Coming over here earlier, Gage had expected a number of things to happen, conjured up a series of scenarios in his head. The two of them ending up naked in her bed wasn’t one of them, although he was ready for a repeat whenever she was.

He didn’t think that was going to happen.

Kylie shifted, but before she could pull away, Gage held her closer, refusing to let go just yet. He knew it was coming and knew she was going to send him packing. Not that he could blame her. After what he did, he was surprised she hadn’t called the cops when he made his way through her front door earlier.

The cold chill of the iced tea had been a nice touch though, he had to admit. He’d seen the desperate swirls of anger churning in her beautiful blue eyes and had suspected it was coming. He deserved much worse than that, he knew. It wasn’t like he didn’t expect her to be riled up the moment she saw his face. Hell, he wouldn’t have blamed her if she had hauled off and slapped him halfway across Texas. It wasn’t like she’d be able to make him feel any lower than he did right then and there.

Even now. As he reveled in the memory of what it felt like to slide deep into her warmth, to get lost in the wonder of having her wrapped around him, her pussy milking him until he barely knew his own name. It was payback of the worst kind. Gage wasn’t going to walk away from her unscathed. He wondered if she knew that.

As he held her soft, pliant body against his, he tried to remember why he’d come up with the plan to hurt Travis in the first place. Not only did he hurt her, he also got all of the Walker clan riled up, including Kaleb – who wasn’t speaking to him at the moment. Not that he could blame him either.

What made it even worse was that not even for one fraction of a second did Gage feel as though vindication was served. No. He felt exactly the opposite, in fact. Between the hurt and anger he saw on Kylie’s pretty face and the storm clouds that brewed in Travis’ penetrating gaze, Gage had felt lower than low.

Hoping that everyone would have some time to cool off, Gage had taken off for a little while. Well, that was partly true. His disappearance was a little more selfish than that, but he hadn’t known what to do with himself. He could’ve added the anger and resentment that both Travis and Kylie felt for him, multiplied it by infinity and still not come up with even half of his own self-hatred for what he’d done.

He’d resorted to dousing his pain with alcohol, trying desperately to erase the last few months, praying that he’d wake up from the nightmare to find he hadn’t done the worst possible thing he could think of. At one point, he’d even ended up shit faced drunk, sicker than a dog in an apartment at Club Destiny, and he had no idea how he’d gotten there or who had come to his rescue. The only thing he remembered was seeing Travis’ handsome face somewhere in his drunken stupor, wishing and hoping he’d finally gotten the chance to apologize, to show him just how he felt. But no, that had only been a dream. One that continued to torture him every night since.

That’s when he knew he was going the wrong direction.

Giving himself a couple of days to sober up had been the only solution, and that’s when he decided it was time to make amends. He had so many people to apologize to, but first on his list was Kylie. Not that he expected her to hear him out, much less forgive him, but he had to try. He needed to try and relieve some of the guilt that was weighing on him because if he didn’t, he might just drown himself in a bottle of Jack and call it a day. Hell, he might do that anyway.

Never in his life had Gage intentionally set out to hurt anyone the way he had managed to hurt the angel lying naked beside him. The sweet, little spitfire he’d come to know had evidently disappeared, and in her place was a woman ready to light him up like a bonfire. And she had. In ways he would never forget.

For all the time they’d spent together, getting to know one another, it had all been in vain because even after this, he knew she wasn’t going to give him the time of day. The worst part about it all, he still wanted to get to know her even though he didn’t deserve it.

Every curious bone in his body still wanted to know what happened between her and Travis all those years ago that would send them away from one another, yet never severing that one tie that held them together indefinitely. Even after Beau Bennett had swept Kylie away that day, and Gage had called Travis to the carpet right there in front of all of his brothers, the man hadn’t told him a thing. When his brothers chimed in, trying to get to the bottom of what happened, Travis had closed up altogether and stormed out of Kaleb’s house leaving more questions than answers.

Rather than stay and face the music, which Gage knew he should’ve done, he took the easy way out. That was until his conscience ate at him to the point he thought he would go insane. That and the downward spiral of booze that was getting too far out of control. That’s what led him to Kylie’s front porch, and ultimately to her bed.

