Page 29 of Things Left Unsaid

There’s no denying that the boy was beautiful, but the man is so muchmore.

His hair’s all over the place thanks to the impromptu swim he had this morning, but it’s messy and tousled, so dark that it’s almost black. Doesn’t stop my fingers from itching to stroke it.

The glossy locks flop onto his forehead, where just-as-dark brows frame a face that reminds me I’m marrying thehotKorhonen. And all the Korhonens are handsome AF.

His mouth’s firm and his jaw tells me he doesn’t crack enough smiles. A man like him, out on the range as much as he is, should have wrinkles at his eyes. Crow’s feet show the passage of time as well as emotions, but his face is smooth if a tad rough around the edges from exposure.

Bright blue eyes are shielded by lashes so thick I’m jealous.

I used to have the right to stare into those eyes. Once upon a time, he let me touch his chin without thinking anything of it.

“Why are you agreeing to this? Surely there was an alternative?” I rasp, fully aware that this man needs no contract to get a woman down the aisle.

He could have anyone he wanted, and instead, he’s stuck with me.

Someone he already rejected ten years ago.

“I needed Pops off the ranch yesterday.” His hands tighten on the wheel. “But also, Loki.”

“What about him?”

That horse—I still cry some nights thinking about how he died.

I cry wondering how Colt could believe I’d do that to Loki.

I cry knowing I’ll never stroke him or bury my face in his mane again.

“It was…Everythingwas a mess back then. I let grief cloud…” The steering wheel squeaks under the pressure of his grip. “I should never have thought you’d do that to him.”

“Really?” I can hear the hope leaching into my voice. The long-held desperation I still feel to have him believe me.

“Really. His death is an open wound that never healed, Susanne. I mean, Zee. That you were there at all, it felt like you were punishing me. Distance and, Jesus, maturity, I know it was irrational to blame you.

“This arrangement will save both our legacies. Loki… he, we, I-I think I’d have agreed to marry Lilith herself if it meant protecting the Seven Cs—”Charming.“—but you’re not that. You never were. And I’m the one who should be askingyouwhy you’re willing to marry me.”

He scrubs a hand over his face as he shuffles in his seat.

Every inch of him screams discomfort.

Good.

“You know what hurt the most? I-I kissed you. I mistook the situation. I know that now. But I k-kissed you and you rejected me. I was only sixteen and you were twenty-two. You were being a good guy. But that you’d think me being rejected would trigger—” I close my eyes. “You thought I was nothing more than a no-good McAllister. You tarred and feathered me with that brush.”

“I did,” he agrees, his voice low and simmering with shame. “I’m sorry, Zee.”

Five words.

An admission of guilt. An apology.

With my name of choice.

I don’t accept his apology, just gnaw on my lip and decide to change the subject because concession and apology aside, that ache in my heart hasn’t let up. I thought it would. But it’s still there. Raw and weeping as if it’s infected.

His opinion has changed so fast, but I don’t know if I can believe it. Believe in him. And that hurts too. There was a time when I trusted him implicitly and the difference is jarring.

With Main Street in the near distance, I order, “You can drop me off on the corner.”

“No. I want to talk to you first.”

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