Honey Trapped

Chapter Forty

Pria wasn't sure how long she was going to stall. She needed the quiet of the barn right now. She'd been overstimulated all day while waiting for Brogue to arrive, and then seeing him again nearly sent her into overdrive. Kissing him was one thing - it was physical - but the amatory way he'd been looking at her all evening left her with muddled thoughts.

Brogue was one big roller coaster, and she wasn't sure if he was a ride she could handle a second time around. The problem was, she wasn't angry at him anymore, and that thought scared her more than Brogue's soft brown eyes looking at her as if she were the only thing he could see.

It gave her hope. Hope and Brogue weren't synonymous in her mind.

With a sigh, she stood and brushed off her behind. She'd better just go back to the house. If she stayed in the barn any longer she'd only cause herself a panic attack.

Brogue opened the barn door just as she was reaching for it. He pulled her into him and feathered her lips with his.

This? This she could understand. This she could cope with.

Relaxing against him, she opened her mouth. His hair slid between her fingers and a tremor went through him as he pressed closer. His big arms wrapped around her, one of his hands splaying along her back, holding her close.

Brogue pulled back slightly to look into her eyes. "You're gorgeous, you know that?"

She rested her cheek against his chest, hearing the way his heart beat steadily. "So are you."

He chuckled as he stroked her back lightly. Eventually he pulled away, his demeanor becoming reticent. "I've got something to tell you."

Pria backed away, the hesitance in his voice instantly slamming her walls into place. The last time he'd used that tone of voice, she'd found out he had a daughter. "Oh, boy. What is it now?"

"Lilly is here. She showed up with my sister. I didn't know they were coming, and Liza wouldn't have known not to come. I should have told her."

Pria moved over to the hay bales, shuffling the loose pieces with the toe of her boot. "It's fine. I'll hang out in the room so you guys can enjoy your visit."

"No. I want you to get to know each other." He went to her and took a lock of her hair in his hand. "I'm just wondering how comfortable you are."

Pria made a face. "Being around you has taught me to roll with the punches. I think I can handle one little girl."

"I want her to know what you are to me."

Pria glared at the hay. "And what's that?"

"The woman I want to be with. I want to introduce you as mine."

This man and his words. Her heart thumped roughly in her chest. It was past time to face the reckoning. "I still have something to tell you, remember?" Pria looked over her shoulder at him, feeling everything inside her crying out, wanting the facts to be different, but the truth was... "You may change your mind after I do."

Brogue put his hands in his pockets. "Then tell me now."

Pria smiled again, still shuffling the hay. She'd been hoping to have this conversation when they got back to the real world, but Brogue had that stubborn glint in his eye. "Straight forward, or gently?"

He hesitated and even took a step back. "Let's not break the streak we're on. Straight forward."

Pria let out a breath and set her shoulders, then turned to face him. She lifted her chin a notch, but her defiant posture couldn't keep her voice from quivering. "Remember when you came to see me in the hospital? Vic didn't just have me roughed up." She swallowed. "He ended my pregnancy."