From City Girl to Rancher's Wife by Ami Weaver

Author:Ami Weaver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Luke felt like an ass. No. He was an ass. Damn it. Not only had he broken his promise to himself, he’d made Josie feel bad. He couldn’t get the hurt look in her eyes out of his mind. She hadn’t deserved him running away.

Thwack! He buried the ax right in the middle of the log and split it cleanly in two. There was a growing pile nearby, but he hadn’t succeeded in wiping out the image of her pained expression.

She deserved a hell of a lot more than he could offer her. But that was already a given.

Cade strolled up, brow cocked. “Is it working?”

Luke didn’t even pretend. He was too tired. “Does it look like it’s working?”

Cade shoved his hands in his pockets. “No. Have you tried just talking to her?”

Luke stared at him like he was mad. “Why would I do that?” What could he say? “Sorry” wasn’t exactly right. He was sorry for hurting her, but not for the time spent with her, and he knew himself well enough to know he’d blow it if he tried to make the distinction.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re both adults? And I don’t want her to leave because you’ve screwed something up.”

“She’s not going to leave,” Luke mumbled as he lined the next log up. He hoped she wouldn’t anyway. Thwack!

“Right. Fix it, damn it. She’s as grumpy as you are. Whatever you did, you did it wrong.”

Luke’s head came up and his hand tightened on the ax handle. “What are you saying, Cade?”

Cade met his gaze squarely. “I’m saying you messed up and you need to fix it. That’s all.” His footsteps crunched on the gravel as he walked away.

Luke let out a breath. He’d heard a criticism that wasn’t there. Cade had only been talking about the here and now, about how he’d hurt Josie. He tossed the wood into the pile and spent the next hour transporting it to the rest of the pile, where it’d wait until winter. He also tried to work out exactly what he’d say to make sure he didn’t diminish what they’d shared.

It had been more than he’d expected. She was more than he’d expected. Way more. And it was wrong to make her feel bad just because he had some issues.

He snagged his shirt off the ground. Cade was right, as much as he hated to admit it. He’d go apologize for being an ass. Hopefully, she’d accept it.

* * *

He came in the kitchen and realized, when Josie looked at him with a little frown between her brows, that he was maybe not dressed for groveling. He was sweaty and dirty and probably smelled bad. But it was now or never. He doffed his hat and wished he hadn’t put that cautious look in her beautiful eyes. Or earned that blank look on her face.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted, and winced as soon as the words were out and her expression went cool. “I’m an ass,” he added.

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