Page 28 of Owned By The Cowboy
Twenty minutes later, I’m driving away from my parents’ house with no kids, no plans, and a growing determination to get answers.
Blayne wants to avoid me? Fine. But he’s gonna have to do it to my face.
* * *
Blayne’s house is beautiful. Set back from the road, with a long driveway that gives me plenty of time to second-guess my decision.
By the time I pull up in front of the main building, my hands are shaking and my heart is pounding. This is crazy. I’m about to march up to a man’s front door and demand to know why he’s been avoiding me after one kiss. One really, really good kiss. Yeah, I’m nuts.
His truck is in the driveway, along with a huge, gleaming motorcycle, so I guess he’s home. There’s no backing out now.
I march up to the front door and knock before I can lose my nerve.
It takes him a while to answer, long enough that I start to wonder if he’s going to pretend he’s not home. But finally, the door opens, and there he is.
He’s wearing jeans and nothing else… Hair damp, like he just got out of the shower. God, I forgot how tall he is. How big. Looming over me with one huge hand on the doorframe, the other on the wooden panel. His gorgeous eyes are a bit widened in surprise. His full, pink lips parted. He’s all brawn and muscle under golden skin. My eyes travel down his corded neck, following the simple chain holding his dog tags. I’m staring. I know it. But there’s nothing I can do to keep my gaze from hungrily taking in his scars, his tattoos, the thin layer of dark hair between his massive pectorals, the way it thins down between his defined abs, pointing to the band of his worn jeans. God, he’s pretty. Lickable. Panty-ruining-ly handsome. And seeing him like this brings back every damn second of our kiss invivid detail. The way he smelled, how he felt against my body, his heat, the taste of him…
“Reggie.” His voice is rough, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
He shakes his head. “It’s not a good time.”
“I don’t care.” I push past him into his house before he can stop me, my heart beating wildly from the anger I’ve carried and nursed for days, the hurt, the embarrassment… and from being utterly turned on by the sight of this man half-naked. “You’ve been avoiding me this whole week, and I want to know why.”
“I haven’t been avoiding you.”
I turn to face him, and he’s closed the door, but he’s standing as far away from me as possible. Like I might attack him if he gets too close. Fuck his stupid, hotter-than-hell self!
“Bullshit. You missed dinner tonight. You never miss Mama’s dinner.”
“I had things to do.” His face is closed-off, his eyes shuttered, tone monotone. Still bare-chested and drool-worthy, though… Focus, Regina!
“What things?”
“Reggie…”
“What things, Blayne?” I step closer, not letting his intoxicating scent of the heat emanating from his massive body cloud my brain, which is a struggle. And he takes a step back… “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you kissed me, then decided you made a mistake.”
Something dark flashes in his blue eyes, and he grits out between clenched teeth, “that is not what happened, Regina.”Oh, we doin’ fullnamesnow?!
“Then what happened,Blayne? Because one minute we’re kissing in my sewing room, and the next one you’re acting like I don’t fucking exist.”
“It’s complicated.” He runs a hand through his thick, short hair, and for a second I get distracted by the way his muscles contract under his tanned skin. Fuck!
“Everything’s complicated. That doesn’t mean you get to run away.”
He sighs, so fucking hot with his eyes turning fiery, his chest heaving with irritation… fuck, fuck, fuck. “I’m not running away.”
“Then what are you doing, Blayne?”
He cups the back of his neck, his gaze falling to his bare feet.Dammit, even his toes are sexy. Ugh!!And I watch, fascinated, as his internal struggle displays on his handsome features. When he looks at me again, there’s something raw in his expression.
“I’m trying to do the right thing, Reggie,” he says. And this time there’s softness infused in his tone.
It’s my turn to let out a tired sigh. Feeling my anger deflate. “Which is?”
“Staying away from you and your kids.”
