I Only Have Eyes For You: BWWM Cowboy/Western Romance (Westbury Ranch Book 3) (9 page)

Chapter Twelve

L
ando watched her ride out towards the meadows. From the way she sat atop Lightning, he could tell something was amiss. She was upset. What could have happened to make her like that? He debated going after her but her cold dismissal stopped him.

Just at that moment, Amor sashayed into the stable.

At the sight of her dressed in a red pantsuit with four-inch heels, he muffled a groan. Lando couldn’t wait until she left. She’d turned his life upside down from the moment she entered his house. He wanted the wonderful relationship with Paige back.

“There you are, darling. I went to your house but you weren’t there.”

“I had to report for work early in the morning,” he replied in a cold voice.

“Work, work, and work.” She sighed. “That is all you think about. I’ve come from so far and all you have done is take me out for dinner a couple of times. Why don’t you take a week off and we’ll go away for a holiday?”

He looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. “Shit. We need to talk.” He pulled her into one of the tack rooms. “Listen to me. This is my life now. I live here. I work here. You and I, we were over a long time ago.”

“And I’m sorry for that. I shouldn’t have cheated on you. It was the worst mistake of my life. If there’s anything I could do to take it back, I would.”

He stared at her. Sure, he was hurt when she cheated on him, but he hadn’t thought about that incident for a long time, and that was because he didn’t think about Amor anymore. She wasn’t important in his life. Paige was. Of course, she no longer cared about him. He would live with that. He would have to. But maybe he could start somewhere else where he could forget both these women. Right now, he had to deal with Amor, and then he would plan a way to get away from Paige. Her disinterest in him damn near broke his heart. He loved her. Couldn’t she see that? Or maybe she just wasn’t interested. After all, he couldn’t blame her. She told him from the get go, she wasn’t looking for a relationship. It was his fault he was in this mess.

Still, he wasn’t going to jump from Paige’s arms to those of Amor, because he didn’t love her. Probably he never loved her. What he thought were real emotions paled in comparison to what he felt for Paige. She was the one for him. And if she didn’t want him, he wouldn’t want to remain here and subject himself to the pain of seeing her every day. But now that he tasted her, he simply couldn’t settle for anyone else, especially not a woman he couldn’t trust. “It was a long time ago,” he said. “I forgave you.”

Amor sidled closer, and from the look in her eyes, he could tell exactly what she was thinking.

Although he wanted to step away, he was braver than that.

“I want more than your forgiveness, Lando. I want another chance. This time, I’ll do my best.”

He cleared his throat. Lando hated this situation but he would have to learn to deal with it. “Amor, I’ve always admired you, but really, I don’t think we can get back together.”

She pouted. He could see that she thought he was playing hard to get. Amor was an infinitely confident woman. She was used to men falling at her feet and pledging their love and devotion. But he wasn’t about to do that, and Lando wanted to make it as clear to her as possible.

“At least, give it a try. What do we have to lose?”

He would lose his dignity. What’s more, he just couldn’t imagine being with another woman. If he couldn’t have Paige, he would rather remain alone. “I have a new life.”

“Your new girlfriend? She doesn’t seem very interested in you.”

Amor always knew how to dig a barb well. He could imagine that Paige would never say anything so cruel. She was a compassionate woman, and that was one of the things he loved about her. “Maybe she’s not, but even if that’s true, I don’t want you to be the consolation prize.”

“Oh baby.” She leaned forward. There was a glow in her eyes. “If you give me a chance, I’ll be the trophy you’ll proudly carry on your arm.”

Lando stepped back. He was getting tired of repeating himself. More than that, he didn’t want to hurt her, but she wasn’t giving him another choice. The woman was determined, but so was he. Just because Paige broke his heart didn’t mean he would fall into Amor’s arms to make himself feel better. There wasn’t anything that could make him feel good at this point but he wasn’t going to use Amor as a crutch to get over Paige. “I’m sorry. But I have a life here now.”

“Surely, you can make some room for me, can’t you?”

He gazed into her eyes. There was something there that he never saw before; an unknown emotion. Was she really in love with him? He felt the pain of it. Unrequited love was the worst, and he was sorry to put her through it. It may even be what he was going through with Paige. But the truth was that he wasn’t meant for her, and she wasn’t meant for him. They were good for each other at one point, but that period was long gone. 

He shook his head and the light went out her eyes. “I’m sorry, Amor.”

She gulped. He saw the struggle on her face. She wanted to convince him, talk to him, but now it seemed she was certain he wouldn’t budge. The woman sure had guts. Rather than cry, she straightened her spine. “It was my mistake, Lando. If I didn’t push you away with my cheating, maybe we could have had something amazing together.”

He didn’t think so. Sooner or later, they would have drifted apart because she wasn’t his soul mate. Paige was. Or at least he thought so. Apparently, Paige had different views on that matter. “Perhaps,” he said because he didn’t want to cause her any more pain. Once she was important to him. There was a time when he would have done anything for her, and out of respect for that, for their friendship, he smiled. “Maybe you’re right.”

She ran fingers through her hair. “I came here when I realized what a fool I was. It’s because of me you changed your life and came here.”

“It was meant to be. Don’t blame yourself. I’m happy here.”

She cocked her head. “And what about Paige?”

