Page 51 of Promise Me a Forever Texas Love

“I ran off because I was a stupid, insecure kid who couldn’t deal with you looking at me after we’d made love like it was the biggest mistake you’d ever made.”

If he’d told her the sky was falling, she wouldn’t have been more stunned. She didn’t know if it had to do with him using the words making love or the part about her looking at him like it was a mistake. That was how he’d been looking at her not the other way around.

She stumbled and he steadied her by pulling her closer. Which didn’t steady her at all. And she felt even more off balance when he pressed his cheek to hers and whispered in her ear.

“I’m sorry, Catydid. I’m sorry I left. But I’m even more sorry for convincing you to do something you weren’t ready for.”

She drew back. “What are you talking about? I was the one who kissed you first.”

“And I’m the one who took it further.”

She could have left it at that. But whether it was the Firebombs or just the need to finally get the truth out, she didn’t. “And I wanted you to take it further. You didn’t force me to do anything, Huck. I thought I had forced you. I thought that’s why you ran off. Because I’d made everything weird and scared the crap out of you. That’s exactly how you looked at me that morning we woke up together. Like you were terrified.”

“I was terrified. I was terrified I’d ruined everything with the girl I was head over heels in love with.”

Cadee stopped dancing and stared at him. “You loved me?”

His eyes were direct and sincere. “Not loved. I love you, Catydid. And not just as a friend.”

She stood there feeling like she’d just been run over by a freight train. Huck loved her? A thousand questions raced through her mind. When? How? But mostly, why? Why had he kept it a secret for so long? Why had he left? Why was he telling her on a dance floor surrounded by hordes of two-stepping Texans?

Before she could voice any of these questions, Dawson yelled. “Huck!”

Huck glanced at the door where Dawson stared down a group of rowdy-looking, drunk guys. Huck looked back at her, his hands tightening on her waist. “Don’t go anywhere, okay? It will just take a minute.”

Then he left her . . . once again.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Huck hadn’t planned on telling Cadee he was in love with her on Honky Tonk Heaven’s dance floor. All the memories and the feel of her in his arms had been too much and the words just spilled out. When he walked back inside after helping Dawson escort the idiot drunks out—or more like toss them out—and couldn’t find Cadee anywhere, he realized he’d made a big mistake.

Way to take things slow, dumbass.

He pushed his way through the crowd to the bar. “Where’s Cadee? Did she leave?”

Poppy picked up a rag and started wiping down the bar as if she had all day to answer. “I’m not sure. She mumbled something about needing air and headed for the back door. What the hell did you say to her on the dance floor? She looked like she’d been hit by a semi.”

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I told her I love her.”

Poppy stared at him for a long moment, and he figured he was going to get a lecture on how Hennessys didn’t know the meaning of the word love. But instead she just went back to polishing the bar. “Then you better go see if she’s okay. I’ll cover for you.”

Panic set in when he stepped out back and didn’t see Cadee. He started to head around the building to the front parking lot when she separated from the shadows beneath the old oak.

When he’d first seen her in the short red dress, he’d almost swallowed his tongue. It fit her body to perfection, hugging her full breasts, flaring at her curvy hips, and showing off her lean legs. The halter style exposed most of her back. As he’d watched her sit at the bar, all he’d been able to think about was tugging loose the single knot at the back of her neck. Underneath, did she wear a strapless bra or no bra at all?

The thought of untying that knot and her dress slipping off, leaving her in nothing but a pair of sexy lace panties and those even sexier high-shank black boots had given him a major boner.

Even now, when he was scared to death he’d ruined things with his hasty words of love, he felt himself harden. All he wanted to do was wind his fingers into those dark curls that framed her pretty features and delved into the candy-apple lips that matched her dress.

But he’d let his baser instincts take over before and it hadn’t gone well. He refused to make the same mistake. Especially when it looked like she was already upset.

He hesitantly stepped closer. “Are you okay?”

“Okay?” Her voice quavered. “No, Huck, I’m not okay. You can’t just blurt out things like that and expect me to be okay. Not after everything that’s happened. Not after you left me and refused to answer my phone call and texts. I get it. You were young and confused and scared.” Tears welled in her eyes. “But so was I. And while maybe you had to deal with a few sleepless nights, you never had to sit on the floor of your bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test and wondering what the hell you were going to do. You never had to spend every morning for months leaning over a toilet. You never had to deal with sore boobs or stretch marks or childbirth. I went through all those things, Huck, and I did them without you. So excuse me if I don’t fall into your arms just because you make a declaration of love. Words mean nothing without actions. You left me and then when you did come back, you didn’t stop by to see me once . . . until you found out about Camden. If that’s how you love, I want no part of it.”

She turned and walked away.

Huck felt like his heart had been cleaved in two. She was right. How could she possibly believe in his love when he’d deserted her when she’d needed him most? If she couldn’t believe in his love, there was no hope. No hope at all. He should just give up and accept it.