was partly your own choice, wasn’t it?”

Her gaze narrowed. “They told you about my mother?”

“Yeah. Why didn’t you want to live with her?”

“Because she never wanted me.”

“She obviously had regrets later. She came for you, after all. Maybe you should make peace with her.”

“I can never forgive her, and I don’t want to talk about it. Why are you always trying to reason with me anyway?”

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “It’s just how I tick. I’ve always tried to look at both sides of every situation, even if it doesn’t change my own opinion.”

“I have a right to my feelings even if they don’t make sense to you,” she snapped.

“Absolutely,” he agreed. “There’s pie. Want some?”

“Pie is an unfair weapon, Reid.” And he’d skillfully wielded it to diffuse her flare of temper. “Apple?” she asked hopefully.

“Yup. The best kind.”

“It’s my favorite, too. Yolanda makes a killer apple-jalape?o pie.”