Broken(40)

“Thank you, kind sir.” As Stone led her to their table, the band began to strike up an all too familiar tune: Restless Heart’s “I’ll Still Be Loving You”. How many times had she and Cade danced to that tune at this joint, or under the moonlit sky? Once they were coming back from a trip in town when the song came on the radio, Cade pulled over to the side of the road and they danced right there, holding each other tight, uncaring of the passing motorists.

She halted mid-stride.

Stone paused. “Are you all right?”

“This was our song,” she whispered.

“Do you want me to take you outside for some air.”

Jocelyn shook her head. “Take me back.” She didn’t want Cade to see how much it affected her.

Couples began to pair up around them and all Jocelyn could think of was getting back to her table and praying the blasted song would hurry up and end. Was she deliberately being tested? She released her grip on Stone’s arm and somehow made it to the table on wobbly legs. Just as she approached, Cade stood, pulling Misty along with him. “I think it’s time we hit the road.”

“But you promised me a dance before we left and I love this song.” Misty rubbed her boobs against Cade’s shoulder, and pouted. “Pretty please?”

Jocelyn wanted to throw up. If Cade danced with that bleach-blonde hussy to their song, she believed she’d die a little inside.

Cade glanced Jocelyn’s way, his expression unreadable. His mouth tightened briefly. “Another time, Misty. I’ll see you folks later.” He walked off while a disappointed Misty trailed behind.

Jocelyn didn’t know she’d been holding her breath until he was gone and it came out in one relieved whoosh. Even though he didn’t dance with Misty, he’d still gone off with her and was probably going to do God knows what. For the millionth time, she asked herself, when would the hurting stop?



Cade pulled his pickup to a halt in front of Misty’s house. Without bothering to turn off the engine, he unfastened his seatbelt and slid out of his vehicle. When he’d made it to the passenger side to help Misty out, the blonde sported a ferocious frown. She didn’t look the least bit pleased.

Instead of giving him her hands she stayed put, a pout turning down her pink painted lips. She crossed her arms across her chest, showing her displeasure. “You’re not coming inside with me,” she whined.

It took a lot of will power to not roll his eyes. He didn’t have the patience to deal with temper tantrums tonight. Honestly, he didn’t want to take her out tonight in the first place, but he’d missed her birthday because one of the mares went into labor sooner than he expected. He and Misty had been dating off and on for the past year, yet they’d never gone beyond casual dating. Misty hinted that she wanted more, but every time she brought the subject up, Cade managed to change it.

“Not tonight, sweetheart. I have to get back home.”

“Why? To see her?”

Cade stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. So are you going to get out of the truck or not?”

Baby blue eyes darkened before narrowing into a nasty glare. “Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. You haven’t been the same ever since your precious Jocelyn came back. Once the famous fashion designer decides to grace us with her presence again, you start treating me like dirt. And furthermore, I have no intention of getting out of this truck until you tell me exactly where we stand. I’m tired of being jerked around by you.”

This night wasn’t going as planned. He thought he’d be able to take Misty out, have a few dances and then get her off his back at least for another two weeks. Seeing Jocelyn looking better than she had a right to had sent his body into a tizzy and far from helped matters.