Page 53 of Barbed Wire Fences
I nod before grabbing my beg from the ground. “Yeah. I gotta go. I’ll catch up with you two later, okay?”
Molly nods, her expression hesitant. “Sure thing. We’ll see you soon.”
Regan gives a small wave, but I don’t stick around long enough to see if either of them says anything else.
Instead, I storm out of the brewery, my thoughts swirling like a hurricane headed straight to confront Rhett Miller.
Chapter 15 – Rhett
The sound of her footsteps echoes in the hallway outside my office door, growing louder with each step.
I wish I could say I was nervous about her reaction after my run in with Owen, but I’m not. If anything, I’m eager to see her. Excited to see her sad eyes shine with something other than the lost memories and moments, even if that new thing is anger directed towards me.
And before I can even look up, the door flies open so hard it nearly comes off the hinges.
And there she is… the woman who’s always felt like mine. All wild brown hair and blazing green eyes, staring me down like I’m the worst kind of asshole. Which is fair enough. I probably am when it comes to her.
Because no matter how much she doesn’t want me to protect her, I’m always going to. I’ll always come to her defense. I’ll always want her even if she doesn’t want me back.
She’s in her scrubs, a forest green set that makes her eyes burn even brighter and deepens the summer tan of her skin. She’s breathing hard, her chest rising and falling as she glares at me, and I don’t hate myself for noticing how good she looks even with her hair all a mess when I should be bracing for the storm that I’m sure she’s about to deliver to me.
“What the hell is your deal, Rhett?” she shouts, her voice sharp enough to rattle the walls of this old building.
I lift the bag of frozen peas that Cash dropped off from my cheek and lean back in my chair, sighing as I meet her fire with a calm I don’t really feel. My knuckles are still throbbing from earlier, I’m still pissed at Owen, and I know I’ve got this coming. Hell, I probably deserve worse.
But instead of looking away, I let my gaze rake over her, not even bothering to hide the admiration in my eyes. This whole thing—all of this—is so fucking ridiculous. The way we’re acting. The wayI’macting. Like I can’t control myself. I don’t settle my problems with my fists. That’s the kind of shit my dad pulled before he up and left me and my mom to fend for ourselves.
And yet, here I am, acting out of character, all because she decided to show back up in our town when she said she’d never be back here again. Maybe it’d be best if we just gave into what we both want and got it out of our system.
“I’m sure I deserve that,” I say finally, waving a hand in her direction. “But please, elaborate.”
I press the peas back to my cheek, the cold biting into my skin, but it doesn’t dull the weight of her glare. She plants herself in front of my desk, arms crossed tight over her chest, her fury practically vibrating off her.
It’s late, way past the time I usually stay to finish work. My admin’s already gone for the day, which is probably why no one stopped her from storming in here like a goddamn hurricane.
After dealing with Owen earlier—more likedealingOwen a well-deserved beating—I’d gone straight to the Marshall family farm with Cash.
He’d grabbed me some peas, Kent Marshall, the patriarch of the family, gave me a lecture about how to fight better next time then asked who the girl was, while Rae cleaned up my knuckles. By the end of the whole thing, I had a fresh shirt from Cash, a promise from Colt that he’d killed Owen if he ever sees him looking at Jael again, and my half-brother Lawson calling me on the phone, telling me I needed to be more careful and if I needed a lawyer to call the oldest of the family, Troy.
I headed back to the office to finish up a few things that I hadn’t been able to get to because, once again, I’d been handling Jael’s business despite her not asking me to.
She doesn’t budge. Just stands there, fuming, her chest rising and falling like she’s trying to keep herself from lunging across the desk and choking me.
I wish she would.
Maybe then we can finish what we started downstairs in Lark’s basement.
“Why the hell did you go to Owen's worksite and punch him? Lainey just called me. You don’t even know what’s going on,” she says.
“Do you even want to hear my side of the story?”
“No. I don’t give a damn about sides of the story. Just leave me and my life alone. This isn’t high school. I don’t need you to save me from Owen.”
“If I remember correctly, in high school, Owen was bragging about taking your virginity. I, however, did the honorable thing by breaking his nose for talking about you so cavalierly in the same breath that he spoke about fucking another girl that night.”
She pinches the bridge of her nose tight. “Don’t act like you were doing me any favors, Rhett. I’m sure you were just dying to gloat about how you’d slept with me too.”
“Jael, I’ve never told a single person the truth, though I’m not sure why it’s so embarrassing to you that you lost it to me and not that jerk.”
