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“A wild-eyed beast from hell?”
He lowered the phone. “You think this is funny? Did you get kicked in the head?”
She stopped laughing, but still couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “You’re right. It’s not a laughing matter. But Lady Grantham isn’t a wild-eyed beast from hell. She was just scared.”
“So you aren’t hurt?” His gaze swept over her before it settled on her chest. She glanced down and realized the rain had turned her white T-shirt transparent.
Another bad choice.
She crossed her arms over her chest. Which caused his gaze to quickly lift to her eyes. Was he blushing? Or just flushed from the muggy heat of the barn?
“The only thing that’s hurt is my pride,” she said. “Although that’s not the first time I’ve been thrown from a horse and I doubt it will be the last.”
“You’ve been thrown before and you still ride? That’s insane.”
“Some people might think so, but to me, the occasional fall is worth the joy of riding.”
“I don’t think any joy is worth the fall you took. Can you sit up?” He slid his hands behind her shoulders and gently lifted her, bringing her face only inches from his hard chest. He smelled of rain and manly soap. Her lungs absorbed the scent like a dry sponge to water and she felt a little lightheaded.
Had she gotten kicked in the head? This was the man who had foreclosed on her family’s ranch. She shouldn’t be sniffing him like a dog in heat and getting lightheaded. She was there for one reason and one reason only and that was to apologize for the bad choice she’d made years before.
“You okay?” he asked.
She pulled her gaze away from the sexy hollow between his hard pectoral muscles and nodded. “I’m good.” His gaze lowered to her breasts again and he cleared his throat and looked away.
“So do you want to explain what you were doing horseback riding in a thunderstorm?”
“It wasn’t raining when I left the Remington Ranch.”
He looked back at her. “So you’re staying with your sister Cloe?”
Cloe had recently married the oldest Remington boy, something Belle still found hard to believe. Not only because her older sister had never expressed any interest in Rome, but also because Rome’s daddy had long been Hank Holiday’s sworn enemy. Subsequently, their children had never been close. Which made her stay at the Remington Ranch more than a little uncomfortable.
Not just that, but Cloe and Rome were still newlyweds. Belle shouldn’t be staying with them. She should be staying at the Holiday Ranch . . . with Liberty. But Liberty was living with Jesse at the house he recently purchased to turn into a bed-and-breakfast.
It wasn’t right.
Nothing was right.
Belle had to fix this topsy-turvy world before she ended up toppling off into nothingness.
Which was why she was there. She was the only one who knew exactly what had happened in high school. The only one to blame for Corbin’s hatred of the Holidays. As much as she would have liked to forget that night had ever happened, she couldn’t if she wanted to save her family’s ranch. After she fixed things here, she needed to convince Liberty that living in a rundown mansion with Jesse was a crazy idea. Then maybe everything could go back to normal.
She just wanted things to go back to normal.
She took a deep breath before she spoke. “I came here today to apologize for what happened that night.”
“I don’t know what night you’re referring to.” The coldness that entered his eyes said differently.
She swallowed hard. “The night you were supposed to go on a date with Liberty.”
Something flashed in his eyes. Anger? Hurt? Before she could figure it out, he looked away. “Water under the bridge.” He got to his feet. “I’ll tell your family that you’re here.”
She tried to get up, but her abused butt protested the quick movement and she groaned in pain.
He whirled back around. “You are hurt.”
Her butt was only bruised, but she knew if she told him that, he’d leave. She couldn’t let him leave until she’d convinced him to let her family keep their home.
