Cade dragged one of the chairs to the fireplace and straddled it, his gaze focused on Bella. Her skin glowed, and strands of her pale hair glistened in the firelight. Her forehead was creased with a frown and her fingers were clasped together so tightly her knuckles were white.
He hated scaring her, but even though he'd told her he wasn't going to hurt her, he knew she didn't believe him. Hell, why would she? She thought he was an outlaw. She'd seen him hold men at gunpoint. But she didn't know the
reasons why.
"Bella—"
"Don't call me that," she spat out. "I'm not that little girl any more. I'm a grown woman."
"That's true." His gaze slid her full length. He noticed the faint flush rising in her cheeks. "You grew up. But you'll always be Bella to me. It's a nice name. A special name."
She looked away, but not before he saw the glistening in her eyes. "Why don't you have a husband and a pack of little ones by now?" he asked. "You must have had offers."
She turned and met his gaze, her eyes filled with a sadness he'd never seen in her eyes before. "A few, when I was younger." She let out a short laugh. "I wanted to wait for a man I could like as well as love. A man who would be my friend as well as my husband. How foolish was that?"
"Not foolish at all. You never found one?"
She shook her head. "I've realized it's impossible to find both."
Cade wouldn't know about friendship with a grown woman. He'd never had another female friend besides Bella, and they'd been children at the time. He'd never even thought about getting married and settling down. All he'd thought about for the past twelve years was revenge.
"Since you've figured you can't have both, which is it? Do you love Dobson, or is he a friend?"
For a few moments, the only sound in the cabin was the burning wood crackling in the fireplace. Finally, she spoke, but he had to strain to hear her. "Neither."
Cade's insides tightened. Hell, if she didn't want to marry him, why was she going through with it?
She straightened, lifted her chin a notch. "But it's past time I got married."
Well, that explained it, he supposed. Still, he couldn't imagine spending his life with somebody he didn't like. That was no life at all.
She got up and moved away toward the window. For a few moments she stood with her back to Cade, the pain and resignation on her face reflected in the glass. Suddenly, she spun around. "Why are we talking about me? It's your turn. Why did you rob the stage and kidnap me?"
He laughed then. "I told you before. You most likely don't think so right now, but I'm doing you a favor."
"What favor?"
"I'm stopping you from marrying Dobson."
That frown appeared in her forehead again."Why?"
"Revenge." That need to make Dobson pay was still a sour taste in his mouth, but in the past few hours, he'd realized there was another reason, a reason that might even be more important. He'd realized he'd never stopped caring for Bella, that the connection he'd felt with her when he was a boy was just as strong now as it was back then. He'd realized he couldn't stand the thought of her being married to any man. But he couldn’t tell her any of that. Especially not now, not when he'd likely spend the rest of his life in prison. "I have my reasons," he said quietly. Your wedding is set for Saturday, right?"
She nodded.
"Then I'll take you home on Sunday."
She closed the gap between them. Her floral scent wafted up to his nose, her closeness doing things to his insides he'd never felt before. Things he couldn't explain, and couldn't afford to explore.
"How does that change anything? I can marry Edward next week instead. It makes no difference in the end."
"That's where you're wrong. If that wedding doesn't take place on Saturday, it won't take place at all."
She planted her hands on her hips and let out a short laugh."That's ridiculous," she said. "There's no reason I can't—"
"Trust me, Bella. You're not going to be marrying Dobson. Not Saturday. Not ever."
Confusion registered on her face. She had no way of knowing what a snake Dobson was and why he wanted to marry her. She thought she'd found someone to share her life with, to father her children. What she'd found was a no-good murdering bastard who was using her and her father's money to save himself from losing everything.