Free Never Let You Down: The Connaghers, Book 4 by Joely Sue Burkhart

to break him in some. Gentle him to your touch.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut a moment, trying to forget. Then she opened her eyes and glared at Ty as mean as she could. “Don’t talk about your fiancée that way.”
    “Why not?”
    “It’s not right.”
    Ty snorted and shoved the hat back on his head. “Now there’s the prim and proper snooty princess coming out to play. So old Jeb laid one on you and you felt the need to wait out here all night to tell me that. All right. What’s the problem?”
    “Aren’t you mad?” She sounded bewildered, but she couldn’t help it. Nothing was making sense to her. Here she’d thought she’d lose him entirely, and he wasn’t even angry. “Don’t you want to yell at me? Make me feel bad?”
    “Darlin’, I can tell by the redness of your eyes that you already feel bad enough. Why would I want to hurt you more?”
    “I want you to make me feel badly for what I did, though I’m already miserable.”
    “I can see that.” He strode over and tugged her close, though he didn’t let her hide her face against him. He used his knuckles to keep her face tipped up to his. “That might make you feel better for a while, but that ain’t what you need, darlin’. Not really. After kissing him, do you still want me?”
    She nodded, sniffing to keep the tears at bay. “More than ever. I thought I’d lost you and I couldn’t bear it.”
    “You’ll never lose me.” He held her steady, his eyes locked on her face. “What about Jebadiah? Do you want him?”
    She blinked rapidly, afraid to move, afraid to think for fear that her face would betray her.
    “You’re a lot of woman, Princess. I know exactly why he wants you. Any man in his right mind would like what he saw when you sashay by. But the only question I care about is whether or not you want him .”
    “He’s my friend. My best friend.”
    “Uh-huh. You’ve known him your whole life. Everyone saw you two hooking up one day, yeah?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Including him. Maybe including you. Until I showed up. So tell me true, Virginia soon-to-be Connagher, ’cause I’m marrying you one way or the other assuming you’re still willing. I’m only going to ask you this one time, and I’ll never mention it again unless you do. Do you want Jebadiah Garrett?”
    Usually she could think things through, see how scenarios would play out in her mind, but this time, everything was a tangled mess. If she said yes, then Ty’s next question would be whether she wanted him more than Jeb, and then she’d be back to possibly losing them both. She’d have to choose one over the other and someone was going to end up terribly hurt. If she said no, then she’d still have Ty, hopefully, but she’d lose her best friend. I’ve already lost him. We crossed a line that we can’t ever go back across again.
    She lifted her chin, steeled her heart and pushed the memory of Jeb on his knees deep into the darkest, most secret pit of her soul. “No.”
    Ty held her a long moment, studying her face, but she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t disappointed in her. Not like she’d expected. He rubbed his knuckles underneath her chin lightly and stroked his fingers down her neck. “Nice scarf. All right then, if that’s the way you want it. Dawn’s coming so I’d best get to work. You want to grab a bite of dinner tonight? It’ll be late. Probably eight before I’m free.”
    “Sure,” she replied slowly, her mind completely hollowed out. “That’s it?”
    “Yep, that’s it. Except for this.” In a rush, he backed her against the stable wall and planted his mouth on hers. He kissed her like he was trying to find the other side of her and sail right on into oblivion. When he finally lifted his head, she could only stare up at him, panting. “I swore I won’t ever let you down, and I meant it.”
    “I love you, Tyrell. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
    He released her and gave her a playful shove