“Mike’s a good guy,” she argued.
“Yeah,” he agreed, never slowing his pace. “But that doesn’t guarantee anything, either.”
“There are no guarantees,” Mia pointed out, turning in her seat to keep her gaze locked on him. He was shaking his head, muttering, and that frown carved into his features looked as if it was there to stay.
“That’s the whole point,” he told her. “Without a guarantee, why take the risk? Love is just a word. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“It means everything,” she said softly and felt a hitch in her chest when he stopped pacing to stare at her.
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and maybe that was just as well, she thought.
“No,” he said quietly, “what you and I have is more. Desire is straightforward. Uncomplicated. It doesn’t screw with your life and you don’t get flattened when it ends.”
Mia heard every word and felt them like a direct slap to the heart. He believed everything he was saying. She knew that. And she realized finally and at last that he would never allow himself to love her. Never risk his heart.
Which meant that though she was still here and with him, what they had was already over.
Ten
Thomas Buckley was an ass.
The owner of TexCat was short, balding and very well fed. His cheeks were red, his blue eyes were sharp and his ideas were straight out of the 1950s.
“A family man is a man to be trusted,” Buckley was saying, smiling benevolently from behind his wide, ostentatious desk. “I always say if a man can’t make a commitment to a woman, then he can’t keep his word on a deal.”
Dave had already sat through more than an hour of listening to the older man pontificate about morality and family values. It felt like a week. He could only imagine what Mia or his mother would say about Buckley’s take on women being “the gentle sex, God bless ’em” and how they “don’t understand men’s business, but they keep our homes and raise our children and that’s enough.”
Seriously, Buckley was dancing on Dave’s last nerve.
When he finally wound down, Dave asked, “So, we have a deal?”
“I’ve had my man go and check out your herd and he tells me it’s some of the best beef he’s seen in years.” Buckley threaded his fingers together and laid them across his corpulent belly as he leaned back in his desk chair.
“Not surprised,” Dave said quickly. “My ranch is completely organic. No feedlots, either. The land is managed so that the herd has free range and we don’t take on more cattle than we can comfortably support.”
Buckley nodded. “That was in the report, as well. And you say you’re engaged to be married?”
Briefly, he gritted his teeth. “Yes. Mia’s studying to be a school psychologist.”
“Well, that’ll be fine I’m sure, until your first child is born. Then she’ll want to stay home.”
If he gritted his teeth for much longer, Dave thought, he’d leave this office with nothing more than a mouth full of powder. “Plenty of time to think about that.”
“You’re right, you’re right.” Buckley sat up straight, held out his right hand and when Dave shook it, the older man smiled. “We’ve got a deal. Let’s get the paperwork signed.”
An hour later, Dave was back in Royal, glad to be back from Midland and the TexCat offices. He’d done it. His ranch’s reputation was set now that he had that all-important deal. His plans for the future were looking good and the bargain he’d struck with Mia was now completed.
All that was left was to tell her the good news and end their faux engagement. Odd how that thought didn’t fill him with pleasure. So instead of heading back to his own place, Dave drove into town to see Nathan Battle. He needed a friend to talk to.
“I don’t see the problem.” Nathan poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Dave. Carrying his own coffee, Nathan walked around his desk and propped his booted feet up on one corner.
The Royal jailhouse was small, but it boasted up-to-date equipment and a casual feel. Nathan had one deputy, and between the two men, the small town’s citizens were taken care of.
“The problem is,” Dave said, after a sip of the strong, hot coffee, “I don’t need a fiancée anymore, but I don’t want to end this with Mia, either.”