Christmastime Cowboy

“It’s a big decision though,” Sabrina said, “so, I think it’s definitely something she should be a little more involved in, no matter what she might think now. Right now... She’s just very focused. Very, very focused.”

“On?”

“Making my brother sorry he crossed her, I think.”

Liam frowned. “Yeah, what happened with that?” Lindy Parker hadn’t been in the picture back when Liam had worked at Grassroots, so he had no idea about the history between her and Damien Leighton.

“He cheated on her,” Sabrina said simply. “Ten years of marriage, and he had an affair. I’m not happy with my brother, Liam. Not at all. Lindy is like a sister to me, not just in law. Just because she and Damien got divorced doesn’t mean my connection with her is gone.”

“Hey, I’m all for a little revenge and retribution.”

Sabrina’s expression turned to stone. She was thinking about them again, and he knew it. He hardly thought it was fair for her to compare what he had done with what her brother had done to his wife. Because Liam had never cheated. Mostly because he had never made any promises.

“Go ahead,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What?” she asked, blinking rapidly.

“Go ahead and yell at me. You want to. You’re mad at me. I get it. So we can keep on tiptoeing around it, or you could just go ahead and shout at me. Here and now. The room is empty, and I bet it has great acoustics.”

Sabrina’s eye twitched. She looked...well, she looked completely torn. And a little bit shocked. Both like she really wanted to take him up on his offer, and like she was wishing there was some furniture she could scurry underneath.

“Okay. How about I go first?” If there was one thing he didn’t mind, it was facing something head-on. “I saw you naked, I turned you down and you’re still mad.”

“I... That is not... You make it sound like...”

He shrugged. “I’m going to go ahead and make it easy for you. I’ve seen a lot of women naked. Before you, after you. I’m not picturing you naked when I look at you now.” That was a lie. But he didn’t really mind lying either. “So whatever you imagine is happening on my end, it’s not.”

“You’re an asshole,” she said.

She turned away from him and began to pace the perimeter of the room, paying closer than necessary attention to things like crown molding.

“That’s it?”

“I’m going to do exactly what we came here to do. Which is evaluate whether or not the building is suitable for our purposes. I wouldn’t say that it’s perfect,” she said, giving him a hard glare. “But I suppose it will work.”

“You’re ready to do this, then?”

“I still think that Lindy should drive down and have a look before we confirm, but I can’t imagine finding a better place.” She seemed almost downtrodden about that. Probably because this had been his idea.

Actually, she was capitulating much more easily than he had imagined, and it occurred to him that it was probably because she just wanted to get this project moving so that she could put any interaction with him behind her.

“What’s your timeline?”

She looked slightly sheepish. “Lindy wants it open before Christmas. She wants us up and running to take advantage of the festivities that are going to be happening around town. The sooner the better.”

That would mean long, intense days in Sabrina’s company. Whether she wanted that or not.

“We can do it,” he said. “But you are very busy, so I hear. So, you need to clear your schedule a bit so you can actually devote your time to serving my needs.”

The look she gave him was so dry it could’ve sapped all the moisture out of the heavy coastal air. “Poorly phrased. But then, I have a feeling you did it on purpose.”

“And you’re still not willing to clear the air between us.”

“There’s no air to clear. I don’t feel comfortable around you, Liam, and I would think it was fairly understandable why. You humiliated me. You were cruel to me. At the very least, you should have treated me like a friend. Because even if I did have the wrong idea about what was happening between us, we were friends. I...I told you about my relationship with my father and you still... I trusted you.”

Those simple words cut through every ounce of bullshit in him. He couldn’t give her a hard time, not after that.

“We were friends,” she reiterated. “I had a hard time connecting with people because of my family’s position in the community, and you knew that. I got close to you, closer than I was to anyone. And I made a fool of myself in front of you and then you disappeared.”

And when she found out exactly why, she wouldn’t be any happier with him than she was now. So, he wasn’t going to say a damned thing.

“I did,” he said. “Because that’s what I do. At least, that’s what I did. But I’ve spent the past few years figuring out how to finish what I start. And I’ve done a good job with it. I’m still terrible with people, to be clear. The emotional part. But I know what I’m doing in business. And I’m going to make this successful. I promise you that.”

“Are you going to apologize to me?”

In that moment, she looked like the Sabrina he had once known. Young, vulnerable and far too innocent for the likes of him. Like someone who actually believed that he was going to apologize. He almost felt bad.

Almost.

“I’m not going to apologize,” he said. “Because leaving you like that was probably one of the nicest things I’ve ever done. Because if I hadn’t left you then, I would have left you after. And I stand by what I said.”

Her cheeks turned scarlet, rage glittering in her blue eyes. “Right. Well, it’s emblazoned in my memory. So, there’s no reason to revisit it.”

“What exactly are you mad about? That I didn’t have sex with you? Or that I left?”

She sputtered. “That you... That you left. That you left and you didn’t say anything to me. I cared about you.”

“And you’re still mad at me.”

“Not every day of my life. But having you come back to town has been awkward.”

“Well, I never imagined I would end up back here either. But here I am.”

“Because of the ranch?”

“Yes and no. I never intended to come back. Not even with part ownership of the ranch on the table. I had a big job. I liked what I was doing. Until one day I realized that I actually didn’t.”

“Is that what happened with us? You were my friend until one day you realized you weren’t?”

“I was twenty years old, and I was an asshole. That’s about it.”

She looked...deflated by that.

“Was, as in past tense? As in you aren’t one now?”

He could tell she really didn’t want to let go of her anger. “I still am. But I would probably call before leaving town now.” That was a lie. He absolutely would not. And particularly not under those circumstances.

She looked begrudgingly amused. “Well, as long as we both know the score. Which is the real difference between now and thirteen years ago.”