Page 85 of The Mountain Echoes
Speaking of which….
“So…I’m not unattractively masculine?” I can’t help sounding bitter ‘cause I still am.
“Told you I was sorry. Still am, darlin’. I find you attractive, yes, but…it’s more than that. Aria, you arearresting.”
Now that’s a nice thing to hear. But….
“How can I trust someone who said the things you did and now?—”
He cuts me off sharply, his regret evident. “I’m sorry. So fuckin’ sorry. For a forty-year-old man, I behaved like a teenager.Pleaseforgive me.”
I can’t fault his sincerity, but….
“You make me nervous,” I admit.
His eyes hold mine. “I’m USDA Inspected and Passed. Safe.”
“You’re Celine’s friend,” I breath.
“I was.”
“And now?”
His hand tightens slightly on my waist. “Now, I’m yours.”
I stop moving.
“Like you’re playin’ musical chairs?” My heart hammers with a sick, hot rhythm. “One sister—check—and now the other?”
“Aria!” The way he says my name—it’s not angry. It’s a gasp, wounded, and stunned.
If he’d snapped, if he’d gotten cold or cruel, I could’ve handled that. Braced against it. But this hurt in his eyes—because of me—twists my insides and makes me feel like shit. It makes me feel powerful that I’m able to do this to the great Maverick Kincaid. Italsomakes me want to close the space between us and apologize with my hands, my mouth….
“That was unfair,” I say quietly, shame crawling up my neck for what I said and how I’m aroused by him, for him.
“I know you don’t trust me.” He kisses my forehead. “I’ll change your mind. I’ll earn your trust.”
The music’s still playing.
People are still dancing.
But my world’s gone still, caught in the way he’s looking at me—like he’s seeing all the broken places and wants them anyway.
“I don’t blame you for having doubts,” he continues. “But I mean it when I say that I want to help you.”
That snaps me right out of it.
I pull back. “There it is. It’s always about the damn ranch, always about a deal for you, isn’t it?”
“No deal.”
“Then what?” I demand.
He exhales sharply, eyes flashing. “I want you to win, Aria. Because it matters so much to you. I want you to have what you want.”
My stomach flips, not fromnerves but from fear.
If I believe him, and I’m wrong….
