Hope went stark white, the color and sympathy leaving her face in an instant. “I guess you’re right. You can never fix some mistakes.”
She turned and walked out.
James picked up his boots and followed her. “Hope, don’t you walk away from me.”
She didn’t turn, but he saw her head shake. “I’m leaving, James. I’ll call Lucy to come get me.”
God, they were back to that again? “You will not.”
She reached the front door and finally looked at him. Tears were streaking down her face. What the hell was that about? “I will. I’m not going to let you use me to punish Noah. And you’re right. I don’t really know him. I’m an idiot. I just never learn. I will this time, James. You just go on and find your perfect woman who never did anything wrong and doesn’t have a past. The rest of us aren’t good enough for you.”
And he deserved that, why? “Hope, I was talking about Noah, baby. I wasn’t talking about you. Hell, you are perfect. Come on. Come back to bed and we can talk. Just you and me. Just tell me what’s going on, and I’ll take care of it. I’ll take care of you. I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you.”
He would wrap her in his care. He would make damn sure nothing ever made her sad again.
Except losing Noah. If he did this, would she always miss Noah? Would she come to hate him for forcing her to choose?
She shook her head, tears falling. “No. If you really knew me, you wouldn’t want me anymore. I can see that now. It’s better to walk away.”
She opened the door and walked out.
James followed. How had everything gone so damn wrong? What could Hope have done? “If you think I’m going to let you go, you’re wrong, Hope.”
Hope stopped on the porch, her shoulders squared. “I think you’re going to have to. It looks like you have company.”
James followed her line of sight. Noah was walking out of the house followed by Trev, Henry Flanders, and a woman. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Serena walked with them, a bottle of champagne in her hand and a smile on her face. He was screwed.
“Not serious, huh?” Hope asked.
“No. It is not serious. I saw her twice. I have been utterly open and honest with you. I slept with her, yes, but I didn’t promise her anything.” He was starting to panic. What the hell was he going to do if Hope really walked out? He’d spent so much time running from her, but now the thought of not knowing where she was made him nauseous. Hope was his. She had to be because he couldn’t imagine his life without her.
“You didn’t make any promises to me, either, James.” Her face was flat without a lick of emotion past the tears.
Fine. He could do that. Finally something he had control over. He reached for her hand, covering it with his own. She was cold. “You want a promise. I’ll make you a promise. We’re going to get married, Hope. Do you want to go to Vegas tonight? Or we can file for a license and have a big party.”
Hope dragged her hand out of his, a look of horror dawning on her face. “I can’t marry you. Oh, god, James, you don’t even know me.”
His head was reeling. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“James!” Serena tottered on her ridiculously high heels as she pushed past Noah on the lawn. “James, I came all the way out here to bring you a surprise.”
Hope sighed. “It’s not a surprise, Serena. Your coat’s open. Everyone can see your boobs.”
It was said without a hint of venom. Hope seemed to just be pointing out a fact of life, but Serena’s face went up in flames, and she turned her attention to Hope as she retied her coat.
“I didn’t look, baby.” James didn’t even want to. Serena was a lovely woman, and he had nothing at all against her, but Hope was it for him. He wouldn’t look at the Serenas of the world ever again.
Serena’s eyes narrowed on Hope. “What are you doing here? God, Hope, you’re so deeply pathetic. You couldn’t get Logan. Wolf wouldn’t look twice at you. So now you’re going after James. Again.”
Okay. Now he had something against Serena. He wasn’t about to let anyone talk to his woman that way. He stepped close to Hope, but she held out a hand.
“Don’t even bother, James. I can handle this.” She leaned against the porch rail. “Logan was my friend, Serena. I know it shocks you that I could have a male who’s just a friend because a woman like you needs to believe every man in the world wants to sleep with her. I love Logan because of the man he is and not because he has a dick that I can control him with. As for Wolf Meyer, he’s a friend, too. I knew he was going to leave soon. I don’t start short-term relationships with men who won’t stick around. And I sure as hell don’t show up naked at a man’s home in the desperate hope that I might keep him. Go away, Serena. He’s not going to get serious with you. And the truth is, you don’t really want him to.”
“How the fuck do you know what I want?” Serena fairly vibrated with rage.
James had wanted to save Hope, but it looked like she was going to save him.
“Take a deep whiff, Serena. Give it a minute for the wind to pick up.” Hope breathed deeply. “There it is.”
James nearly laughed out loud at the look of horror that crossed Serena’s face.
“What is that?” Serena asked, gagging a little.
“That would be animal feces.” Hope didn’t even hold her nose.
“Sorry, the herd is close in today,” Trev explained in his deep, Texas accent. “Doc here is going to check them all out tomorrow.”
“I am?” Noah asked.
“Yep,” Trev replied.
At least someone was properly handling Noah.
Hope gestured at the pasture in the distance. “This is ranch life, Serena. You look around here and see wealth, but the truth of the matter is everything is going back into the business. All of James’s money is tied up in the land. He’s not going to take you on fabulous vacations. Do you know what a great vacation is for a rancher? Heading to another ranch to check out bulls. So as James’s beloved wife, you’re going to get to watch a whole lot of bulls performing. Sexy.”
“Are you ready to run a house?” Noah asked Serena. “Because our momma worked hard every day to keep this place up.”
“He doesn’t have a housekeeper?” Serena asked, her eyes uncertain for the first time.
“He barely has ranch hands. Some asshole took the cash he needed and left him to deal with everything alone, so all he can offer you is really hard work.” Noah stared at James while he explained ranch life. “It’s why he didn’t go after the woman he wanted all this time. It’s why he stayed away from Hope. He didn’t have anything to offer her.”
“Uhm, I can offer really hot sex.” James felt a little hot under the collar listening to Hope and Noah explain how crappy his life was. It was all true, but it sounded deeply pathetic. “And I have some money now. And I was planning a trip to Montana. Hope, it’s beautiful up there.”
“The purpose of this trip?” Hope asked.
Damn it. “I have to go look at a bull.”
Hope whipped her finger in the air. “See, cow porn. Woo-hoo.”
He felt himself blush. “Well, there was going to be more to it. Trust me, there will be a lot of human porn going on, too.”
Yeah, that was romantic.
“Montana? You were going to take me to Montana?” Serena sounded deeply offended.
James sighed. “No. I wasn’t going to take you anywhere. I’m taking my fiancée.”
Noah’s mouth dropped open. “You asked Hope to marry you?”
“Not really. He kind of told me, and then his ex showed up wearing a trench coat and a smile.” Hope’s lower lip sort of pouted out.
Yep. He was in trouble. He always screwed up the romantic stuff. Noah was better at it. “We are getting married.”