“Fine.” Emotion glittered in her eyes as she said under her breath, “Stubborn ass.”
“Stubborn ass?” Nate tossed the syringe down in the cardboard box with the vaccination vials and rounded the chute. Chloe took a tentative step back. “My father ruined our relationship. Not me. Everyone thinks I was running away when I joined the Navy, but that asshole pushed me away. He thought I was a coward for leaving because I couldn’t face him after what he’d done to me. I left because I wanted nothing to do with him or our family name and I wanted to do something that would make me feel like I had some honor for a change. I saved lives, Chloe. I don’t even remember how many. It’s the ones I lost that I’ll never forget. They’re the ones that haunt me. Good men died unfairly. While he died, rich and comfortable and rutting over a woman he had no business being with.”
“Nate.” Tears pooled in Chloe’s eyes and her chin quivered. Chloe didn’t know his history with his father and how he’d betrayed him. How could she? Nate refused to let it soften him, though. He was pissed and wanted to stay that way. He didn’t owe her an apology for anything. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Chloe. I just…” Nate snatched his hat off his head. He raked his fingers through his hair and let out a gust of breath. He’d let his temper get the best of him. Chloe hadn’t deserved to be at the receiving end of it. “Forget it.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” Without saying another word, Chloe turned and headed back toward the house.
Nate kicked at the ground, his fists clenched tight. Son of a bitch. He watched her march across the pasture, dust kicking up with every step, her arms swinging purposefully beside her. He hadn’t meant to be so harsh with her. The expression on her face had grown more distressed with every forceful word. As though he’d had an out-of-body experience, his mouth continued to run while he watched from beside himself, helpless to stop the flow of his anger.
You dickhead. Way to fuck yourself over.
The echo of his front door slamming behind Chloe made its way across the pasture to the corral. The calves started at the sound and even Nate’s heart skipped a beat. He walked slowly toward the house, giving himself some time to calm the fuck down before he talked to Chloe again. After a week of lawyers, advisors, his brothers, and Miranda all in his ear, the last thing he’d wanted was one more opinion on what he should do with his inheritance. The stress was starting to wear on him.
And instead of just telling Chloe that, he’d thrown a king-sized tantrum. Awesome.
*
By the time Chloe hit the staircase, her temper had begun to ebb. She hadn’t meant to push Nate’s buttons—the situation had to have been stressing him out—but she wasn’t going to give up trying to convince him to see her point of view.
Chloe wasn’t stupid. She knew how her nagging must have come across. As though she were more interested in Nate’s money than Nate himself. Nothing could be further from the truth, though. If that had been the case, she would have asked him for the money to save her foundation before she’d even gotten her underwear back on that first night. It wouldn’t matter to her if he had ten or ten billion dollars. She’d still want him. Still crave his touch. She’d still think about him every waking moment of every single day. Her gaze wandered over the dingy paint, rickety staircase, and creaking floorboards of Nate’s house. It was run-down, sure. But it was a house she’d spend every day of the week in if he wanted her there.
His inheritance could offer him so much more, though.
She wanted that money, for Nate. He deserved every bit of ease it could offer him. He’d lived through enough. It was time for him to quit beating himself up and let life be good to him for a change. He could fix up his house, buy more cows if that’s what made him happy. Travel. Nate was worried that his father’s money would change him. Chloe simply wanted him to see it as the opportunity it could be.
“Chloe. Don’t go.” Nate’s quiet voice rippled over her, a calm breeze in comparison to his earlier storm. “Please.”
One little fight and he thought she was taking off? She paused midstep, her hand on the worn oak banister. “I’m not leaving. I thought we could use a time-out, that’s all.”
The stairs creaked under his weight as Nate made his way to where she’d stopped. Heat buffeted her back from his body and her eyes drifted shut as a shiver raced over her flesh. “I don’t want a time-out.” His voice slid over her in a dark caress. Even without touching her she felt him, and her body came alive as though it was trained to respond only to him. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”