The True Cowboy of Sunset Ridge (Gold Valley #14)(20)

“I’m sorry,” she said, doubling over, before she could look up again at Colt Daniels’s irritated face. “I’m sorry,” she wheezed. “I can’t... I can’t breathe.”

“You think this is funny?”

“No,” she said. “It’s the opposite of funny. It’s... It’s absolutely ridiculous I have been in this town for four days. I saw you at the bar. I saw you at the coffee shop. I saw you at dinner.”

“You saw me at the coffee shop?”

“I hid from you.”

“Hid from me?”

“Behind the post.”

He frowned. “Why did you do that?”

“Because of this,” she said, wildly waving her hand back and forth between the two of them.

“What? That I’m your new landlord? At least, I assume that’s why you’re here.”

“If you own this property. Then yes. You’re my landlord. But no, that’s not why I... This is ridiculous.”

“You honestly didn’t know?”

She moved her hand back and forth between them. “You clearly didn’t know. If you didn’t know, how would I know?”

The hysteria settled in her chest, leaving something surreal behind. The wind rustled in the pines that surrounded the property, and she heard birds chirping somewhere. It would be idyllic if she wasn’t consumed by the heat from the man in front of her.

She tried to breathe.

She couldn’t.

“Well, what are you going to do now?” he asked.

She sighed heavily. “Colt,” she said, her heart thundering hard. Just saying his name did things to her.

He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, and she’d seen him naked. He’d seen her naked, and more than that... Deeply unguarded. It was not the most comfortable situation. On many levels.

But she was in it.

So what else could she do?

Maybe this was her lesson. That she was no longer allowed to sink into a state of avoidance. Of complacency. Because she had lived whole years with Jared that she hadn’t even felt. They’d just sort of slipped by, like water downstream.

She’d been numb to them. To their interactions. And what she could say for certain about her new start in Gold Valley was that she hadn’t been able to live a single moment of it complacent.

She’d felt each minute. Down in her bones, under her skin. Deep in her body where she had never felt things quite like that before.

Maybe this was the lesson.

That living, that feeling, wasn’t easy.

But maybe it was better than what she’d had before.

“I... I need a place to stay. And I am... Desperately looking to start over.”

“Why is that exactly?”

“Remember the guy I was with?”

“Yeah. He had a punchable face.”

“He does,” she said. “He just looks like someone you want to punch.”

At least, he looked that way to her now.

“Yes.”

“Well he...he and I had a really toxic, horrible breakup, and we were together for fifteen years.”

“Guys that look like him are only ever toxic.” The confidence in that statement irritated her. Like he’d seen in five seconds what it had taken her more than a decade to see.

“Yeah. Okay. You sound like my brother now.” She let out a long, slow breath. “So yeah he...he cheated on me and...”

“Okay,” he said. “I can figure out the rest.”

There was something in his tone that indicated he didn’t really want any more details. But too bad for him because she wasn’t done talking.

“I just want something. We lived in a town house together for years. Everything was...the same. And now...now I need something different. This is different. I’d better take it. I need to. And don’t worry. I am the opposite of looking for a relationship right now.”

“Okay, good. Because I am looking for a relationship never.”

“I need to be alone.”

“I mean, I sure as hell like being alone too.”

“Good. So... It’s all fine. We were surprised. Both by each other at dinner and now... Maybe we’re cousins. Maybe that’s the joke.”

He grimaced no. “I would... Rather that weren’t case.”

“I’m not saying I hope it’s true. I’m just saying. The universe is being a little weird.”

“The universe is an asshole. However, I don’t see any reason why you can’t stay there. It’s not like we’re going to be able to avoid each other if you don’t.”

“It seems that way.”

“Come on then.”

He walked out of the house past her, down the front steps. She followed on after him. “I have all the stuff in my car.”

“It’s a little bit of an intense trip up the road if you aren’t used to it. If you want me to, I can drive.”

“You want to drive my... My car?”

“I think you might want me to drive your car.”

“I don’t.”

“All right, but I might catch a ride with you. I can walk back down, and I need to check out some stuff that way anyway.”

“Go right ahead.”