Page 38 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

She smiled at his joke and he shrugged good-naturedly.

“You really think I can keep you in line? Make you look respectable?”

“If anyone can, it’s the town sweetheart.”

She laughed again.

“You think I’m lying?”

“You might be a tad overly optimistic.”

“I thought that made me charming.” He quirked his head to the side. “No?”

Jackie moved to him, wondering if they could really pull this off. She toyed with the collar of his shirt, her gaze scanning him, noting details. Kissing him would be no issue, and ditto for spending time with him.

It might also put a halt to those pitying looks. It was no secret people thought she was a lovesick fool who’d spent the past several years pinning her dreams on a man who would never even notice her. Was it wrong to feel a thrill at the idea of walking around town with a certain level of look-at-me-now, I-wasn’t-so-wrong?

“How long would we keep up the charade?” he asked, his voice a deep rumble, his hands coming up to cup her elbows. His touch registered inside her like a Richter scale needle during an earthquake.

“I haven’t agreed to temptation and deception.”

“Temptation?” he breathed, his lips inching closer.

“Always.” She cleared her throat and straightened her spine. They both knew she was going to say yes, but she wasn’t going to let him distract her with a mind-clearing kiss while they were still bargaining. They needed to set some pretty serious parameters if they were considering deceiving the people who mattered most to them. “What qualifies as a long-term relationship these days?”

“How many months was your last one?”

She shook her head and grimaced. “Yours?”

“Nope.” He shifted. “So?”

“Two months?” That didn’t feel very long.

“Double it?”

She nodded with a shrug.

“So you’re mine until June?”

His words sent thrills and fear through her in equal measure. “Wow, that’s quite a while.”

“Can you handle that much of me?”

“We may find there are some weeks where we need to spend more time at work.”

“You really can’t do four months with one man?”

“Of course I can.” That was what she was looking for, right? Practice. “That’s just a lot of Cole Wylder.”

“I thought you were rooting for me.”

She smirked.

“You’ll pay for that.” He pointed a finger at her, trying to act threatening. Her smirk grew.

“We seem to do okay as friends. And to preserve your sanity let’s say the end of May as our goal—three and a half months. I’m sure we can survive that.”

“Friends who kiss a lot,” he said, giving her a smug look. “But what about you?” He tipped his chin in her direction. “Would this cramp your style?”

---