You Only (Cameron Farms Book 1) - Melanie Jayne Page 0,68

see, I know how much it hurts when you see a different truth and your pride takes a hit. Believe me, I’ve been there many times. Right now, I can see that you are hurting. If you want me or need me, I’m here. You’re a good man, it’s just that you were stupid about some things.”

He dropped he forehead to hers as he lightly held her waist. “Hale, you scramble my brain. Just when I think I have you figured out, you go and surprise me.”

“Sometimes, I surprise myself.” She let out a soft snort. She led him to the table, pulled out one of the chairs, and gently pushed him into it. “Talk and I’ll listen.” She watched him for a moment and returned to her seat on top of the table.

“Why are you doing this?” His eyebrows raised in confusion.

“I’m tired of holding onto the pain and the past. I truly mean this, I want to move on. I want that for us.” Scary to admit, but yeah, it felt good to say it.

“Jesus, Hale. I’m not even sure how to start.” He leaned back in the chair. It must have felt like it was going to tip over because he threw his weight forward to compensate.

She laughed at the look on his face.

“It’s not funny, I thought I was going to land on my head.” He joined in her laughter.

“Maybe that would knock some sense into you,” she teased. “Seriously, I hate these chairs. They move too easily. It used to make everyone crazy at meetings because I couldn’t sit still. My boss chastised me once for moving too much, so after that I would walk out of a meeting with my muscles cramping from trying to stay still.”

“I still have problems imagining you working in such a conservative world.” He crossed his knee to his ankle. “Over the years, I followed your career. You did very well.”

She let him change subjects. “I surrounded myself with a good team and I worked hard.” She shrugged off his compliment.

“You made the right decision. Staying here would have drained the life out of you.” He dropped his gaze when she started to speak.

“I hurt you. I still carry that with me. I’ve tried to be a better person, like I could make up for it in some way.”

“I know that you have and I agree that we should work to make it go away.” His eyes moved back to her face.

“I wanted to tell you about the embezzlement. It was four in the morning, and I wanted to call you. I kept reaching for the phone, but I felt like I had to follow the directive given. Like it was some fucking test that I couldn’t fail.” Her eyes filled up with tears. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I got caught up in my fear of making a mistake and being wrong.”

A tear rolled down her cheek followed by another, and another. He was on his feet and used his thumb to gently catch her tears. “I fucked up. I had just promised to stop hurting you and I did it again. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you.”

“No you shouldn’t have. It hurt a lot.”

“God, I am so sorry.” He kissed her cheek. “I feel like I’m doing everything wrong when it comes to you. My problem with the past, I keep taking it out on you. That’s wrong and I have to fix that part of me.” He paused. “I thought I knew you then, but clearly I didn’t. Now, I keep finding parts of you that I would have never guessed existed. I always thought that I was good at figuring people out, but you stump me.”

“I don’t like to hear that, but now I understand.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling him tense. “You were mad and maybe a little frightened. But I won’t be your verbal punching bag.”

“I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” He told her again, his lips against her cheek. “I mean about all of it but especially this audit thing. I was a total jerk.”

“Did you choose me because you thought I would understand, or because you wanted to hurt me?” She hoped for an honest answer.

“Wes and Moe came to me with the information. I had Matt go over your work. He has a business degree and I could depend on his discretion. When he confirmed your findings, I had to tell the Executive