Can't Hardly Breathe (The Original Heartbreakers #4)

“And she’s safe,” the man snarled, his voice nasally as blood poured from his nostrils.

Thea curled her fingers around Daniel’s wrist and tugged. “I insisted he take me. I—”

“I don’t care,” Daniel roared as he spun to meet her gaze. “You could have died out here.”

She released him and once again backed away. “I don’t understand what’s happening. You’re the one who suggested I live stream.”

“Not from the eye of the storm! You could have died out there,” he repeated, then scrubbed a hand down his face. “Storms are like war. An enemy could be waiting at every corner.”

“I’m sorry I worried you, but this—”

“No. No buts. Purposely endangering your life isn’t okay. Purposely endangering your life to film a storm is worse.”

She bristled. “What are you saying?”

He ground his teeth. “I want to be with you. Long-term. I don’t want to worry about the end—losing you to a tornado.” Carol had been right about one thing. He was going to make Thea choose. “It’s the storms or me, Thea. You can’t have both. Pick one. Now.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

DOROTHEA STARED AT DANIEL, certain she’d misheard. No way would he have told her to pick between storms and him. Right?

So danged wrong.

He was tense, his expression dark. He radiated concern and fury. “Pick,” he grated.

How dare he! She loved this man with all her heart, but she would not let him be the dictator of her life. She strove for a let’s-be-reasonable tone. “You’re worried about me, which is why I’m going to give you a chance to apologize.”

As silence stretched between them, her too-fast heartbeat agonized her, keeping her alive but killing her, too. She wasn’t ready for their relationship to end. He was finally thinking long-term! But she wasn’t going to let him push her around. What kind of future would they have?

If he didn’t back down, they were over.

“You’re choosing the storms,” he said. A hard statement, not a question.

“I’m not. I’m choosing not to cave to such a ridiculous ultimatum.”

She’d learned a lot about herself and her future today. Chasing a tornado had been a major rush, there was no doubt about that; her adrenaline had been thumping and pumping. But in order to do it again, she needed the proper equipment. To acquire the proper equipment, she needed to work for a network. Thing was, she liked being her own boss. All her life, she’d fallen into line, and she was done. So done!

And she liked the life she was building here in Strawberry Valley. Working at the inn might not have been her dream or passion in the past, but that didn’t mean anything in the present. People changed.

When the storm had passed, she’d found she wasn’t as excited about the next one. She’d just wanted to be home, curled up with Daniel. She’d wanted his ring on her finger. Wanted to build a family with him. She had a lot of love to give.

The thought had led to the idea of using her webpage to keep the residents of Strawberry Valley informed about inclement weather, even posting a daily vlog for paying subscribers. A paying job, a delight and a blessing, all rolled into one. She could stay home with her family, share her love and knowledge, help to keep people safe, and never have to venture into the middle of a storm again.

But she told Daniel none of that. If he couldn’t accept her without strings, if he was willing to trample on what he thought were her dreams, he wasn’t the man for her.

“I will not apologize,” he said. “You were reckless and irresponsible and—”

“The network loved it,” Jazz interjected. He held a cloth to his bleeding nose. “They want to interview you for a job, Dorothea.”

A job she would have wanted yesterday, but moving to the city no longer held appeal. She would have to leave Daniel, the inn, her mom, her sister and her friends. Which she had done before, and she could do again...but she didn’t want to.

A muscle ticked beneath Daniel’s eye. “Are you going to take the job?”

“It hasn’t even been offered yet,” she told him.

“And if it is?”

“What would you do if I said yes?” she demanded. Tell me you’ll still love me. Or that you love me even a little. Or that you like me and you’d rather I didn’t but you’d support me if I did. Her gaze beseeched him.

“Then I’d say...we’re over.”

So simply stated, as if he didn’t care one way or the other. This wasn’t the sweet Daniel who’d told her how much he would miss her while he was gone. This was a Daniel she’d never met before. Perhaps the one who’d ignored her while he was in the city.

Flattening a hand over her queasy stomach, she said, “Do you want to be over?”

“I don’t want to fear for your safety every time it rains. I don’t want a long-distance relationship. Like I told you, I don’t want to dread the end anymore.”

Did he want marriage? Maybe. But... “No, you just want me to forget my needs and focus on yours.” Thing was, he didn’t want her enough. Something she’d always known but had been willing to overlook...for the chance to be with him.

“Don’t try to make this about me,” he snarled.

“But it is. You made it clear from the beginning we were only temporary.” Still her gaze beseeched him. Tell me you want us to work, no matter what. Fight for us! “Now you want more, but only if I do things your way. Always your way.”

This time he was the one to step back. His hands fisted. “I guess you’ve made your choice.”

Any hope she’d cultivated suddenly withered. Like Jazz, Daniel wasn’t going to fight for her.

“Well, all right, then,” she said. She blinked back a well of tears. Tears he didn’t deserve! “We’re over.” She turned away.

“Dorothea,” Daniel said.

Dorothea. No longer Thea. Tears burned her eyes, but she paused. “What?”

“There’s a folder on the computer at the inn labeled Potentials. A handful of people emailed résumés, hoping to get the job.”

What! “You said no one had—”

“No, I said I hadn’t set up any interviews, and I hadn’t.”

So he’d misled her. “Why tell me now? To hurt me?”

No response, which was answer enough.

“You’re making this easier by the second,” she grated.

Jazz watched her with wide eyes.

“Get in the van,” she commanded.

He shot Daniel an evil look before obeying. Silent now, she climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. She kept her gaze straight ahead, probably the most difficult thing she’d ever done, not even glancing at her former boyfriend.

A sob threatened to overtake her, but she suppressed it. Daniel had just shattered her heart into a million little pieces, but not by word or deed would he ever know it. Let him think he was as disposable to her as she was to him.

“Take me back to the inn,” she said, using up the rest of her strength.

“Dorothea—”

“Drive!”