Page 38 of The Cowboy Complication

It was time—beyond time—to shove his skinny, loser ass out of her brain. And the first step to accomplishing that was to take back what he’d tried to steal from her.

So she blew out her hair, this time managing to make it even smoother and bouncier than she did the night before. Then she contoured, brushing the bronzer over her skin until she was back to feeling herself. A layer of mascara and lip gloss had her chin lifting and her shoulders squared.

Then she went to lay on the couch and watch TV, because it really was hard work to look hot. Her arm was tired from cranking the curls into her hair, and she was emotionally drained from her downward spiral.

She watched a few episodes of a limited series about a detective investigating a suspicious death at the White House, then dragged her butt into the kitchen in search of something to eat. The sun was starting to go down behind the clouds still populating the sky and it cast her apartment in a moody tone of light.

The kind of light that would probably look great in a picture.

She opened up the camera on her phone and aimed it at her face, tipping her head from side to side as she faced one of the floor-to-ceiling windows to capitalize on the last of the light. Her eyes drifted, focusing on the pile of lace on her table in the background.

Might as well try it on. Maybe seeing how hilariously undersized it was would be funny enough to lift her mood.

Snatching it up, she went to her bedroom, peeled off the T-shirt and leggings she’d put on after her shower, and shimmied into the bodysuit. It was surprisingly stretchy and somehow miraculously managed to cover all her bits and pieces.

Well, just barely. But that was sort of the point, right?

Going to the full-length mirror in the corner, she adjusted the shoulder straps and aligned the fit over her boobs and butt. Turning to the side, she frowned, taking in the sight in front of her.

Did she look a little… Sexy?

That didn’t seem right. But there was no denying how nice her boobs looked peeking out of the low neckline. And the high cut of the legs did magical things for her thighs and hips.

“Huh.”

Maybe she needed to look at it from a different perspective. Then it would be easy to identify where it was lacking.

Grabbing her phone, she found her red-headed farmer friend and picked one of his simplest tutorials. After stretching out on her bed like he directed, spreading her hair uniformly, she angled one leg as he suggested and started recording. After a few seconds she stopped and sat up, sliding her finger back and forth as she went through the frames.

Holy shit.

Shedidlook sexy.

A giggle slipped out, her free hand clamping over her mouth like she had to stop it. Like she should feel ashamed or guilty over finding something that knocked down all those bad thoughts she’d been carrying.

Fuck that.

She wasn’t ashamed, and it wasn’t guilt worming through her insides. It was excitement. Relief.

And a little bit of pride.

It was that pride that had her opening up the text string with Cooper and typing out a message.

I have something to show you.

She sent it off, immediately regretting it. What if he thought she was being weird? What if he didn’t get how exciting this was?

Yeah? What is it?

Her heart jumped into her throat at how quickly he responded. That meant his phone was in his hand and he was waiting for her to reply. And it made her want to throw up a little.

I’m nervous.

She chewed her lip, one hand coming to rest on her head as it started to feel a little fuzzy.

Don’t be. It’s just me.

Oh God. What had she done?

---