Thrusting his free hand through his hair, Gage closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If he weren’t lying down, he’d be pacing back and forth in order to burn off some of the restless energy that still fueled his mind to work overtime. He couldn’t seem to stop thinking about Kylie, or Travis for that matter, but it didn’t seem to matter how many miles he might walk back and forth, he didn’t know how to fix this.

Inhaling sharply, Gage knew he had to face the music once and for all. As much as he wanted to roll over and slide into the heavenly warmth of Kylie’s body again, he suspected that she was already beginning to overthink what had happened between them.

“Will you reconsider restoring my house?” The moment the words were out, he felt Kylie flinch. Damn it. That didn’t come out right. And his timing sucked.

“Is that why you’re here? For my services?” Kylie pulled away, taking the sheet with her and leaving Gage totally exposed – in more ways than one.

Sitting up and twisting to the edge of the mattress, Gage dropped his feet to the floor, his head hanging low. No matter what he said or did, this wasn’t going to turn out well.

“You know that’s not it,” he grumbled, making his way to his feet and retrieving his jeans from the floor before pulling them on.

“No?”

The reverence he thought he’d heard in her voice earlier was no longer there. The sweet, uninhibited woman was long gone, and in her place was the devastated girl who probably couldn’t even see him through the red haze of her own anger.

Deciding to try one last time, Gage grabbed his socks and his boots and sat on the edge of the bed to slip them on as he glanced up at her. “Will you at least take the job?”

“Why would I do that?” she asked.

“Because I want you to.”

“Not good enough.” Kylie turned and stormed out of the room, still clad in only the sheet and Gage gritted his teeth to keep from going after her. Her passion stirred something inside of him, which explained how they ended up ravishing one another in her kitchen earlier.

He gave her a minute before he followed her out of the bedroom, grabbing his shirt from the floor and pulling it on as he went. She was in the kitchen, staring out the window when he made his way behind her. Her narrow shoulders and slender arms were smooth and seemed to beg for his touch, but he knew better. It was all in his mind. She was ready to be rid of him, and he had a feeling that he could drop to his knees and beg for her forgiveness, but she wasn’t going to give in.

“Look, Gage,” Kylie began with a weighted sigh and Gage steeled himself.

Before she could give him the old heave ho, he interrupted her. “Restore my house. I’ll pay whatever you want. Give me another chance.” Ok, so maybe he wasn’t past begging, but he wasn’t going to drop to his knees.

“Look,” Kylie said, sounding serious and so terribly sad. “As much as I’d like to take the job, I can’t.” She followed her statement with another heavy sigh, and Gage waited for her to continue. “Travis and I shared a history together, and I’m not willing to intrude on his space. I wouldn’t want him doing the same to me, which means I won’t be able to work in the same town he lives in.”

Gage understood her reasoning. Really, he did. She just wasn’t telling him what he wanted to hear. “I’ll make sure you and Travis stay far away from each other. Hell, I won’t even tell him you’re there.”

“Right. And after what you did, I should believe you? Not on your life.” Kylie paused, and Gage knew she was gearing up to throw him out on his ass. “I don’t know what your motive is, but I don’t appreciate being used in this vendetta of yours. I saw Travis’ shock just as much as he saw mine. Our past is our past, and I don’t plan to relive it again. Not with him and certainly not with you.”

He couldn’t come up with the words to argue. He wanted to ask her whether what they just did meant anything to her, but he knew better. It had. He’d seen it in the way she regarded him while they made love. He had felt the exact same way. But Kylie was hurt, and he knew she was more stubborn than he gave her credit for.

Gage had fucked up royally. Trust was something that had to be earned and even if he started out at zero originally, he knew he had a long way to climb before she ever even attempted to believe him again, yet he was willing to give it a shot. There was something about this woman. Something about her that would not allow him to walk away, no matter how hard she kicked him toward the curb.

When Kylie turned to walk away from him again, Gage found himself moving closer. When she pivoted abruptly to face him, he had put so little distance between them that they collided. Reaching out to steady her, Gage found himself unable to let go.