“Dammit, Gage, just go ahead and say it.”

“What do you expect me to say?”

Her chest hurt with the effort to control her anger—and her tears. “That you’re firing me.”

“You’re wrong.”

A tiny spark of hope swelled inside her and then deflated just as quickly as he turned to look out the window.

“I don’t want you to think of it as being fired.”

“I don’t know how else to think of it, Gage. I don’t want to go. You’re the one making me.”

“Then you can accept that I make the rules around here.”

He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck and Valentine recognized the gesture. It was what he done when he didn’t want to deal with a situation. Well, he was going to deal with this one. No way was she going to make this easy for the big rancher. She may have to go, but he was going to have to admit to his reasons why. He’d hidden behind his supposedly broken heart and hurt pride long enough. She knew, just knew, he’d felt something for her at the cabin.

Something that pure, that right, couldn’t have all been one sided.

“That’s not good enough. Are you worried that I might be getting under that thick skin of yours?” He’d pulled away so fast after their time on the mountain that Valentine wasn’t sure she could even reach him now. But she had to try.

A short bark of humorless laughter met her question. “Better women than you have tried, honey. Now, why don’t you make this easy on yourself?”

Her spine stiffened. “Don’t you mean make this easy on you? Just pack my bags and slink away in the night so you don’t have to deal with me—or your feelings for me—anymore?”

Valentine drew in a deep breath. She wasn’t fighting to stay. She didn’t want to be anywhere she wasn’t wanted. But what they had shared, the feelings that had deepened between them during her weeks on the ranch, was worth fighting for. She knew he felt something for her. And he’d admit it before she left. 

“My feelings for you?” His black brows rose.

The tiny smirk on his handsome face sent a surge of anger through her. If Valentine wasn’t so sure that he cared, she’d happily hit him over the head with something heavy and blaze a trail away from the Hanging Tree as fast as her car would carry her. She might have been a virgin when he took her, but she knew the difference between love and lust. Between a one-night stand and the beginning of a real relationship.

What they’d shared at the cabin had been more than sex.

For both of them.

“Alright, then.” She stepped forward, tipping her face up so she could look directly into his eyes. “If you won’t admit that you have feelings for me, then I’ll start. I love you, Gage. I always have.”

For just an instant, fire blazed in his blue eyes before his features went completely blank. “You don’t love me, Valentine.”

Anger, white hot and intense, blinded her. “Don’t patronize me, Gage. You don’t get to tell me how I feel.” She stepped back, crossing her arms. “I know my feelings. And I know that I love you.”

“No.” His features were like stone, his voice devoid of emotion. “You only think that you love me. You’ve been lonely since your uncle died and you’ve built up some fantasy that being here with me—with Pepper and the hands—that we’re your replacement family.” He shook his head. “So you see, it’s not love you feel, Valentine, it’s the relief from your loneliness that has you confused.”

It wouldn’t have hurt any worse if he had physically slapped her. Did he actually think her so foolish?

“You’re wrong, Gage. Yes, I pushed you into hiring me, but that was because I needed the job, not because I felt a need to replace my family. I didn’t come here expecting to fall in love with you, but I did.” She shrugged, her anger deflating. “Don’t worry, I’m not expecting a proposal of marriage.”

When he blanched at her words, she laughed mirthlessly. “Yes, I said the “M” word. My God, Gage, you’ve got to let go of the past. I know LeeAnn hurt you, but at some point, you’ve got to move on. What she did to you sucked, but you can’t keep using that as a reason to push everybody away.”

He clamped his jaw closed so tightly that Valentine could see the muscles clenching. “That’s my business.”

“No,” Valentine intoned dejectedly, “it’s the excuse you’re going to keep using as a basis for your refusal to accept that not only do I love you, totally and completely, but that you love me too.”

Gage took a step back, showing absolutely no reaction to her words. “I’ll expect you to be gone by morning.”

 Valentine raised her chin, willing away the threat of tears. There would be time for waterworks later. “I’ll do you one better, cowboy. I’ll be gone in an hour.”