Page 15 of The Cowboy Complication

All his attention was focused on Cooper. “Is that so?”

6

Cooper

“WOULD YOU RATHER Gram-Gram teach her how to drive?” Cooper motioned in the direction Isla just left to go start her day inside the house. “Because I can tell you firsthand, you don’t fucking want Gram-Gram teaching her how to drive.”

“It’s not about the driving.” Grady scrubbed one hand down his face. “This is about everything else.” He tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling of the barn a second before leveling his eyes on Cooper’s. “Isla’s not ready to be chased.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not chasing her.” He held his ground. “We’re just friends, and I’m not going to leave her with Griselda as a driving instructor.”

Grady’s expression turned skeptical. “You and Isla are friends.” It wasn’t a question. More a statement. One Grady clearly didn’t believe.

“We’re friendly.” The concession didn’t sit right.

Why couldn’t they be friends? Was there a fucking time limit on how long you needed to know a person before deciding they were someone you enjoyed being around?

“We’refriendlyand you’ve never picked me up in the goat pasture.” Grady’s skepticism was starting to chafe.

Like he didn’t believe Isla would want to be friends with him.

“If you’re jealous, then you should have just said so.” Cooper stepped toward Grady, a little too eager to give his buddy a faceful of goat tongue.

Grady backed up, putting a hand between them. “Don’t you fucking dare. I’ll kick your ass.” He scowled. “I should probably kick your ass anyway for the shit you’re pulling with Isla.”

“The shit I’m pulling?” He scoffed. “How many times do I have to tell you, it’s not like that? I’m capable of being friends with a woman, dick.” Cooper straightened, finally voicing the truth neither of them had put out there. “She’s too young for me anyway.”

It was something he’d avoided even thinking about. Not because he was planning to pursue Isla, but because he was getting fucking old. Life was passing him by, taking opportunities from him as it went. Forty was closing in fast, and with every year that went by, his chances of finding what he wanted got slimmer and slimmer.

“Shut the fuck up.” Grady rolled his eyes. “You act like you’re halfway to the grave.” It was the same response he gave anytime Cooper touched the subject. It was easy for Grady to say when he had a wife and a son, but the reality was, a woman Isla’s age was looking for a man in his prime. One who didn’t have gray creeping in at his temples and pain in his knees.

“I’m just being realistic.” Cooper shrugged. “If it hasn’t happened for me by now, maybe that’s because it’s just never going to happen.” He crossed his arms, trying to put pressure on the ache forming in his chest at the thought. “Taking her out to drive gave me something to do besides sit around my house. So fucking sue me for taking advantage of the opportunity to help her and myself at the same time.”

Grady stared at him a second before letting out a long sigh. “Fine. Help her out if you want.” He propped both hands on his hips. “And for your information, I was as worried about you as I was about her.” His lips twitched. “I know you’re still broken up about me stealing Evelyn from you.”

“For fuck’s sake.” He laughed, relaxing a little now that Grady was back to giving him shit. “You didn’t steal her from me. I never fucking had her.” And likely wouldn’t have tried to. Had he been interested in getting to know her? Sure. But now that he knew Evelyn, he could say with one hundred percent certainty, nothing would have come of it. She and Grady were a perfect match, so it was impossible to imagine her as anyone’s wife but his.

“And thank God for that or I would have been shit out of luck.” Grady slapped him on the back. “Evelyn would have taken one look at that house of yours and fallen in love.”

“My houseisnicer than yours.” He grinned, knowing full well it wasn’t true. Grady’s house was plenty nice. Just a little more dated. He’d taken it over when his mom passed away but hadn’t had the free time to take on the sort of renovations Cooper had. Not when he had a yoga studio to build and a baby to care for.

Honestly, he’d have given up his expanded floor plan and new appliances for a wife and baby in a heartbeat. The beige ceramic tiled bathrooms and speckled shag carpet would have suited him just fine.

Updating the house had been mostly about killing time while he waited for Miss Right to walk into his life. Then she never showed up and he was left sitting alone in a home built for a family, staring at the newly painted walls.

“Your house is nice as hell.” Grady’s expression softened. “And soon you’ll find someone to live in it with you. Then you can have a bunch of kids to fuck it all up.”

“Your faith in me is astounding.” Cooper walked with Grady across the yard, heading for where Isla parked his truck. “And I’ve decided it’s time to find a way to be okay with being alone.”

“If you feel too alone, I’ll send you some goats to keep you company.” Grady shook his head. “I can’t believe people pay to let the little bastards walk all over them.”

Cooper opened the driver’s door and climbed behind the wheel. “Not to be an ass, but you pay their bills and they walk all over you.”

“Ha-ha.” Grady smiled in spite of his sarcasm. “You’re so fucking funny.”

“I try my best.” He closed the door and started the engine, rolling down the window. “You gonna kick my ass if I take Isla out driving again?” She’d done better than what he’d seen the day before, but was still a long way from passing her test. Grady and Evelyn had enough on their plate with Evelyn’s business and baby Husdon to take care of. They didn’t need to try to find time to act as driving instructors. And Griselda sure as hell shouldn’t be taking her out.

It only made sense that he take on the task. He had the time, the patience, and the skill set.

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