“Kara.” The pain in his low, throaty voice nearly made me double over. I hated hurting him so much. But I had to remember what I’d seen and who he really was. My hands, voice, body, everything shook as I walked over to the barn entrance. I placed some space between us before I turned to face him.
“It’s Bruce, isn’t it?” he asked, tortured, hand up to his hair as if to pull it out.
“Declan, please! Why are you doing this to me?” Tears sprung fresh to my eyes and I brought my face to my hands.
“Just tell me who it is. I need to know.”
“It’s not Bruce!” I yelled, frustrated with his fixation. “I sold the ranch to some creepy guy.”
“Who?” His eyes glittered with rage.
“Why does it matter?”
“Who did you sell it to?” He took a step closer.
“His name is Lymon Culpepper.”
“Lymon Culpepper?”
“Yes, he’s some creepy freak but he’s the one who made me an offer so I sold it to him. But none of that matters, Declan! I need you to leave me alone!” He took another step closer toward me, looking heartbreakingly gorgeous, rumpled, tortured and raging with need.
“Declan!” I cried out desperate. “Nothing has changed. I can’t do this with you. I won’t do it.”
“Why, Kara?” He looked the most vulnerable I’d ever seen him, calling out to me in the moonlight.
“I can’t trust you!” A fierce strength came into my lungs as I spoke now. “I won’t let you treat me like this. I deserve more.”
He stopped and his gaze flattened, lost some of its power.
“We live in completely different worlds,” I insisted.
“What do you mean?” He looked confused and hurt and I almost caved, almost gave in right there. But I had to stay strong. My body had just betrayed me, but I had to keep fighting to do what was right.
“I’ll never fit into your world,” I flatly declared, picturing him in the hallway at that gala, kissing that glittering, rich, empty woman. “And I don’t want to.”
“What world? Where do I fit in that you don’t?
“New York City! That woman!” I knew I wasn’t making a ton of sense, but the emotions battling through me challenged coherent speech. He continued looking at me, baffled. “I saw you,” I insisted.
“What?”
“I saw you kissing Courtney. At the party.”
“Courtney?”
“Don’t make me drag through all the details!” I rubbed my forehead with my hands. “You know what I’m talking about. Courtney, in the hallway.”
“That?”
“Yes, that,” I said, exasperated. “Don’t act like it’s nothing.”
“What do you think you saw?” He looked befuddled and as exasperated as me.
“I don’t think I saw! I know I saw you kiss her!”
“Kara—”
“Do you deny it?”
“No, but it’s not…that drunk socialite? She’s nothing to me.”
“That doesn’t exactly make me feel better.” How could he be so cold and callous about his conquests?
“She was drunk and she kissed me. One second longer you would have seen me pushing her off.”
“I don’t believe you.” I shook my head. I didn’t want his sweet-talking. I knew the man could tempt me into anything. I needed to block my ears like a sailor to the sirens or I’d end up crashed on the rocks. I should have stuffed my ears with cotton balls so I wouldn’t succumb to his words. Actions spoke much louder, and I knew what I’d seen. “I can’t believe you, Declan.”
We stood there, not touching in the darkness.
“You’ve broken my heart, Declan. Twice now.” I shook my head, trying not to cry. “I can’t trust you. There’s too much mess between us. Don’t ask me to do this. I can’t.” I couldn’t help it. The sobs welled up and burst through, my shoulders sagging into the weight of my tears. “I can’t let you break my heart again. Please.”
He took a step closer.
“No!” The word came out strong, much stronger and more certain than I felt. But I knew if he touched me, held me in his strong, solid arms I’d never stand a chance.
“Declan, if you care about me at all, please go away. I don’t want what you have to offer. I need you to leave. I can’t do this.”
With that I turned and walked up to the big house on the hill. I shook as I walked, but I hoped he couldn’t see. I made it up the stairs and through the front door. No hand came around my waist, no voice called for me to stop.
I closed the door behind me and sat at the kitchen table in the darkness. I heard the engine of his truck start, the sound of his wheels on the dirt driveway.
>
Declan drove out of my life. Just like he had the first time. Only this time, I knew it was forever.
CHAPTER 5
Declan
First thing I did back in Billings was get Lymon Culpepper’s phone number. What kind of a name was Lymon fucking Culpepper? Who was this joker? He wasn’t going to be the owner of Kara’s ranch, I knew that much.
Nine a.m., I had my lawyer make the phone call. Fifteen minutes later he phoned me back. The deal was done. All that pain and worry I’d put Kara through and all it took me was a two-minute phone call plus some wait time as my lawyer did his job. I truly was an asshole.
You know who might have been a bigger one, though? That Culpepper asshat. First of all, what he’d offered for Kara’s ranch had been peanuts, an insult. Only a desperate, down-on-her luck woman would accept an offer that low. I hadn’t realized Kara had been backed so far into a corner. Another strike against me.
She’d been trying to be brave, I could see that now, keeping quiet about it all. But if I’d asked and listened she probably would have told me. I’d done neither. I’d taken her like a caveman, dragging her off to spank and fuck her and ignore everything else for my own selfish pleasure. I could truly be a dick.
I should have bailed her out the second I saw her. The minute she told me she needed help, I should have done it. It was all so simple. But no, I’d put her through hell because I was a selfish bastard. I chose to torture her so I could keep her with me instead of helping her and letting her go.
I could say I wished she’d told me how close she was to the edge, but I should have known. It wasn’t like I’d always had money. How quickly rich assholes forgot what it was like to be in real dire straits.
But Lymon Culpepper, him I really hated. He wouldn’t sell for anything less than double his offer. Normally, I’d have worn him down. Used time, pressure, all my bag of tricks. But in this case, I wanted it done. I needed it done. This transaction took his grubby paws off her deed, and that couldn’t happen fast enough.