A Rancher's Dangerous Affair. Jennifer Morey

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      Taken aback, she stared at him, unable to zero in on just one comeback. What was he saying? That he’d have loved her if she hadn’t put so much energy into event planning? That was ridiculous.

      “If I hadn’t walked away, you would have,” he said.

      Once again, his words rang true. At the time he’d walked, their relationship had reached a feverish pitch. Overwhelming, powerful emotion had gripped them. She could never get enough of him and could sense him struggling with the same. It had frightened her as much as it had frightened him. They were young and didn’t know what to do with so much feeling.

      But he attributed her partying to their demise. “What was I supposed to do? Not make a living?”

      “I’m not saying it didn’t work well for you. It did.”

      Work well for her?

      “I just wish you would have chosen someone other than my brother to fill the void in your personal life, what there is of it.”

      The way he said it came across as harmless, the sound of his casual voice, the way he looked out across the land, a satisfied man on a ride. All the while his meaning hit hard. She was about to lay into him, then stopped herself. That note had been painfully accurate. So had David when he’d said he wanted an annulment. They’d both made a mistake getting married.

      “You don’t know anything about my personal life before I married David,” she said quietly.

      “I don’t mean to judge you. I just call it the way I see it.”

      And for the most part he was right. The irrational side of her unwilling to agree, she faced forward. He termed it wrong. Filling a void wasn’t what anyone aspired for when seeking a life partner. Some found love with less trouble than others, stumbled into it. Some searched doggedly and found it. No matter how, they found it. Eliza hadn’t been so lucky. She’d thought she’d found her true love the first time Brandon had kissed her. To discover Brandon hadn’t felt the same had been the shock of her life. She’d been so sure. And He’d turned on her. He’d abandoned her.

      She had no animosity toward him. He’d been totally honest back then. He’d told her the truth. She’d dated many men after him. It was the ones who lied to escape a relationship that were the worst experiences, the ones she wished she could erase from memory. Men like that were too conceited. They treated her as if the truth would hurt more, as if losing them was so terrible. What was wrong with just saying they weren’t interested? It happened. She’d had no interest in some of the men she’d dated, too. That’s why men and women dated. To find the perfect match.

      Maybe that was why she could never get over Brandon. He had a true, pure heart. He had honor and integrity. Even when he was fooling himself into solitude, he was a man to respect.

      She looked over at him, her gaze drifting down his trim and muscular shoulders and arms, to flat abs and thick thighs straddling the horse. The candy that was always out of reach, denied her. She was denied her perfect match. All the men she’d wanted hadn’t wanted her. Brandon had been one of those men, one who didn’t want her. That was why she’d agreed to marry David. Didn’t he see that?

      “I was ready to share my life with a man when David came along,” she finally said. She’d given up on finding her perfect match.

      “Were you?” In her peripheral vision she was aware of him turning his head, waiting patiently for her to respond.

      “Yes.”

      “You married my brother.” Disbelief dripped from his tone.

      She’d married David to fill a void and to spite Brandon. Because she wasn’t over him. She’d never be over him. So, yes, parties were a surrogate to love. If he couldn’t see the real and true reason for that, then she wasn’t going to explain it to him.

      Lightning flashed and thunder followed not long after.

      “I think you’re running from it,” Brandon said, briefly noticing the lightning.

      From love? She returned her gaze to him. “That’s priceless coming from you.”

      “I’m not confused over what I want.”

      “Yeah, well, love isn’t what you want.”

      “I’ll take love—if it’s right.”

      “What’s right for you, Brandon? Someone who doesn’t challenge you? Someone who won’t pry you off this land, even for a night out?”

      “I go out.”

      “You’re so quick to ridicule me for making a career out of party planning—look at you. You’ve made a career out of being a loner. There’s no bridge over the moat around your cold heart. No wonder Jillian turned to your brother. I bet she wasn’t the first one!”

      “Jillian didn’t turn to him.”

      “Why was she with him then?” She was probably still with him. “She doesn’t have to sleep with him, or even love him, to use him to get to you.”

      “Sounds just like you, except you slept with David.”

      Eliza stopped arguing, stunned that he’d voiced his jealousy.

      “Yeah, it bothered me that you married him.”

      “Why?”

      He scowled at her as though she should know.

      She didn’t. How could she? Unless he still had feelings for her. And Eliza could not allow herself one crumb of hope that he did. She could not endure another heartbreak over him. The original one was still wreaking havoc on her life.

      An outbuilding came into view. It was a yurt, and not just any yurt. It was designed much like a cottage, a warm and welcoming refuge in bad weather. With a quick check on the sky, she wondered if they were going to need it. There was even a small barn for horses. The charm went against her perception of Brandon. To her he was a hard worker with a great capacity for love that he shut himself off to. Why did he shy away from love so much? There had to be a reason.

      She dismounted near the stream and let Willow drink. Brandon did the same.

      “How come you never got married, anyway?” Willow’s ears twitched with the sound of her voice and her whiskers moved as she drank.

      “I haven’t met the right one.”

      Such a simple answer, one that stung but also didn’t dig deep enough into the truth. “Have you ever thought you were close?”

      “Why do you ask?” he sounded wary.

      Thunder rolled in the sky again. Willow lifted her head and perked her ears.

      “You accuse me of using parties as a surrogate. I’m just curious as to what your excuse is.”

      “I have none.”

      When he didn’t meet her eyes and instead scanned the land ahead, Eliza was sure she was onto something. Something about love scared him. It made her СКАЧАТЬ