Broken(62)

“Are you saying you’re not capable of being aroused?”

She bit her bottom lip and nodded. Now, he would push her away, and say he’d made a mistake. What man would willingly condemn himself to a life of celibacy?

“It makes sense,” he said softly, almost as if he was talking more to himself than to her.

“What?”

“When I kissed you in the barn, you froze up on me. I could kick myself for that.”

“What does that have to do with anything? I’m telling you I don’t think I’m capable of enjoying sex as a healthy woman should.”

Each moment of silence that passed between them hurt deeply. It would have been better if he would come right out and say what he was thinking. Instead, Cade stared straight ahead, not really looking at anything in particular and not saying a word. Had he finally realized what a mistake he’d made by declaring his undying devotion to her? Was he trying to come up with excuses for why they shouldn’t be together?

Even though this was what she wanted, it didn’t make this situation any less painful. This was exactly what she’d wanted to avoid. Jocelyn should have remained firm in her resolve to stay away from him, but she’d told herself she could handle it, at least for this one time. Obviously, she’d been wrong.

“If you’ve changed your mind, I’m okay with it. In fact, it would probably be best for both of us, if we just called it quits now.”

“Whoa!” He pushed away from the table and stood up. “You’re getting ahead of yourself. Contrary to what you believe, this changes nothing.”

Her mouth fell open.

Cade strode toward her with determined strides and stopped next to her. He took her hand and pulled Jocelyn out of her chair. “Come with me.”

“Where are you taking me, Cade?”

“You’ll see.”

He led her down a long hallway and took her to what looked liked the master bedroom.

“Cade,” she began hesitantly.

“Trust me. Have a seat.” He motioned her toward the bed. What was he up to and why was he being so secretive? She knew he wouldn’t harm her in any way, but she wished Cade would tell her why he’d brought her here.

Jocelyn hesitantly did as she was told, clenching her hands in her lap nervously. With a frown, she watched as he rooted through his closet. “What are you doing?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. Hold your horses, darlin’.”

She fidgeted on the bed, unable to keep still. Jocelyn didn’t have to wait for long, because Cade produced a shoebox and joined her on the bed.

“Here.” He placed the box on her lap.

“What’s in it?”

“Open it and find out.”

Stealing a brief glance in Cade’s direction, she pulled the top off with trembling fingers. Inside were newspaper clippings, pictures and a hodgepodge of odds and ends. Her hands shook as, she picked up the first item on top—a movie ticket from over eight years ago. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

“Does that look familiar?” Cade probed gently.

Jocelyn nodded through a haze of tears. The lump in her throat felt like a rock, robbing her of speech. It was the first movie they’d ever gone to. It was some horror flick Cade had been dying to see. She’d been terrified, but he’d promised to hold her hand during the scary parts, not that it mattered much when it was all said and done anyway. They’d sat in the back of the theater. Neither one paid much attention to the screen, too wrapped up in the sensation of newfound love.