Page 132 of Things Left Unsaid

He’s not crying as far as I can tell because he’s digging the butts of his palms into his eyes.

I crouch beside him. “Callan, you have to understand that when I signed the agreement, I had no way of knowing if Colt was like your father or not.

“Grand-mèredidn’t provide me with a character reference. She gave me very few options,” I tack on bitterly. “But if,whenI get pregnant and we divorce, I won’t leave my baby behind. I-I’m not your mom.”

My words have him gradually moving his hands from his face.

“You swear?”

“I swear. I-I never thought I’d have kids like this but…” I hitch a shoulder. “Colt’s a good man. There’s no reason we couldn’t make shared custody work.”

“If you know he’s a good man, then why don’t you want to be with him?”

Frustrated, I surge to my feet.

A part of me wants to slam my fist into the wall too, goddammit, but I don’t.

I’m the adult here, after all.

Scoffing at the notion, I return to the window where, of course, I find the man of the hour.

Why does he always seem as if he’s brooding?

He’s standing there, leaning on a damn newel post. But he looks like Emily Brontë’s Heathcliff—a long-suffering hero who needs a hug.

And maybe a blowjob.

My cheeks flush at the thought.

Since Tee found out about that kiss, I’ve been hyperaware of all thingshim. Honestly, she’s part of the reason I’ve been avoiding Colton. According to her, we’re a hop, skip, and a jump away from sex. The body might be willing, but the mind isn’t.

So I have trust issues—could anyone blame me?

“Why don’t you want to be with my brother?”

“Because he’s a stranger,” I sputter.

“And? People fall in love with strangers all the time.”

“It’s barely been a month, Callan!” I stomp my foot because he’s exasperating the living shit out of me, but before I can lay into him about consent and choices and free freaking will, I happen to see Colt straighten up.

At first, I think it’s because he’s radar and he heard my ever-so-loud stomp.

But it isn’t me.

Of course, it isn’t.

His gaze locks on something in the distance, though. I know because his scowl is like thunder. It practically booms into being around him.

Curious, I peer in that direction. Whatever took the man from brooding to outright furious does more than prick at my inquisitive nature.

That’s when I see what turned my stoic husband into a wrathful alpha.

As much as the ranch hand disgusts me with how he’s whipping his horse, it’s the way Colt lopes over there, moving behind the rider and the bucking Camargue that draws my attention. With one hand settling gently on the gelding’s hind, he snags the bastard by the back of his jacket and drags him off the saddle.

God, if I wasn’t already tied up in knots for the not-so-strange stranger I’m married to, I am now.

Gravity has the guy plunking on the ground. Colt’s quick to tap the horse’s rear. The creature tosses his head before he gallops off.

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