Page 70 of The Cowboy Complication

She gave him a shy smile. “You didn’t give me much choice. My body was completely out of energy.”

“You brought it on yourself.” He flipped the line of pancakes cooking along the griddle. “You went to great lengths to end up in my bed, Princess.”

“I might have done things differently if I knew you weren’t going to let me out of it for a week.” She came to his side, leaning against him as he cooked. “Then again, you do make me breakfast every morning, so maybe not.”

“Maybe not sounds more accurate.” He slid a few of the disks onto a plate then added a couple slices of bacon before passing it off. “If it makes you feel any better, you’re getting a break tonight. I have to work the night shift with Grady.”

Isla wrinkled her nose. “That sucks.”

He grinned. “The night shift part or the Grady part?”

She rolled her eyes. “The night shift part.” After carrying her plate to the table, she went to the coffee maker and poured out a mug. “I love Grady.”

“He loves you.” Cooper made up a plate of his own and went to join her. “That’s why he threatens me every time I see him now.”

Isla’s dark eyes narrowed. “I told him to leave you alone or I’d ruin all his socks.”

“I don’t think that’s as big of a threat as you hoped it would be.”

Cooper poured a puddle of syrup onto his pancakes before cutting off a big bite and shoving it into his mouth. He’d worked up an appetite the night before and needed to replenish some calories.

“And I don’t mind. He can give me all the shit he wants.” Deep down he kind of liked it. Liked that Grady had this to give him shit about. He’d take all the threats his friend wanted to dish out. None of them mattered anyway. He wasn’t going to hurt Isla. He’d die before that happened.

“Imind.” Isla pointed a strip of bacon at him. “Maybe I can find some way to use Griselda to scare him into stopping.”

“I’m starting to think you and Gram-Gram are becoming best friends.” He sipped his coffee. “It’s making me a little jealous.”

Isla and Griselda were a hell of an unlikely pair, but on some level they did sort of make sense. Gram-Gram was fiercely protective of the people she considered hers—and she considered Isla her granddaughter. Isla was great at seeing the best in people and overlooking their rough edges, sometimes to her own detriment. Which circled back to Gram-Gram and her protective ways.

“I think she’s misunderstood.” Isla’s claim was unsurprising. “And she loves my grandpa, so I might as well like her.” She wrinkled her nose. “Even if she sometimes has terrible ideas.”

Cooper chuckled, unable to make himself mad at Gram-Gram and Isla’s scheming. “Are they terrible if they work?”

Isla had explained how the whole ‘luring him to The Creekery’ thing had unfolded, and he had to admit, it wasn’t the worst plan she could have come up with. He’d been dragging his feet, and probably would have continued doing it, out of fear.

“Yes.” Isla sounded confident in her answer. “Even if they work.” She sighed. “I’m going to feel bad about that forever.”

“Only if you stick with me forever.”

He hadn’t meant to say it, but now that it was out there, no way was he taking it back. He’d pushed the brakes long enough with her as it was. Now that she’d forced his foot to the gas, there was no stopping him. He was going to break land-speed records with how fast he locked the woman across from him down.

Isla’s dark eyes met his over the same table where they’d shared meals for the past week. A small smile curved her lips. “Only if.”

There was nothing but sweetness in her words, but he still read into them. Still wondered what might happen if he laid everything out the way he wanted to.

Would Isla—the princess of plans—have one for him the same way he had one for her? If she did, would they align?

With a heavy sigh, she rocked her head from side to side. “I should probably start getting ready. It’s going to be a busy day. Now that Hudson’s starting to eat, there’s so much more laundry to do.”

“Sounds about as exciting as my day.” He laid out his agreement to help Leland make a few repairs on his house since he was getting ready to list it, and his own laundry needs. “Then I go into work right as you get off work.”

These were the days he liked the least. The ones when their schedules didn’t align and he’d be forced to spend most of it without her.

“Friday must be for laundry.” Isla stood, picking up her empty plate and his, carrying them to the dishwasher. “Why’s Leland going to sell his house? He’s not moving away, is he?”

Cooper chuckled. There was no way in hell Leland would leave Moss Creek. Not when everything he’d ever wanted was there. “No. He’s just finally getting around to following through on some plans he made years ago.” For a long time, he hadn’t understood his friend. Wondered why in the hell he did what he did and didn’t do what he didn’t do.

Now he knew.

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