Page 135 of Wrangled

All of a sudden I had a severe case of déjà vu.This is not going to be good.“Okay.”

Robert wasn’t looking at me, and that was a bad sign right there. “This… this isn’t going to work.”

Oh fuck.

“Excuse me?” I fought to maintain a facade of calm.Don’t do this. Please.

“This whole long-distance thing.”

The temptation to contradict him and tell him yes, itcouldwork was huge, but instead I bit my tongue. “Tell me why.”Give me something to work with, so I can prove you wrong.

It was nothing like the conversation with Tyler—my heart hadn’t been involved then, I’d remained cool, objective…

That had vanished the moment Robert saidthis isn’t going to work.

“When we started this, you were honest. You don’t do boyfriends. You prefer sex without attachment.”

“I thought that was how you felt too.”

“It was,” he protested. “But… it isn’t now.”

“And that changes things?”

He nodded. “If I’m honest, I don’t feel you’re in this for the long haul. And now I’ve had time to think about it, a virtual relationship—a relationship by remote—is not sustainable in my opinion. Nor do I think it would be satisfying.” He gazed at me with stricken eyes. “So why do it? Why torture ourselves?”

Aw shit.

I wanted to reply, to tell him it was okay, that I reallywasin this for the long haul, but… How much faith would he lose in me as a Dom if he saw me supposedly break one of my own rules? Robert craved stability in his Dom, and rule-breaking would only tell him I couldn’t promise to be what he needed.

That wasn’t stability.

My head was spinning. I’d come to Salvation to experience a life far removed from my own, and Robert had… well, he’d snuck up on me. I hadn’t seen him coming. And now he was here, a part of me, what burned between us was so different to what I was used to, and for once I didn’t know how to make it all better.

I forced myself to remain calm. “Do you want time to think about it?”

“That’s the point. Ikeepthinking about it. That’s all I do. I think… I think I need to take a step back.”

No, this was definitelynotgoing to be good.

He shuddered out a breath. “Would you… would you spend tonight in the bunkhouse? I need some space, some time to think.”

I inhaled deeply. “Okay. I respect the fact you need some thinking space. So I’ll take a page out of your book. I’ll take a step back.”

This was not looking hopeful.

“You put your cards on the table,” I continued. “And you’ve given me something to think about.” Only I didn’twantto think about it, because doing that made my stomach roil. “But Iwillsay this. You’ve got me all wrong.” That part about me not wanting to be in this for the long haul? Yeah, that hurt. “So fine. I’ll go down to the bunkhouse. I’ll give you tonight. But I’ll be back in the morning before I leave, and we can talk again.”

The expression in his eyes told me there was little chance of any change of mind.

I got up, and walked down the path toward the ranch, my head in a mess.

Now what?

I couldn’t think straight either. My mind kept replaying his words, over and over, and underneath it all was that quiet voice, the one that told me not to let go, to hold on to him, because Ineededhim.

There was no one around, so I figured everyone was in the bunkhouse. The last thing I wanted was to be around people, but I had little choice if I was going to sleep there tonight.

Let’s get this over with. After the thinly veiled—and outright—threats during the cattle drive, this was not going to be pretty.

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