I shook my head; there was no point in trying to make him understand.

Gage put a hand on each side of my face and leaned closer. I swear I thought he was about to kiss me, like last night, and it didn't matter that I hardly knew him; I wanted him to. "You didn't deserve that, Cassi, you know that, right?"

"I do."

Before I could realize what he was doing, he brushed my swoop bangs back and traced his thumb over a scar from Jeff's glass. My body instantly stiffened and Gage's eyes turned dark as he looked at it. He slowly tore his gaze from the scar to my eyes and spoke softly. "Didn't deserve any of that."

I took a step back and turned to look at the almost-full pot of coffee.

He reached around me and brought down two mugs before pouring coffee in each one. "I'm sorry if you like cream," he drawled. "I don't have any here."

"That's fine." I breathed a quiet sigh of relief as I walked over to the fridge and grabbed the milk. "I'll go to the store later and get some."

When I was done pouring it in, he put the cap on for me and put it back in the fridge. Walking back over to me, he put a finger under my chin and tilted my head up so I was looking at him. "How often did it happen, Cassi?"

My breaths started coming quicker. What was it about him that made me want to fall into his arms and not ever leave? It took his repeating his question for me to come out of my daydream. I was up against the counter, so I couldn't step back, but I moved my head away from his hand and stared past his shoulder into the living room.

He guessed when he saw I wasn't going to answer. "Every day?"

I still didn't respond; if it was a weekend, it happened at least twice a day. But that was something even Tyler didn't know. My body started involuntarily shaking and I hated that I was showing any sign of weakness in front of him.

"Never again, Cassi," he whispered while he studied my face.

My eyes flew back to meet his and my throat tightened. He sounded like he was in pain just talking about it and I had no idea why. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me want his arms wrapped around me. I cleared my throat and forced myself to continue to meet his gaze. "Cassidy."

"What?"

"My name is Cassidy."

"Oh." He looked a little sheepish. "My apologies, I didn't realize."

"No. Um, Tyler doesn't like it. He calls me Cassi. I just wanted to tell you my real name." Really I just wanted to hear it in his gravelly voice.

He smiled softly as he studied me for a minute and took a sip of his black coffee. "I like Cassidy, it fits."

Oh damn . . . yep. I was right in wanting to hear him say that. My arms were covered in goose bumps and I even shivered. Yeah-his voice was that sexy.

When I didn't say anything he walked around to the table and held out a chair, waiting for me to sit in it. We sat in silence for a while before I finally looked up at him again.

"This might be rude, but can I ask you something?"

One side of his mouth lifted up in a smile. "I think I already cornered the market on rude questions this morning, so go ahead."

And cue the freaking dimples! I got so lost staring at them I forgot to ask my question and his smirk went to a full-blown Gage smile. At this rate I'd need to start wearing a sleeping mask and earplugs around him in order not to make myself look like an idiot. Though I'd look ridiculous either way. "Well, um, Tyler said you live on a ranch?"

"I do."

"I was kind of thinking you'd look more like a cowboy . . ."

Gage's laugh bounced back off the walls, and I felt my body relax just listening to it. "And how exactly were you expecting me to look?"

"You know, boots, hat, big belt buckle, super-tight bright blue jeans," I replied, a little embarrassed.

"Well I definitely have the boots, and the hats, but I don't think my sisters or Mama would ever let me dress like Dad."

"Oh."

"My dad even has the big mustache, looks like Sam Elliott."

It took me a second to figure out who that was, and then I laughed. "Seriously?"

"Swear, they could be twins."

"I'd love to see that. So where was your hat last night?"

He shrugged. "I leave all that at the ranch."

"What? Why?"

"I don't wear them as a fashion statement, and I definitely don't have any kind of work that would require them here in hippie town."

"Hippie town?" I deadpanned.

"Just wait until we go out anywhere. You'll see."

I nodded. "What kind of work? What kind of ranch do you have?"

"Cattle ranch, and whatever needs to be done that day. Taking care of the animals, moving the cattle to different parts of the ranch, fixing fences, branding . . ." He drifted off. "Just depends."

