Once Upon A Half-Time: A Sports Romance - Sosie Frost Page 0,214

the bouncing curls behind her ears with a thick headband. She took a deep breath with closed eyes that only puffed her lips for a kiss.

Did she have any idea what she did to me?

“I can’t do this with you,” she said. “Not now. Things are complicated.”

“No, they aren’t.”

She wasn’t getting away. She tried to hide in the kitchen, but I refused to get bumped for fucking cookies again.

“This is you and me, Sweets. We gotta talk.”

“Not now.”

“Yes, now.” I held my arms out. “Why are you fighting me on this? Christ, I just want to feel you. I gotta know you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, Maddox. Everything is fine.”

“It’s not, or you wouldn’t be pushing me away.”

She didn’t meet my gaze. “I shouldn’t have to push you away. You should respect my wishes.”

“If I understood them, I would! You’re not making any goddamned sense. I’m back. I’m here. I’m offering to give everything to you. I want the life, the family, you, a baby. Didn’t you…miss me at all?” My voice hardened. “Didn’t you love me?”

“Don’t you dare.” Josie’s whisper punctuated with a pointed finger. “Don’t accuse me of being anything less than faithful or devoted. You have no idea the problems you’ve caused—”

“Because you won’t tell me. Let me be a part of this.”

Her arms crossed, but it only perked her chest up. “A part of what? This town? This nightmare?”

I tensed. “What nightmare?”

“All of this. Granddad is sick. We lost all the money from the insurance because of him.”

“His medical bills?”

“His gambling, Maddox.” She covered her mouth with a hitched breath. “Don’t tell anyone. Please. They know, but everyone is pretending it’s the medical bills. I didn’t even know he took the money until most of it was gone—”

“Hey.” I shrugged. “I know Matthias. He taught me everything I knew about electrical work…and enough about the horses at the track. I’d never say a damn thing.”

“We have nothing to rebuild. I lost everything. My shop. My future.” Her lip trembled. “You.”

“You didn’t lose me.”

“I lost you first.”

“Bullshit. I was always there for you. I loved you. Still do, Sweets. Why the hell did you push me away? Why didn’t you come to visit me? Give me a single fucking word while I was in prison?”

She didn’t answer.

And then I knew.

Sure as hell, like someone punched me in the gut and kicked me in the balls just to be sure I was down for the count.

“You think I did it.”

Josie’s eyes widened. She didn’t have to say shit. The shock stole my erection, shriveled my pride.

“You think I burned your fucking store down?”

She panicked, unable to speak, rushing for me when I turned for the door.

“Son of a bitch.” I nearly kicked the kitchen table. Figured that’d scare her more. I settled for slamming a palm against the wall. She jumped.

And a cascade of papers fell from her table.

The way she flinched, I’d have thought they were images of her as a centerfold. I batted her hand away, bending down to grab the oversize sheets of paper, an arm span wide.

“Maddox—”

“What are these?” I knew electrical plans, but these were general building construction blueprints. “Are these…for a rebuild?”

“It’s a long story…”

No, it wasn’t. It was a very short story, and I got it as soon as I saw the dates stamped on the fucking plans.

“These were created before the fire,” I said.

“I know, it’s—”

“Nolan Rhys.” I spat the name on the corner of the documents. “He had an engineer draw up plans for your store a week before the fire?”

Josie stilled. She tried to avoid my gaze. “The night of the fire he offered to buy the property from me. I don’t remember much after the dinner.”

“Why?”

“It was…I don’t know. Fuzzy. I must have hit my head in the shop.”

“What do you remember?”

“Maddox—”

My voice hardened. “What do you remember?”

She sighed, shrugging her shoulders. “Nolan wanted to take me to dinner to offer on the property. We ate, I told him unequivocally no, he ordered a drink just to show we had no bad feelings, and then…I got the call. I think. I know I went to the shop, and I know you pulled me out, but I can’t remember anything clearly after the drink or before the hospital.”

That fucking bastard.

It wasn’t the fire that stole her memory—it was Nolan and whatever the hell he put in her wine.

She had no idea, and no one at the hospital thought to check…

Fuck!

Had it not been for the fire, Josie would have spent