Page 48 of A Cowboy Takes A Chance

“Yes, but I did. Devin was very persuasive.”

Devin wiggled his eyebrows. “Not to mention, I’m fantastic in bed.”

Jaxon chuckled when their mother turned around from the pew in front of them and gave DevintheMom look.

“Sorry, Mom,” Devin murmured.

Jaxon saw Willa slap her hand over her mouth to hold the laughter in while Devin glared at them. The wedding went off without a hitch, and after the reception, Jaxon headed home.

****

Sunday afternoon, Presley entered her cabin as her cell phone rang. Without looking at the caller ID, she answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Presley. It’s Bev Devoroux. I’m wondering if you could come back now so we can discuss your job offer?”

Presley was startled. “I thought I’d be given as much time as I needed?”

“That was the plan, but we have other nurses wanting the position, and it doesn’t seem fair to keep them in limbo.”

“I understand. When do you need me back?”

“The board is meeting in three days. I’ll need your decision the day before. I want you to come back, so I can do my best to convince you to take the position. I know you love the ER, but I think you’d be a great fit in the Recovery Unit. If you don’t want it, we need to pick another applicant.”

“All right. Uh, I’ll do my best to get back then. But if I’m not there by Tuesday, then give the job to another nurse.” Silence met her.

“Presley, if you don’t want the job, you can tell me now.”

“I just need to do something first.”

Bev’s sigh came across the line. “All right. Hopefully, I’ll see you on Tuesday.” She hung up.

Presley needed to talk to Jaxon and tell him she might be leaving.Mightbe leaving. All he had to do was ask her to stay, and she’d do it. Running outside, she strolled to his home and climbed the steps then knocked on the door.

Jaxon smiled at her when he opened the door. “What are you doing here? You just left. I thought you weren’t coming back until later.”

Taking a deep breath, she entered the kitchen. “The hospital called, and they want me back with my decision.”

Presley saw him swallow hard as he stared at her. She hated this, but all he had to do was ask her to stay.

“When?”

“They want me back on Tuesday, so I would have to leave tomorrow.” He nodded and looked away from her. “Jaxon?”

“I can’t say what you want to hear,” he said quietly.

“Why not?”

“Damn it, you know why.”

“This hasn’t just been sex for me.” Her voice caught hard in her throat.

“You just don’t get it. I am too fucking scared to go through any of it again,” he growled.

“You won’t be with me because you’re afraid I’ll die?” She couldn’t believe this was his reason. “Jaxon, we all die.”

“You have no idea what it’s like to lose someone—”

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