"How many cows do you have?"

"About sixteen."

Okay, I understand I don't know a thing about ranches, but I figured you'd need more than sixteen cows to make it a cattle ranch. "You have sixteen cows?"

He huffed a laugh and smiled wide at me. "Hundred. Sixteen hundred."

"Dear Lord, that's a lot of cows."

He shrugged. "We'll be getting more soon, we have the land."

"How many acres is the ranch?"

"Twenty."

"Hundred?"

"Thousand."

"Twenty thousand acres?!" My jaw dropped. Why on earth would anyone need or want that much land?

"Yes, ma'am." He spun his mug around on the table.

" 'Ma'am'? Really?"

One of his eyebrows raised. "What?"

"I'm not some grandma-I'm younger than you."

Gage rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean you're old, it's respectful." When he looked at my expression he shook his head and chuckled. "Yankees."

"Uh, get a clue, cowboy . . . I'm not from the North."

"You're not from the South either. Yankee." He smirked, and if I thought that was going to melt me, when he added a wink I knew I was done for.

"Are you going on about Yankees again, bro?" Tyler asked, walking into the kitchen.

Gage just shrugged and his green eyes met mine from under those dark brows again. "She didn't like that I called her 'ma'am.' "

"Get used to it, Cassi, we may be in the city, but it's different here."

I grumbled to myself and Gage laughed.

"So what are you guys talking about?" Tyler sat in the seat on my other side.

"Their huge ranch with too many cows," I answered.

"She's right about that, there are way too many cows there," Tyler said between sips of his coffee.

"You'd like it." Gage looked at me with an odd expression.

"Hell no, she wouldn't! Cassi doesn't like getting dirty, and she hates bugs. Your ranch would be the worst place for her."

Gage flicked a quick glare at his cousin, then looked back to me. "We have horses."

I gasped. "You do? I've never been on a horse!"

"Eight Arabians. I'll teach you to ride when you come to visit." He sat back in his chair and folded his arms, smirking at Tyler like he'd just won something.

Tyler and I both got quiet. My dad told me he was going to let me start taking riding lessons for my sixth birthday and buy me a horse for my seventh. Obviously those things never happened. Not that we didn't have the money, but my mom wouldn't even cook for me; no way she would let me do those things. It didn't help that even though I still loved horses, whenever I saw them I couldn't stop thinking about my dad.

"Did I say something wrong?" Gage looked confused but kept his eyes on Tyler.

"No," I said with a soft smile. "I'd like that."

After a few awkward minutes, Gage stood up and put his mug in the dishwasher before walking toward his room, "Well, I'm gonna take a shower. If there's anything y'all wanna do today, let me know."

Tyler scooted my chair closer to him. "You okay, Cassi? Is it because of your dad?"

"No, it's fine. I mean, I was thinking about him. But I just can't believe he's been gone for almost twelve years. I feel like I should be over it, I was so young when it happened, but I don't think I was ever allowed to grieve, and that's why it's still hard. I'm not looking forward to this birthday. I always thought when I got away from Mom and Jeff, I would finally enjoy my birthdays again, but I'm looking forward to it less than ever. I think we need to give me a new birthday, Ty." I huffed a light laugh. "No one wants a birthday on the anniversary of their father's death."

He pulled me onto his lap and held me loosely so he wouldn't hurt my back. "He was a great dad; you aren't supposed to get over him, Cassi, you'll always miss him. And no new birthdays, you're keeping the one you have and I'll make sure they get better and better every year."

I let him hold me for a few minutes before speaking again. "Thanks, Ty, I love you."

"Love you too, Cassi."

Gage OH MY GOD, her dad died on her birthday? What else has happened to this girl? Okay, I'll admit I left the bathroom door cracked for a few minutes before shutting it and starting my shower. But the way they'd both got so quiet there at the end, I knew I'd said something I shouldn't have, and I figured Tyler would bring it up as soon as I was gone. I knew she'd be hooked as soon as I mentioned the horses, and she was; I just didn't know telling her I'd teach her to ride would take them back down memory lane to her dad, who was obviously nothing like her mom or stepdad.

