Page 47 of The Cowboy Complication

Isla’s happiness was more important. Especially since he couldn’t be trusted to keep his own feelings where they were supposed to be.

After she checked in, they sat together in a set of uncomfortable chairs. Her leg was bouncing around, showing just how nervous she was.

And it was killing him not to try to do something about it.

So—despite his better judgment and what he’d decided he wouldn’t do—he reached out to touch her, resting his hand on her thigh as he leaned into her ear. “You’ve got this. You are a damn good driver. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” He gave her leg a squeeze. “And if for some reason this doesn’t go the way you want, we’ll handle it.”

She peeked his way, her face close to his. “I’ll be so embarrassed if I fail.”

He watched her lips move as she spoke. Hating that he knew exactly how far they were from his. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. I failed it the first time I took it.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? I didn’t know that.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” Like how fucking much he liked her. How fucking desperate he was to touch her.

How much he hated himself for it.

Isla rubbed her lips together, the movement taunting him. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me too.”

“I’ll make you a deal.” Cooper inched in the tiniest bit more, because he was a piece of shit who wanted to feel the warmth of her breath on his face. “If you pass this test, I’ll tell you one of my secrets.”

Isla’s lips lifted. “A juicy one?”

“Sure.” He’d agree to just about anything she asked of him. Tell her whatever she wanted to know. Do whatever she needed.

Hell, he might even cut off a limb if she requested it.

Isla nodded, looking eager instead of afraid. “Deal.”

The proctor called her name, tone flat and emotionless, and he hated the guy almost as much as he hated himself. If he was a dick to her?—

Isla leaned in, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Be right back.” Then she jumped up, carrying her purse and his keys as she followed the older guy testing her to his truck.

He watched their every move through the large window as the guy had her test turn signals and brake lights. His chest tightened as they pulled away and he said a silent prayer to the universe that she passed. Because it’s what she wanted.

And that was all that mattered.

The next fifteen minutes crawled by like he was getting a root canal. Each one was painful and torturous as he waited, unable to do anything to help her. When his truck circled back and pulled into the same spot it occupied earlier, he stood, eyes locked on the driver’s door as it opened.

The first thing Isla did was look at the window, her dark eyes bright and a smile on her face as she flashed him a thumbs-up. He’d never been more proud of anyone in his life. Or more miserable. Because this was the beginning of a change that could alter everything.

It took another hour to take her papers next door to the DMV so Isla could get her photo taken and claim the license she’d worked so hard to obtain. As they left, she frowned down at the temporary paper she’d been given, obviously disappointed to discover her actual license would be coming in the mail in a couple weeks.

“It feels kind of anticlimactic.”

He draped an arm around her shoulders as they walked to his truck. “Then maybe we should go grab some lunch to celebrate. Make the climax happen.”

He said it without thinking. Even once they were out, his words—and their possible connotation—didn’t register.

Not until Isla said, “I could definitely use a good climax.”

Then he nearly tripped over his feet, choked on his spit, and swallowed his tongue at the same time. All the shit he’d been suppressing flooded his system, overloading it to the point he couldn’t come up with words.

And maybe that was a blessing in disguise. With his luck, they would have been something like, ‘I’m happy to help with that’ or ‘Only one? How about three?’ or maybe even, ‘Then get on my face.’

Thankfully, Isla didn’t seem to notice his reacion as she went for the passenger door. “Does this mean I can be a passenger princess now?”

His lips finally got with the program, and he was able to admit, “You can be anything you want to be, Princess.”

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