Page 12 of Her Steamy Cowboy
“There’s no guy, Jace.”
He holds up his hands. “I get it. You don’t have to tell me.” His jaw tightens. “I just thought... I thought we were close enough that you’d tell me if you were seeing someone.”
I swallow hard. “I’m not seeing anyone.”
Jace quirks a brow at me. “You sure? Because every time your phone goes off, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“It’s…it’s just…” My heart is pounding so hard I can barely hear over it. “I’ve been texting my dad.”
Jace’s eyebrows shoot up. “Your dad?” He takes a step closer. “I thought you said you never knew your dad.”
“I know I did.” My voice is barely a whisper. “I lied.”
“Lindsay.” The word is soft, gentle in a way that makes my chest ache. “What’s going on?”
I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold it together. But after years of carrying this weight alone—except for Rachel and Jasmyn—I want someone else to know. I want him to know.
“My dad’s been in prison for the last ten years.” The words feel like they’re being pulled from somewhere deep inside me. “He just got out a few days ago.”
Understanding dawns on Jace’s face as he takes in my words. I can see him piecing it together - my nerves, my evasiveness, the secretive texts.
“That’s who you’re meeting on New Year’s Eve.”
I nod, my throat tight. “Yes.”
Jace is quiet for a long moment, his expression unreadable. I know what he’s probably thinking. What anyone would think.
“I know what you’re thinking,” I blurt out, unable to stand the silence. “But it’s not-”
“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” he interrupts.
“Yes, I do.” I take a step toward him, needing him to understand. “I know prison sounds bad. Really bad. But my dad... he was a good dad, before he went away. The best.”
My vision blurs with tears. “I’ve been so scared to tell you because your family is everything mine isn’t—stable and respected and whole. I didn’t want you to look at me differently.I didn’t want to be the girl with the convict father who doesn’t deserve to work at Clayton Ranch.”
Suddenly he’s right there, one hand coming up to cup my face. “Baby, breathe.” His palm is warm against my cheek, and I realize I’m trembling. “Just breathe.”
I take a shaky breath, then another. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was scared, and then it got harder the longer I waited, and every time you invited me to family dinner or talked about ranch traditions, it just reminded me of everything I didn’t have. Everything I couldn’t give you.”
“Lindsay, look at me.”
I do, and the tenderness in his expression nearly breaks me. His thumb brushes away a tear I didn’t even know had fallen.
“There is nothing—” his voice is fierce now, “—nothing you could tell me that would make me think less of you. Do you understand?”
I manage a small nod, but the tears are falling faster now. All the stress of the past weeks, all the fear and secrecy, it all comes crashing down at once.
“I thought... your family... everyone at the ranch looks up to the Claytons, and I didn’t want?—“
“My family,” Jace says firmly, “is not perfect. We’ve got our own history, our own struggles. And even if we didn’t...” His other hand comes up so he’s cradling my face between his palms. “The only thing that matters to me is you.”
The weight of those words hangs between us. I can feel his heart pounding where his wrist brushes my neck, or maybe it’s mine. Maybe it’s both.
A soft laugh escapes him, and his thumbs brush away the last of my tears. “So there’s really no guy?” he asks, and there’s something new in his voice, something that makes my pulse skip.
“No guy,” I confirm, unable to stop the shy smile that tugs at my lips. “Just my dad.”
Jace’s eyes darken, and his hands slide from my face to my neck, fingers tangling in my hair. “Good.”