Page 25 of No Place for Single Cowboys

Chance shrugged. “Probably. Jaycee will tell everyone how weird it was I came with you, but I doubt it will go any further. No one’s going to assume I’m the father or anything.”

Cordy shuddered. That was a horror she didn’t want to contemplate, so she changed the subject. “You grew up with them, didn’t you?”

“I grew up with everyone my age in town. It’s not that unique. The school’s practically one room.” He held open the main door for her, and Cordy realized he’d grabbed her stuff without her noticing. “Where did you grow up?”

Cordy huffed out a laugh. “Everywhere. Nowhere.”

“That makes no sense.”

“It’s a long story.” She lovingly cupped her bump as they walked to the parking lot. The night was surprisingly warm. “I was an accident, just like this one. My parents were never really together, and they never wanted to be.”

“You’re not an accident,” Chance said. “You were a surprise. Same as this baby. Go on.”

“My parents were—are—footloose. They can’t stay in one place for very long. I spent my childhood getting bounced fromone to the other, going from country to country. I was born in France because my mother hadn’t visited it yet. My dad wasn’t even there when I was born. I went to live with him at two years old—he was in India. After a year, I went back to Mom. And then Dad, then Mom… you get the idea. I lost my first tooth in Mali. I started school in Peru. I got my first kiss in New Zealand.”

Chance was slowly looking more and more horrified. “You just up and moved all the time?”

“Yeah. I’ve seen so much of the world and met so many amazing people; it was worth it. I loved my childhood. If it weren’t for this one”—she rubbed her belly—“I’d have already moved on. After about a year in one place, I’m ready to start my next adventure. But when Reed died, I swore I’d have the baby in Star Crossed Springs since it meant so much to him.”

“Wow.” Chance opened her car door for her. “My mind is kind of blown by that; I’m not going to lie. Are you going to leave once the baby’s older?”

Cordy slid into the seat. “I don’t know. I want my baby to know their grandparents, and I don’t want to move quite as often or as far as my parents did… but I also don’t want to be tied down.” She laughed at herself. “Although I guess it’s too late for that.”

“I didn’t know you wanted to leave.” His expression was solemn. Maybe even troubled.

Which was strange for a guy who was the definition ofeasy come, easy go. Chance wouldn’t miss her for long, even if Cordy was his favorite bartender.

She silently sighed as she looked up at him. “So.”

“So.” Chance braced a forearm against the door frame. “Am I hired?”

“Sam did warn me to watch out for weirdos answering my ad,” she said.

“I’m just trying to help you out,” Chance said. “No weirdo shit, I promise.”

Cordy considered that. Now that he’d shown up once, she could simply pretend he couldn’t make it to the rest. She shouldn’t get used to him being around.

But it had been nice to have him here. They worked well together. Things felt less stressful when Chance was around, and God knew Cordy had more than enough stress in her life.

The image of Gareth’s hand on Jaycee’s belly, tenderly cupping her and their child, rose in her mind. The couple had looked so in love. And Gareth looked like he would do anything for Jaycee.

Cordy wouldn’t have had that with Reed—Reed no doubt would have loved the baby, but he wasn’t in love withher.

Her heart creaked and cracked under the realization. The emotion that bound Jaycee, Gareth, and their baby? Cordy wouldn’t have with anyone.

“You can say no.” Chance’s quiet words pulled her back into the moment. “I promise, this time I’ll listen. They’ll believe you if you tell them I can’t make it.”

She looked into his eyes and, for the first time, saw kindness there. Laughter, heat, even a bit of temper, she’d seen all those emotions there before. But never this bone-deep concern.

Tomcat,her brain supplied. But even a wildcat could come inside for a time.

She could have Chance as her partner for these few classes. She could have that much of a break.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, you’re hired.”

His smile came on slow, but that only made it all the more devastating. The lines on his face were carved deep—probably because Chance smiled so much—and when they all lit up at once, they made his already handsome face even more compelling.

An itch built up inside her, hot and needy. She wanted to touch him, to set her hands on either side of that grin and kiss it up. She wanted what he gave every other woman in this town so easily.

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