Page 11 of Hometown Cowboy

All she wanted to do was grab him and kiss him silly. Because he kissed so darned nicely.

Stop it. Just… stop it.

She almost fell into a puddle of relief when she saw him turn and head out the door from her peripheral vision.

At least she’d have a few hours before she’d be panicking all over again. Panicking about Ryan Thomas, and if he wanted more of what they’d done last night.

Becauseshedid.

*

Ryan sat inhis ute and flipped the shiny metal over and over his fingers. The fifty-cent piece flickered each time it caught the sun.

He dumped the change into his ashtray, closed his eyes and rubbed them.

How had he got himself into this situation? Wasn’t this the problem he’d been trying to avoid?

He and Darby had been friends since they were ten years old. One night’s lapse and he was at risk of losing that friendship, a friendship that meant more than he actually dared admit.

Although she tried to hide it, Darby’s awkwardness was a bright, blinding light that seared him with its intensity.

He wasn’t sure if he should ignore the awkwardness or confront her and ask her outright if there was a problem.

Man, he hoped there wasn’t a problem.

He didn’t have a lot of close friends. The ones he had he wanted to keep. And asking to come over like that?

He swore and started the engine.

He never asked. He just showed up, usually with Gabe or at her parents’ place, and they talked or whatever.

Had she understood what he was really asking? He pulled out of the car park and onto the road.

And whathadhe asked? Did he dare go there again—if indeed Darby was interested in doing so—or was that too dangerous an option?

If he was completely honest with himself, he wanted to go there again, over and over. She’d blown him away with her responses, her enthusiasm. She’d had a good night, her sated smile after each time he touched her proved it. And he’d had the most phenomenal experience of his life.

Maybe one night would be enough for her. He hoped not, particularly after seeing her reaction to their accidental touch in the bakery.

He nodded. Yes. He’d stop by like any other day and take things as they came. If she didn’t show any interest in a repeat, no harm no foul, and he’d put it behind him and try to never think of her again.

But if she did…?

His gut screwed into a tight, hard knot. If she did, he’d have to be careful. He couldn’t afford to become attached to her, tothem.

“Oh, shut up,” he muttered. There was nothem. Darby wasn’t the type to look twice at someone like him, not for anything other than a bit of fun, especially with his track record. He was damaged goods. No one liked someone with his reputation, not really. Not for anything other than a random fun night.

He wasn’t a long-term option and everyone knew it, and Darby Jameson deserved the very best of everything.

Chapter Seven

Darby looked atthe clock for the umpteenth time that afternoon and fought the disappointment that came with each glance.

He hadn’t come.

It was six o’clock and he hadn’t showed. She dumped her now-cold cup of tea down the sink drain. She’d reheated it four times already, so she didn’t look like she was waiting for him or anything that desperate and would already have a half-drunk cuppa when he arrived.

One had to keep up appearances, after all.