Page 34 of Marrying a Cowboy

Of course, she didn’t want to kiss him. She was his friend. One who wanted to help him but then she’d return to New York and leave him alone. And he couldn’t ask her to do anything different. It was what was best for her. And he wanted to keep his promise. If he couldn’t do anything else, he’d do that onething.

So, he forced a smile and nodded toward her hips. “You’re crushing my stomach,” hesaid.

Her cheeks turned red as she released her grasp on his hands and swung her leg off of him. “Sorry,” shesaid.

Austin moved to the side of the bed and sat up. “It’s okay.” He rested his hands next to him and took a few deep breaths. This was good. He’d been faced with the temptation to kiss her and he hadn’t. Perhaps, he just might be able to survive the next few days before she needed to leave. And that was all he needed to do.Survive.

Chapter Thirteen

Emma

An alarm blaredinto the darkness, pulling Emma from her sleep. She groaned as she reached out to get the sound tostop.

“Make it stop,” she muttered, groping the air to find theoffender.

“My side,” Austin’s groggy voice said in the shadows and a moment later, the soundstopped.

Emma’s eyes whipped open. The memory of last night came rushing back to her. She was in Austin’s room. In his bed. Why had she thought that this would be a goodidea?

An arm moved from under her head and it was that moment that she realized that she was sleeping on his chest. His bare chest. The warmth of his skin under her fingertips caused her heart to pick up speed. Why was she laying on him? Hoping he won’t realize that she was moving to get away from him, she tried to nonchalantly rollaway.

But his arm tightened around her shoulders, halting her retreat. “Do you think I’m going to let my source of heat go away?” he asked, His voice was deep withsleep.

Emma laid there, not sure what to do. On one hand, she was enjoying feeling Austin’s body right next to hers. But on the other hand, her mind was screaming at her to pull away. There was nothing about this relationship that was real to Austin. He’d pretty much rejected her last night. Why was she allowing herself tohope?

So, instead of allowing herself to fall into this limbo where she didn’t know where she stood, she patted his arm with her hand. “I need to use the bathroom,Austin.”

He groaned but then released her. Emma tried hard to not sprint from his bed but within seconds, she slipped out the door and leaned her back against the wall just outside his room. Sleeping in his bed had not been a good idea. She should have knownbetter.

But part of her wanted to be there. To be close to him. He was her husband after all. And besides, what were they going to do when his grandmother got there? How were they going to explain separaterooms?

After using the bathroom, Emma decided to head down to the kitchen instead of back into Austin’s room. From the snores coming from the open door, she doubted that he’d notice that she hadn’treturned.

As she padded down the steps, she glanced toward the kitchen where the light was on. She didn’t remember them leaving it on yesterday. Shaking off a feeling of uncertainty, Emma made her way into the room andyelped.

Sitting at the table was a woman. She had grey hair that was pulled up into a tight bun. A steaming cup of coffee sat in front of her, and she held a newspaper in one hand. Her eyebrows rose above her readers she had perched on hernose.

“You’re new,” she said through her ruby red lips. She folded the newspaper and set it next toher.

Stunned, Emma didn’t know what to say. Was thisAlayna?

“Are you just staying the night?” the womanasked.

Emma shook her head. Why couldn’t she remember how to speak. “No,” she breathed out. Great. The first word and she sounded like anidiot.

The woman stared at her. “Well, Austin does pick girls of fewwords.”

Emma cleared her throat and forced a smile. “Are you Mrs. Maverick? Austin’sgrandmother?”

The woman raised her eyebrows. “Interesting that he’s talked about me.” She took her glasses from off her nose and set them on top of the newspaper. “And yet never talked about you. Who areyou?”

Emma pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. “Emma. . . Maverick.” Just as she said it, she hesitated. Was she supposed to be the one to tell his grandmother? Her stomach twisted as she tried to focus herthoughts.

Mrs. Maverick eye’s widened. “Maverick.” She tapped her fingers on the table top. “Since I don’t recognize you, you’re not some long-lost family member.” She cleared her throat. “So that can only mean one thing. When did Austin getmarried?”

Emma grabbed an apple from the middle of the table and bit into it. She thought Austin had told her. Was that not the truth? Mrs. Maverick’s reaction was strange if she did know. She chewed the apple vigorously. Right now, she’d do anything to delaytalking.

With the way that she was feeling, she didn’t want to do more to embarrass Austin or herself. After a few bites, she’d come up with a game plan in her mind. Be as vague as possible. Then, when Austin finally pulled himself out of bed, he could fill in the details. Why hadn’t they come up with more of a gameplan?

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