Page 46 of The Cowboy Complication

Holy crap. She needed to get away from him before she made a mess of everything and he figured out she was lusting over his blood flow.

Maybe she was ovulating. Her hormones were just on a rager, trying to figure out a way to get her pregnant.

And why wasn’t that as bothersome of a thought as it should be? She’d left her immediate plans for babies behind when Eric walked out.

Didn’t she?

“I have to work today.” Cooper cleared his throat again as he shifted in his seat. “A mid-shift.”

“That’s kind of good, right?” Isla blinked hard, trying to reset her brain in a sort of turn it off and on kind of method. “You’ll get to sleep at a normal time?”

“That’s the dream.” He adjusted his position again. “Tomorrow I work a third though, so it’ll be short lived.”

“That sucks.” She accidentally looked at his arm again. “Once I get my license I can come over when you work a long shift to take care of the chickens and horses if you ever need me to.” That’s what friends did for each other. They helped out. “Even if it’s just so you can sleep.”

“Just the chickens and horses?” Cooper’s voice seemed to deepen. “What if I want you to come lay on the couch and watch TV while I drool?”

She smiled. “I can do that too.” Isla wiggled around, testing her muscles and joints after spending the night on his sofa. “Your couch is pretty darn comfortable.”

“Glad to hear that.” Cooper finally seemed to relax, his smile easy as it turned her way. “Because I’ve got another third Friday night.”

16

Cooper

“YOU READY FOR this?” Cooper ignored the pit in his stomach as Isla parked his truck in front of the single-story building.

“I guess we’ll find out.” She shut off the engine and undid her buckle. “I bet you’re ready for it.” She peeked his way from under her lashes. “If I pass you won’t have to drive around with me all the time.”

That was the last thing he was ready for. It was the reason he felt a little sick. “I don’t mind driving around with you.”

He actually loved it. Loved every second he got to spend with her. Even if they were a little awkward now.

Not because of Isla. She was perfect.

But something had changed—on his part—a week ago. It wasn’t snuggling on his couch, or even that they’d spent the night there together that was causing the problems. It was that fucking towel he’d come face-to-face with the next morning. The way it taunted him from the floor of her room. A glaring sign of what was just around the corner.

And how fucking much he wanted to see it. To touch it. To taste it.

Even a week later, his hands fisted and his mouth watered just thinking about it.

And it was really fucking with his head.

“That’s good, because you might have to do it for a little while longer until I can find a car.” She opened her door and slid out.

Isla not having a car yet was the only thing keeping him from fully losing his grip on his sanity. He was about to lose one of his built-in reasons for seeing her. The secondary situation keeping her in his life without making either of them think too hard about why he was always with her.

Once she had her own mode of transportation though, his motivations were going to be way more transparent. And that would fuck everything up. Make it easy to see he was simply another asshole who didn’t really want to be just friends with a woman.

It would change how she saw him. How he saw himself. And it was coming for him fast.

Isla stuck close to his side as they crossed the lot and went into the exam station, her dark eyes coming his way every few steps like she was looking to him for reassurance. Like she relied on him.

Trusted him.

That was why, as difficult as it had been, he’d stayed the course for the past week. Even when she came over to spend another day—and night—on his couch, he’d managed to keep his shit together. Managed to be the friend he claimed he was.

It was also why he was there, tired as hell after working a third, to support her as she took her driving test. Even though it might pull her away from him. Even though it might be the first step that took him back to the life he’d been living before she came into it.

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