He didn’t say anything. Fond as he was of Amor, there was no way he was discussing the pain that brewed in his heart.

“You love her, and she loves you.”

Oh! The agony!

“I don’t think so.”

Amor winced. She wrung her hands together. “You don’t think so—because—well, I talked to her some.” She bit her bottom lip. “And I gave her the impression I was involved with you, that we were—um, getting back together—.”

“—What?” He couldn’t believe what he just heard.

She clutched his arm and squeezed it. As if realizing he wouldn’t tolerate her touch for long, she let go. “Don’t hate me too much for it. I realized she was someone special and—I was scared. What you had with her we never shared with each other, and I was jealous. I wanted you—”

“—What did you tell her?”

“That you were going back with me, because I came here for you.”

Ah!
Now he understood Paige’s disdain. She believed he was cheating on her. He wanted to be angry with Amor because she spoiled something beautiful and precious, but instead he was grateful she at least had the decency to tell him the truth. There was a time when she never would have made a confession like that. “You’ve changed, Amor. Thank you for telling me.”

“You always were a good person. If someone did that to me, I would’ve scratched their eyes out.”

He took her hand in his and kissed it. “You underestimate yourself. There’s a lot of good inside you but you always try to hide it. Be yourself and one day, the right man will come along.”

She shook her head, looking bewildered by his words. “I told you I ruined your relationship, and you have nothing but kind words for me. What are you made of?”

“You didn’t ruin my relationship. I did it on my own. It was my fault Paige believed you because I never told her how I felt. I should’ve been honest with her from the start. I should’ve told her she meant the world to me. It was my job to make her feel secure and loved, and I failed, and that is why your words hurt her.”

Amor leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Bye, bye, dear friend. I wish you the best of luck.”

“Take care.” His gaze darted to the two women who were standing at the door
.
Dios mío
!
Now, he was in for trouble, but Lando didn’t as much as flinch when Amor passed by Cullen and Shayne. She gave the women a cursory glance but obviously, didn’t understand what their presence meant.

Lando straightened his shoulders as the two women marched towards him.

“You’re going to get it—you—you,” Shayne said, eyes flashing.

“Me?” he asked. “What’s going on?”

Cullen planted her hands on her hips. “Why don’t you tell us, Lando? Are you two timing on our sister?”

“I’m not,” he said. “Not that it is any of your business, but I love your sister and as soon as I see her, I’m going to tell her that.”

They both glanced at each other. “Then what about that woman? What’s her name?” Cullen asked.

“We were just saying goodbye. A long time ago, she was important to me, but now she isn’t.”

“Paige doesn’t know that,” Shayne said.

He inhaled a deep breath and then released it. It should have annoyed him that they were both questioning him in this manner, but he was rather amused by their concern for their sister. As a family, they were top notch, and he wanted to be a part of their circle but more than that, he wanted Paige back in his life. Amor had messed up things, but he was also to blame. He should have told Paige how important she was to him right away. He shouldn’t have kept his feelings hidden. In the end, it only served to harm them, and he couldn’t transfer the blame for it to anyone else. “I need to go and talk to her.”

The women looked at each other again, and then stepped aside. “I saw her ride away on Lightning,” Shayne informed him. “She wasn’t in the best of moods.”

He didn’t say anything. Rather, Lando walked over and took out his horse. He saddled the animal and mounted it, then rode out without a backward glance at the sisters. He was sure they were amused by his predicament but more than anything, he wanted to find Paige and settle the situation.

He’d made a mess of things, but he wanted her to give him a second chance.

It was all he wanted.

“Find Lighting and Paige,” he muttered to his horse.

A hound would have been better for that purpose, but of course, his horse rose to the occasion. The ranch was big and it wasn’t going to be an easy task to look for her. Far away from the farm, he saw Blade with some other ranch hands as they mended another fence. “Seen Paige?” he asked when he approached them.

Blade pointed towards the mountains. “Saw her riding in that direction.”

“What’s the trouble here?” he asked.

“Trouble comes and goes. Until we do something about Max, he isn’t going to stop. I say we all march over and thrash the daylights out of him, but Graeme tells me to be patient.”

Lando thought Blade’s idea had merit but he wasn’t in the position to say anything about it. Sure, if that’s what they decided to do, he would join them because Lando didn’t have any respect for the man who didn’t love the land and his neighbors. Right now though, he had other things to worry about. He saluted the men and rode away. About two miles away, he saw Lightning tied to a tree. “That woman will never make it easy for me,” he muttered.

Lando allowed his horse to drink from the nearby stream and then tied it loosely, so that it would be able to graze around. He walked up the trail. There was no sign of her. Where the hell was she? It was a lovely time of day just before the sun set. There was a breeze and it ruffled through his hair. When he reached the first plateau he saw a large a rock, he found her sitting on top of it. For a moment, he stared at her feeling mystified. Even from this distance, he could see her stooped shoulders and the way she stared down at her hands.

“Paige,” he called in a soft voice.

She looked up, her eyes wide, as if she couldn’t believe she heard right. Her hand brushed her face. “What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you.”

“Well, I’m not lost.” She turned her back on him. “So, you can go right back and do whatever the hell you were doing before you came here.”

“You’re angry with me?”