Promise Me Forever - Maggie Dallen Page 0,2

better than him.

“But I love you,” she said, her voice soft and shaky in the stillness of the stables, almost like the horses and the critters knew that this was a moment that should not be disturbed.

Her words were like buckshot scattering throughout his body. His chest took the brunt of the hit, her words opening a wound inside him that had never really healed. But worse than that, her words made him feel something so dangerously close to hope he knew he had to shut this down before he did something inexcusably stupid…like tell her he loved her too.

There was no future here, not for him and not with her.

“Alice,” he said, trying his best to keep the pain and the hope and every other emotion out of his voice. “I don’t have those kinds of feelings for you.”

He watched the blood drain from her face, leaving her pale and making her eyes look hollow with despair. “Y-you don’t love me?”

Oh, how he hated himself right now. Still, he said what needed to be said, for her sake, if not his own. “I love you, of course I do.” He swallowed down bile as he uttered the words. “I love you as a friend. That’s all.”

After one long stunned moment she ran away from him, back to the main house. Back to her brothers. Back to her family.

Back where he didn’t belong, and he could never follow.

He got back to his chores, hoping that if he ignored the excruciating pain of his heart breaking in his chest, it might diminish and maybe one day go away.

He’d never been one to lie to himself and right now he couldn’t even pretend that he believed this hurt would ever fully go away.

And neither would the love that had brought it about.

Love always brought pain. That was a lesson he should have learned years ago, but apparently he was a sucker for punishment. Maybe after this last lashing he’d stay down for the count.

That’s what he told himself. That this was the last time he’d let himself get close enough to have his heart broken. He hadn’t been able to protect himself from the heartbreak of losing his mother, or his father, or Alice’s parents who’d taken him in. But he could have stopped this thing with Alice, and he hadn’t.

Still, as he mucked out the stalls he couldn’t quite bring himself to regret this past summer. Those nights of long talks and happy laughter were worth it. Or they would be once the pain eased to something more tolerable. And he would never regret tonight, despite the misery he’d caused and suffered.

Because after all these long months of wondering what it would be like to share a kiss with Alice Deckland, his wish had finally been granted.

He might have been shocked, and he might have been hurt, but he’d also had his world flipped upside down in all the best ways.

Who could regret that?

Her kiss was inexperienced but infinitely beautiful. He knew without a doubt that he would treasure it always. Not just because it was a tender moment with a woman he cared for, but because it was the first and last time he’d ever be that close to Alice Deckland—the woman of his dreams.

Chapter One

Alice leaned back in her seat with a sigh as the last rodeo event came to an end, unclasping her hands, which were clammy despite the August heat. “I hate rodeos,” she told her soon-to-be sister-in-law Katy.

“I can see why.” Katy was scowling down at the arena in disapproval. “It’s so nerve-wracking.”

“Thanks for coming with me,” she said.

Katy shrugged. “I was curious.”

Dax’s fiancée was new to rural life and was still fascinated by the cultural differences. Dax couldn’t get away from the ranch today but Katy had offered to join her.

Rodeos really weren’t Alice’s thing either but she always came to support James, who rode in some of the sideline events. Nothing too dangerous, but then again, anything could be dangerous in an unpredictable setting like this where testosterone ran high, along with the urge to show off.

Not that James let his ego get in the way. He was in it for the love of horses, for the chance to put his skills to the test.

Alice just came to support her best friend, and of course to make sure he didn’t come to any harm. She wasn’t a nurse or anything so she had no reason to believe she’d actually be able to help if