Her Christmas Cowboy (The Wyoming Cowboy #5) - Jessica Clare Page 0,86
moment, she could have sworn his eyes blackened with anger. “You’re seeing someone?”
She gulped. “I am.”
Realization dawned on his face. “Ah . . . I get it. You found some other sucker to take care of you, is that it?”
Other sucker? Take care of her? She flinched, those words in particular striking home. “No. That’s not how it is at all.” She pointed at the door, even though her entire body was trembling. “I want you to get out, Blake.”
“I know how you work,” he sneered. “All of this is a game for you. You just want someone else to pick up the pieces. You’re pretending to be the poor little schoolteacher until I rescue you, and since I didn’t get here fast enough, you found someone else to handle things. Let me guess, he gives you money, right? Buys you things? I’m sure your sob story really does a number on him. Poor, sweet little Amy who can’t afford the pretty things in life.” He shook his head. “Pathetic.”
“Get out!” She pointed at the door.
“You’re coming home with me,” he insisted. But he moved to the door. “You think on what I said. I know how to take care of you. I can give you the life you need. I know what you want. You think on it tonight and I’ll be back tomorrow to pick you up.” He looked her up and down, utterly confident. “And I’m going to want an apology.”
The moment he stepped on the porch, she slammed the door in his face. Amy collapsed against it, panting as if she’d run a marathon. Donner immediately moved to her side, pushing his long nose under her hand until she began to pet him.
She wanted to vomit . . . except she’d have to clean it up.
Blake. That fucker had been here, in her living room. Amy sobbed out a breath, gasping for air. She felt like she was on the verge of a meltdown. He wanted her back. No, he didn’t want her. He just wanted to win. And she’d been such a wimp when he was here, letting him into her house, letting him talk to her like she was nothing. No wonder he didn’t believe her when she said she didn’t want anything to do with him. She’d folded like a deck of cards the moment he even looked her way.
She clung to Donner, burying her hands in his thick fur as she listened to Blake’s rental car speed away. He’d flown here from Houston to come get her. That meant he really, truly thought if he’d just showed up and acted like this was all just a spat, that she’d come running home. Did he not truly know her after all this time? It boggled the mind.
Or maybe he did know her all too well. He thought if he made her feel stupid enough, she’d cave. Give in to what he wanted. After all, she’d done that a million times before. She’d felt herself shrinking as he spoke, his words designed to make her feel like an idiot. To make her realize that her life was pathetic.
Through his eyes, it was. She was living in a dump. She was teaching for bottom-dollar wages in a small town where she was an outsider.
And she’d started dating a guy because he fixed her car.
She sucked in a horrified breath at that realization. Blake was right about her. She’d only truly seen Caleb when he showed up to bail her out. When he’d given her a ride back to town and promised to fix her car. She’d let him chauffeur her around. She’d let him fix her faucet and caulk the windows. He’d redone the ceiling in her bedroom and patched the roof, all because she’d needed it.
Oh god, she was needy.
Blake was right.
She’d let a stranger waltz into her life and do all kinds of work on her house because she needed it. She hadn’t paid him a dime for all his time. Instead, she’d dated him. The sour taste of bile filled her mouth.
Here she’d come to Wyoming to be her own person and she was falling into the same patterns. After all, it was so easy to just let Caleb handle things. Caleb had handled things when her date went south. He’d handled Greg when he’d shown up again. He’d handled her house problems and her car problems. He’d even jokingly suggested that she hand out cookies to her friends today.