Sitting there talking to her before Tyler had come in was the best morning I think I'd ever had, and it didn't even last ten minutes. She smiled so much it made my heart swell each time, and God, that laugh. I was right; it sounded just like freakin' angels. I wanted to die every time she'd start to relax into the chair. Her eyes would go wide for a split second and she'd sit right back up like she'd forgotten about the bruises on her back for a minute. I didn't have to ask her to know she was in pain; there was no way she could have been comfortable with what I'd seen last night. But even with that, her smile never faltered, and that may have killed me even more. She should have been depressed or crying or something. What kind of person goes through that kind of life, as recent as two days ago, and still finds reasons to smile?

When I walked out of the bathroom, she was still curled up on Tyler's lap and I blew out a frustrated sigh. I needed to get over her soon, or living there with them was going to be a challenge.

"Hey, Gage?" Tyler called before I could shut my door.

"What?"

"You up to showing us around the city today?"

No. I want to show Cassidy the city, I want you to go the hell back to California. "Sure."

I shut the door behind me and had just finished getting my jeans on when Tyler walked in.

"You okay, man? We don't have to go out today, I was just asking. Or Cassi and I could go by ourselves. It's not a big deal either way, I just figured since you knew the area . . ."

I never asked Cassidy why Tyler didn't like her name. It was so perfect for her, and why would he even tell her he didn't like it? Seriously, how were we related? "No, it's fine, I just have a lot on my mind. I'll be ready in a minute, we can go whenever."

"All right, well I'm sure she wants to shower. So it'll probably be a while," he called as he walked back out of my room.

I grabbed a shirt and headed out to the living room. Tyler wasn't there, but Cassidy was sitting at the kitchen table, staring intently at her hands. "You okay, Cassidy?"

She jumped and looked up at me, her brows pulled together in confusion and hurt. She didn't say anything, just studied my face for a minute, before blowing out a deep sigh and standing up to walk toward their room.

"I'm sorry for reminding you about your dad. I didn't know." I still didn't know. What did horses have to do with her dad?

Cassidy stopped walking and looked over her shoulder at me for a second, then continued to the door.

I stood there staring at the door, feeling like an ass, even after Tyler walked out of the room and started hooking a gaming system to the TV. Did telling Cassidy I'd teach her to ride really hurt her so much that the girl who asked why I didn't dress like a cowboy just disappeared? Everything in me screamed to go to her and talk to her, but the shower started, so I turned back to the living room. I told Tyler I'd watch him play and flopped onto the couch. I tried not to picture Cassidy in the shower while I listened to the water running, but that was damn hard, so I focused as much of my attention as I could on Tyler shooting people and tried not to think about her and the hard-on I was trying to cover with a pillow.

When Cassidy came out less than an hour later, her hair was wild and slightly wavy, and she had less makeup on than last night too. She looked beautiful. Without all that dark stuff around her eyes and stuff on her face, her honey-colored eyes looked even brighter and you could see a splatter of very light freckles on her nose. Not saying she hadn't looked gorgeous last night, because she had. She took my breath away. But I preferred this almost completely natural look. She was wearing green Chucks, jeans with the bottoms rolled up to her calves, and a worn black Boston concert shirt. Boston. This girl is perfect.

"Ty, I'm ready."

She still had yet to look at me since she walked in the room, and though I wanted her to, I was enjoying being able to take her in. I noticed her bottom lip was a little too full for her top lip, and her nose couldn't have been more perfect if she'd chosen it herself. Her eyes flitted over to me quickly, then right back to Tyler; her cheeks got red and I couldn't help but grin. There's no way she doesn't feel this too. She started biting her bottom lip, and again I thought about what it would feel like to kiss those lips. I'd never wanted to kiss a girl this damn bad.

"Tyler!" She tapped his leg with her foot and he looked at her, then back at the screen.

"What's up?"