Page 51 of Some Cowboys Fight for Love

He’d told her he’d tracked her down, and if she didn’t come, he would come to her. The last thing she wanted was for Cayden to come to her cousins’ home. She didn’t want any of them interacting with him. He could be the most charming person to everyone else. On the surface, he was perfection.

But when they were alone, he had a knack for making her feel small and useless.

Just seeing his face had her feeling as though she’d been pushed off a cliff to a rocky landscape below.

Aria held a trembling hand to her stomach.

She’d been attempting to devise a plan on how to take care of Cayden. Bribery had been at the top of her list. Ignoring him had been second. She’d even fantasized about asking Daniel to marry her so she could show up at the coffee shop with a wedding band on her finger and a man to back it up with.

But none of those scenarios would work, and she knew it.

She wanted to be angry.

Angry with Cayden for upending her life.

Angry with Daniel for making her fall in love with him.

And angry with Daniel all over again for being the kind of guy who knew her well enough to see she was struggling with something.

The fact that he’d caught her in town and hadn’t immediately come over to her to demand answers was more telling than he would ever know. He trusted her.

And what was she doing to that trust?

Shredding it up all over again.

First with the application to Cornell and now this.

She groaned, shoving her head into her hands when she finally made it to her room and slumped down on the bed. What was she going to do now? She couldn’t exactly tell Daniel what she was dealing with. He’d come riding in on a white horse to rescue her from the devil himself if he had to.

And she couldn’t let Cayden know about him.

She was stuck.

She was broken.

Tears started to fall as she went over everything that Cayden had said during their meeting.

He wasn’t going to let her go. She’d embarrassed him when she’d run off—especially since he’d apparently told all his friendsthat he was going to marry her. She might think she had a choice, but she didn’t.

He planned on taking her back home.

Of course she’d told him right where to go—her colorful language only making him chuckle. The dark look in his eyes promised that she’d pay for her sharp tongue, however.

After they’d parted ways, she’d felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t bear the thought of going home to speak to Daniel about the meeting or the threats. And she didn’t want Cayden following her just in case he really didn’t know where she was staying.

Once again, he threatened her—telling her to meet him for a date tomorrow. He said they had a lot to discuss. Bile rose in her throat. While he’d been sweet and charming in public, she could see through that facade immediately. The undertones of his words had done more than enough to make her wary.

A snort bubbled up and out of her throat. As much as she‘d wanted to scream and make a scene, she knew she couldn’t. Folks around here would only see the handsome, wealthy, charming man that Cayden presented himself as. With her luck, he’d make them all believe she had a mental break and he was here to take her back home.

She groaned again and flung herself onto the bed. Staring at the ceiling, she racked her brain for any ideas she might be able to come up with in order to get Cayden to leave. There had to be something—anything—that would make him see that she wasn’t worth the trouble.

Her mind was blank.

Cayden would never give up.

He’d proven that fact by tracking her down all the way here in Copper Creek. She might as well give up.

Or she could run.

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