Page 52 of The Cowboy Complication

I really like that coat we found.

A hint of giddiness bloomed in her belly over what she was about to do.

Was she also a little terrified? For freaking sure. This could all go sideways.

But being satisfied with what someone else fed her hadn’t worked out so well. It was time to step up. To be brave. To go after what she wanted instead of planning for what might never come.

After stacking the best of the photos into a single message, she sent them off, heart racing as the little word ‘delivered’ popped up beneath them.

The three little dots appeared almost immediately, just like they had last time. But this time, they didn’t disappear. This time they turned into a message right away.

You aren’t supposed to wear it inside.

Did he want her to go outside like that? She stared at the words, trying to decipher what he was implying.

It took way too long to figure out what he meant.

What shehopedhe meant.

The coat hit the floor and she took a deep breath, wrapping one arm across her boobs before snapping a photo downward. It didn’t show anything super exciting, but it was clear she was naked.

Then she sent it.

Again, those little dots popped right up, followed by Cooper’s response.

Send me another one.

Isla rocked her head from side to side, shaking out the ants crawling inside her arms as she went back to her bed and posed, this time without covering up.

Doubt crept in right away, making her regret sending it the second it was gone. She started to spiral, falling into a pit of panic.

Why did she listen to Griselda? What possessed her to let the woman talk her into fucking up the first real friendship she’d ever had?

She was so freaking dumb. So insecure that just hearing Cooper mention that he’d loved someone—a completely normal thing for a man in his thirties—made her go off the rails.

Grabbing the coat off the floor she carried it to her closet, intending to hang it up.

But then her phone started to ring.

Cooper’s name flashed across the screen. And it wasn’t a regular call. It was avideocall.

“Shit.” She flung the coat around her shoulders, shoving both arms into the sleeves and wrapping the open sides across her naked chest before smoothing down her hair and connecting the call. “Hey. Sorry, I was just—” She started to apologize—to backtrack—hoping this could all be glossed over.

But Cooper cut her off. “Why’s the coat back on, Princess?”

“Umm.” She looked down at the heavy canvas. “I thought maybe…”

“You thought wrong. Take it off.”

It seemed like maybe Cooper wasn’t as clueless as Gram-Gram had prepared her for. “Okay.” She shifted her shoulders, letting it slide back to the floor.

“Show me.”

She swallowed hard, but did as he demanded, stretching the arm holding her phone as far as it would go. Unfortunately, all the tips she’d picked up from her farmer friend had gone right out the window, leaving her just standing there, like a flat-footed potato.

Cooper didn’t seem to mind.

Everything behind and around him was shifting, but his eyes never left the screen. “Perfect.”

---