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Authors: Juliana Haygert

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BOOK: Breaking Fences (The Breaking Series)

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Garrett took off his hat and closed the truck’s door. “Hi.”

I halted a safe fifteen feet from him. “What are you doing here?”

He jerked his chin to the trailer. “I brought Midnight.”

“But why you?”

He scrunched his nose. “I thought it would be pretty obvious seeing as I am two states away from home,” Garrett said, his tone even. His hazel eyes, though, seemed troubled.

I shook my head. “Garrett, I can’t—”

“No, wait. Listen to me.” He advanced two steps toward me, his eyes locked on mine. “I came to apologize, to ask for your forgiveness. I know I hurt you and I’m sorry. I never meant to. Once I realized I was falling for you, I didn’t care about the money. I swear.”

Tears of rage and frustration brimmed in my eyes. “No. You can’t do this to me.”

“Bia, I know I screwed up, but I need to prove to you that I regret it. I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. But the truth is, I shouldn’t have let you leave Colorado. I should have held on to you, fought for you, fought
with
you until you saw how much you mean to me, how great we are together.”

No, no, no. Who did he think he was? He couldn’t come here and expect me to forget everything that happened. I was still picking up the pieces from last fall, but I had built a life for myself here with a solid foundation. What was he thinking? That I would go back to Colorado with him, just like that? No. No more moving for me. I was here now and I wouldn’t move.

“Please, stop. Nothing you say will change anything.” I walked past him, toward the trailer. The sooner I got Midnight out, the sooner he would leave. “I won’t move back to Colorado, and even if I forgave you, I can’t imagine being in a long-distance relationship.” I opened the trailer’s gate and gasped. Midnight had company. I turned my eyes to Garrett. “What is Felicity doing here?”

A half-grin tipped his lips up. “You know the distance thing? That’s all solved. I sold the land, and I’m moving here.”

I gaped. “What? No, you can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because of the land. Your mother left it for you.”

Garrett stepped aside and plucked a lonely dandelion from a patch of grass. “I realized a few things. I don’t think my mother left me that land for a greater purpose. That land didn’t mean anything to her. She never stepped on it. How could it mean anything? She left me the land so I would have a place to land.” He tucked the dandelion in the front pocket of his shirt, and then he reached past me, to Midnight, and untied him. “Maybe she wanted me to try to get close to my father, which I did and it failed miserably, but I don’t think she had high hopes on that aspect.” He handed me Midnight’s reins. Twitching, the horse poked his muzzle on my shoulder when I ran a hand on his smooth coat. “Since the land didn’t mean anything to her, I realized it didn’t mean anything to me either. Therefore, I sold it to my father. I played hard to get, and to get rid of me, he paid twice what it was worth.” He untied Felicity and took her reins. “Or maybe it was his way of giving me something and not feeling guilty for the way things were going between us. Who cares about his reasons? What matters is, I sold the land, got the money, and came here.” He started walking toward the stable with Felicity. I followed him, taking Midnight with me. “I wanted to go after you the moment I got here, but I knew I had to build my case before barging into your life like that.”

I put Midnight in an empty stall. “How long have you been here?”

Garrett pulled Felicity in another empty stall. “I first got here about two weeks ago.”

I closed the stall’s door. “Oh.” My heart sank. Wow. He had been in the same town as me for the last two weeks and hadn’t bothered to come after me. “Wait. You have been here for two weeks, and didn’t bring my horse to me?”

Shaking his head, he exited the stall and closed the door. “I came to California two weeks ago, set up a few things, and then went back to Colorado to get my truck and the horses. I was there yesterday morning when Tom called you to let you know when to expect Midnight.”

I frowned. “He knew you were the one bringing Midnight to me?”

“Yes,” he said. Oh, I would call Tom and give him an earful. “I didn’t want to show up here with nothing for myself but some money in the bank, which wouldn’t last forever. So, I flew in a couple of weeks ago to search for a job and an apartment.”

“A job?”

“I start at the Thompson’s ranch on Monday. You know, just down the road from here.”

My eyes bugged. “Yes.”

