Tangled Up In Christmas (Texas Heat) by Lisa Renee Jones

Author:Lisa Renee Jones [Jones, Lisa Renee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Family Life Fiction, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Contemporary Women's Fiction, Holiday Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Heroes Cowboys, Women's Humorous Fiction, Lisa Renee Jones, Entangled Publishing, Single Title Romance, Mass Market Paperback Romance, Ranch, Alpha Male, Texas, Writer, Enemies to Lovers, Fish out of Water, Forced Proximity, small town romance, Vacation Romance, New York Times bestselling author, Coming Of Age Romance, second chances, Redemption, Ranch Life, Truth About Cowboys
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2019-10-28T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Roarke…

I get Old Man Levor’s poor pup, who was hit by a car, stabilized and resting well before I leave him with Nathan, one of my interns, and head outside for some air. I step outside the vet offices that have been a part of our operation since long before I took over five years ago now, back when my father was the king here. A blessed cool breeze lifts around me, the hope of fall finally showing itself rather than pretending to be summer, the hint of a holiday season arriving with it. A holiday with Hannah present. I didn’t think I’d ever see that day again, but I wanted to, damn straight I wanted to. But being here and being with me are two different things.

I walk toward one of the gated areas where a beauty of a stallion, who just arrived and hasn’t been broken in, is grazing. The owner, who hired me to train him, named him Warrior, and it’s fitting. He’s regal and abrasive, but we’ll fix the abrasive part when he learns how much love his beauty will get him. I’ve just reached the enclosure when the sound of an approaching vehicle has me turning. The minute I eye Jason’s truck, I grimace and turn away. Hannah still hasn’t shown up, and damn it, I want her here. I need her here. She belongs here, with me, and in ways she doesn’t even know, not yet, ways I intended to make her believe in me again; only her showing up, before I could go to her, complicates that presentation.

Jason joins me, and we both stand there, studying the horse for several minutes, before he says, “You’re still so fucking in love with her.”

“Was that ever in question?”

He turns to look at me. “No. But I didn’t see it, and I should have. I was too wrapped up in my own bullshit to see beyond that shit.”

“I wouldn’t have talked about it anyway.”

“Bullshit,” Jason murmurs. “I would have made you talk about it just like you made me talk about the crap that almost ruined me with Jessica. I let you down.”

“You didn’t let me down, man. You’re—you’re family.”

“So is she.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Yeah, she is.” I turn away from him, feeling the punch in my gut at how right he is and how wrong this has all gone.

Jason faces the enclosure again with me, both of us silent a few moments, before he adds, “I would have made you do something to get her back or made you move on a long time ago.”

“I didn’t want to move on, and now that she’s back, I still don’t.” I look over at him. “I have to get her back.”

“Then let’s talk about that. She thinks you cheated. Make her believe you when you tell her you didn’t.”

“It’s not that simple, man. There are things you don’t know. Things I’m not ready to talk about.”

“Fair enough, but why did she think you cheated?”

“The why

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