Page 33 of The Texas Ranger: Saddled Up
Her cheeks warmed. “Are you intentionally being elusive?”
“Elusive or cautious?” he said.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“Fine. You’re a bit all over the place where Bentley’s concerned. It beats me why you’d waste your time on an asshole, but I think I might have cracked the code.” He eased his wide shoulders into the seat.
“The code? Pray tell what that is, Bear.” She looked at him through her eyelashes.
“You knew he wasn’t the one for you from the very beginning.”
“Really?” She sighed. “That makes me feel like even a bigger fool.”
“Darlin’, you’re not a fool.” His eyes softened as he found hers across the seat. “He fulfilled something in you. You stayed as long as you did because you’re a woman who doesn’t quit on folks, even when they deserve their walking papers.” He adjusted his rearview mirror.
Bear could be onto something. “Go on, Dr. Phil.” Her words were less about being a smartass and more about truly feeling as if he knew her.
“Men like Fletcher…they feel powerful when they see a heart like yours coming. They talk pretty, making you feel a way you never felt before, from someone you thought would never look your direction.” A slow breath left him. “Relationships aren’t supposed to feel like you’re patching holes every time you turn around.”
She looked through the window, watching horses racing along the fence. Their speed matched the heavy beating of her heart, thumping hard against her chest. She wanted to respond to Bear, but she couldn’t form the words.
“You see the good in people, Aasia. Ain’t a damn thing wrong with that. You see the good in me too. Whether you realize it or not, I never saw myself having a chance with a woman like you.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “You’re an amazing man.” She laid her fingers on his wrist.
“See what I mean.” His jaw tightened. “You’re a strong one. Not every man is worthy of you.”
“Bear…” Why couldn’t she say what she felt?
“Next time, remember, you don’t have to bleed to prove you’re worthy.”
Tears filled her eyes and it took all her control not to allow them to fall.
Her mind wandered back to the text messages Bentley had sent her that morning. “Bentley had already started showering me with his nonsense. No surprise because he’s like a human faucet running hot and cold. I’m tired of his indecisiveness, and tired of his pettiness. And very tired of his mother hen who can’t stay in her lane.”
“He’s started his groveling already,” Bear said a little gruffly.
“I wouldn’t call it groveling. He doesn’t want me, but he doesn’t want anyone to have me either.”
Bear scrubbed his fingers down his chin. “I’m guessing because a man like Fletcher has a boatload of pride, he’ll want to keep the breakup quiet, orchestrate how people see things. That’ll start with him controlling you.”
She sighed when her phonebuzzed. She turned her phone over. “There. Now neither of us have to see the messages.”
“You’ll have to face him. Eventually. Do you really think he’ll just let this go?”
“I don’t have any olive branches or multiple chances left in me. Third time’s a charm. I could never be good enough for his mother. I burn casseroles and drink wine instead of using it in recipes. I didn’t tell you, but she tried to write me a check to keep me away from her son.”
“Yeah?”
“The audacity of that woman amazes me.” She blew out a heated breath. “She just had to drop by and warn me that if I didn’t leave her son alone, she’d play mother bear.”
“That’s pretty ballsy, even for a Fletcher. Count this as a blessing. Would you want to be a senator’s wife? It sounds a bitsnobbish to me.”
She snorted. “Not with these non-birthing hips. Imagine the negative comments I’d get. I can read the headlines now.” She cupped her hands over her mouth to use as a megaphone. “The only presentable thing on the First Lady is her feet that she monetized from. Too bad her narrow hips aren’t worth much because she still hasn’t produced an heir.”
He chuckled. The tension eased some. “See? You don’t need that shit.”
“I refuse to allow him to take everything from me. I want to ask a favor.” He gave her a side glance. “What? Want to try making out a third time?”
