Page 8 of The Cowboy Complication

“I thought since I’d be living downtown, I’d still be fine. But it’s not quite as convenient as I expected.”

She’d been holding that admission in since her second week in town. After facing so many bad decisions, dealing with yet another one had been more than she could handle. Her brain compensated by simply deciding to pretend everything was fine. That it wasn’t a big deal to have Grady pick her up in the mornings and Evelyn drive her back in the evenings. And it wasn’t.

But the weekends were getting real freaking long.

“I would guess downtown Moss Creek doesn’t have quite as much going on as New York.” Cooper’s tone remained neutral, but the flash of a dimple gave away his sarcasm.

“I mean…” She tucked both hands into the front pocket of her hoodie to stop herself from fidgeting. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between them.” She held her breath, hoping he might laugh. The sound of it was a little addicting. Almost as much as being the one to make it happen.

He didn’t disappoint her.

Cooper’s chuckle rippled through her insides, warming them up like a hot cup of coffee. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

Her eyes accidentally dipped, taking in the bulk of the grown man in front of her. He was older than her—by how much she couldn’t begin to guess—so it was easy to assume he had his life together. Had experienced all kinds of things she hadn’t. But maybe that wasn’t entirely true. “You’ve never been to New York?”

“No.” He clicked his tongue. “Don’t really have a burning desire to go either.”

“Not interested in becoming a city boy?” She honestly couldn’t really picture him as one. She didn’t know him well—at all really—but Cooper seemed to fit perfectly into this world of horses and barns and Wranglers with boots.

“Not even a little.” Cooper’s focus came to her, zeroing in. “What about you, Miss Isla? Are you still a city girl at heart, or is this place growing on you?”

She got a little flustered at having all his attention on her, and it made her brain stall out. Sent his question falling right out of her head. “Umm.”

Luckily Cooper didn’t seem worried about getting an answer. He continued on, “I’m going to make a prediction.” He finally turned away, giving her the chance to breathe while he zipped up his bag. “I bet in three months time you’ll decide to stay here permanently.”

Three months? “That’s pretty fast.”

Cooper picked up his bag, slinging it over one shoulder. “When something’s right, the timing doesn’t really matter.”

He was talking about her decision to stay in Moss Creek, but the words applied to other areas of her life too. She could have used that advice years ago. “I’ll remember that.”

“Good.” He reached up to tip the bill of his ball cap. “It was nice meeting you, Isla.”

Again, her brain stumbled. No man had ever said her name the way he did. The drawl he spoke with seemed to get a little tangled on the Is- bit at the beginning, dragging it out almost seductively. Funny, considering how unseductive the rest of her was. Reportedly.

“It was nice to meet you, Cooper.” She held out one hand, because that’s what people did in a situation like this, right? They shook hands. It was expected. Polite.

And not at all done so she could find out if her guesses about the rough warmth of his fingers were correct or not.

Cooper’s eyes dipped to her offering, holding for a second before he shifted on his feet, coming closer as his large hand enveloped hers.

Cheeses on ice, she was right. No soft, slightly sweaty palms on this man. Cooper’s grip was strong but careful. The rasp of his calluses hinted at how willing and capable he was of putting in the hard work living in Moss Creek could require, but the smoothness of his skin made her think he wasn’t above moisturizing.

And that was intriguing. A lot about him was.

“Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do for you.” Cooper slowly pulled his hand from hers, the tips of his fingers dragging across the sensitive skin of her palm as they went. “I’m always happy to help.”

“Oh.” She licked her lips, feeling a little embarrassed as she realized once again she’d been staring at him. “I will. And thank you.”

Her feet stayed frozen in place as he left, giving her a wink before passing out the main door, leaving her alone in the space to think about what she’d done.

“Oh, God.” Dropping down to sit on the same bench Cooper set her on after the goats took her down, Isla caught her head in her hands. He had to think she was ridiculous after the way she acted. The way she stared.

And she probably was. Cooper wasn’t in her league. Hell, they probably weren’t even playing the same freaking game. Even if they were, she was stuck in a time out for the foreseeable future. The rules of play had changed and she didn’t have a clue which end she was running for.

“Fuck my life.” Standing up, she gave her messy bun another tug and headed for the house, cringing a little when she saw the car parked in the driveway. Facing Griselda wasn’t going to make this day any better, but she still had work to do, so it was a necessary evil.

Quietly stepping in the back door just in case Hudson was still sleeping, she slid off her boots and peeled away the bulky hoodie she’d have to wash as soon as she got home.

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