West rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t care less what you decide to do, honestly. Maybe it’s better if you leave her behind and keep her wondering how you really feel about her. I wash my hands of it.”
Nash scooped up Emily’s jacket, feeling out of sorts.
West shoved the leash at him. “Take him out, will you?”
Lizardman tumbled over himself in his excitement, looking like a rolling ball of fur. Taking pity on the tiny beast, Nash grasped at the leash and strode outside while Lizardman tried to catch at Emily’s jacket. Nash kept it out of reach, heading for the garage on autopilot, not paying attention to anything around him. His brain felt like it was on overload.
Oh God, I want to be a good man…
His heart sank when he thought of Emily. She laughed at his jokes, responded to his kisses, and still she held back, like she was so torn. West was right. He was an irresponsible punk. He needed to make her see him as someone who could take care of her, but how?
Millions of dollars? The government would want their share of that, but… is it so wrong to better myself? It’s only business. Is that really the way things work?
Besides college, he’d never had to navigate a world outside of the ranch before.
There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with brokering this deal… besides Lynch. A man should provide for his home and family—I don’t have either of those things. That’s why I came out here, to be independent, make my own way. I need to man up…
West had told Nash that he’d tell the widow that he’d be there in a few days. That gave Nash time to mull things over. He’d need that, because he couldn’t think about this right now. He just wanted to see Emily.
She had a way of making him forget about why he’d wanted to leave Nashville.