He held the dandelion in front of him. “But I don’t intend to stay there for long. I’ve been researching about how to get my GPA up so I can apply for vet school and finish what I started.” New tears burned behind my eyes. This time, he wiped them off, brushing his fingers over my cheek. He cupped my face. “I know I’m not a perfect man, not even close. I know I won’t ever be rich or famous, but I want to try to be the best man I can be. I’ll probably have to work my ass off for the rest of my life. But when I look at the future and let myself imagine you by my side, I can’t think of anything more perfect than that.” He looked down at the dandelion. “Remember that day that I made a wish on one of these, and you asked me what I had wished for?” I nodded and he smiled. “Well, I wished to find a home. My home.” He blew the dandelion. The plumes scattered around us. “You’re my home, Bia. I … I love you.”

I put my hand over my mouth and suppressed a sob. Here he was, the man I loved, telling me he loved me back. And not only that, but he had sold the land his mother had left for him, he had moved to another state, he had found a new job, and was now thinking about applying to vet school. And it was all because of me. So he could be with me. So he could feel worthy of me.

My heart swelled. “Garrett,” I whispered.

“Yes?”

“Just kiss me already.”

He smiled, a rare full smile, making my heart flutter. “Yes, ma’am.”

He lowered himself to me, and I shivered when his lips touched mine. Trial period over, he dove in and kissed me, really kissed me, taking the air from my lungs. I held on for dear life, fisting his shirt and pulling him as close as two people could get.
Meu Deus
, how I had missed his soft lips, his delicious scent, and his warm body against mine. With one hand on my waist, Garrett pushed me against the wall.

I chuckled and he pulled back a little. “What?”

“You always press me against something.”

“Um, you know I can press you against a mattress, if you prefer.” He touched his lips on mine softly.

Meu Deus
. My stomach flip-flopped, remembering what he could do to me.

“Garrett?”

“Hmm?” He grazed his tongue under my ear and bit my jaw.

“I love you.”

He stopped and stared at me, his eyes shining. “I love you too.” He dipped to kiss me again. My body trembled when his mouth claimed mine. This kiss was different. It was slower, deeper, as if it contained more meaning than the others.
Meu Deus
, what would it be like to make
love
to him? Warmth spread through my body.

Finally, out of breath, I broke the kiss. “What are your plans for tonight?” I asked, my voice throaty.

“Besides making up for being away from you the past eight weeks?”

A shiver ran through my body.
Focus, Beatriz. Focus.
“I promised my cousin I would go to a dinner-slash-party he and two of my brothers are hosting tonight. But that won’t be for another—” I pulled my cell phone and glanced at the screen. “—four hours.”

“I can abuse a hell of a lot of you in four hours.” He kissed my neck. “As long as you promise we can continue it after you’re back from the dinner-slash-party.”

“Do you want to go to the party with me?”

He lifted one eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re ready to introduce me to your family?”

I held his stare. “Yes.” He smiled. A full smile again. Contentment filled my chest. “I’m not sure they’re ready to meet you though.”

Chuckling, he brushed his lips on mine. “I don’t care. They can try to scare me away. I’ll just hold you tight and never let you go again.”

I smiled. “Works for me.”

Acknowledgments:

First and foremost, thanks to my dear husband and our beautiful daughter for the support and understanding when I’m in deep with my stories.

Thanks to Cris dos Santos, Jessica Barber, Virginia Merante, Ghenet Myrthil, and Katlyn Duncan. Love our little group and our monthly meetings!

Thanks to Susana Retamal, Jani Grey, Lauren Garafalo, Priya Kanaparti, and Renita Pizzitola for the support. Renita also helped me with the blurb, so double thanks for that.

Thanks to Savannah Avila, from Good Books and Good Coffee, and Jessica (the same from above) for helping me with the title.

Thanks to Leticia, my best friend in Brazil, who lent her name for Bia’s best friend in Brazil.

Thanks to Hetty, blogger of Best Sellers and Best Stellars, for helping me with anything related to horses.

Thanks to Sarah Hansen for the amazing cover! And thanks to my awesome editor, Dani Crabtree. :)

About the Author:

While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life as a wife, a mother, and an author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.