Page 56 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

“Let me guess. You were involved with some kind of white-collar crime in Montana,” I offered. “Tax fraud or embezzlement or something. You lost millions, or your friends lost millions, or something, and now you feel all lone-cowboyguiltyabout it, even though you could piss on piles of hundred dollar bills and be fine?”

His expression didn’t change. “Not quite, babe.”

I stepped back right as Draven walked to toss the paper towels in the trash, and he gently put his hand at the small of my back so that we wouldn’t collide.

He kept his hand there for a moment. His palm felt so warm. My cock responded to his touch, thickening again under my pants, but I also felt…

Good, with his hand there.

Safe.

It’s just his hand on my back.

It doesn’t mean he’s suddenly trustworthy.

“Did something really bad happen to you?” I asked softly.

I remembered how Lily looked when she talked about him. Like she felt sorry for him, rather than being afraid. Was there something to that?

“Of course,” he said simply, taking his hand away from my back. “Bad things always happen to me.”

His scar seemed more prominent in the light under the tent.

Or maybe my eyes were just focusing on it, now, wondering what had happened to him.

“I’ll tell you some things. Some of them,” he said. “Under one condition.”

I breathed deep, watching his eyes. “You want me to install a security system at my barn.”

“I do,” he said, reaching out to wipe a stray streak of beer from the top of my forearm. “But I was going to saystopputting your exact location tags on your online videos.”

“I didn’t even know there was an exact location tag.”

He groaned, shaking his head. He pulled off his black hat and ran a hand through his hair before placing it back on.

“What am I going to do with you, Baby Blue?”

He was so close to me.

I wanted his hand on my back again, to feel his warmth, to have his scent wrapped around me.

His body was the only thing I could focus on when he was so close to me. It was like all of my common sense went out the window and my mind became a repeat of dumb, strange observations.

Like that rose tattoo looked on his wrist.

“You giving my baby brother a hard time?” I heard from beside me.

Lily was there a moment later, with her old high school friends Natalie and Ranna at her side.

Draven turned and both of them smiled, embracing each other in a hug.

You break up, clearly with some bad history, but you still act like such great friends?

What the fuck was the deal with whatever happened to them in Montana? I’d always felt like I understood Lily, but something about her relationship with Draven didn’t make sense.

“The Bridezilla isn’t giving you a hard time, is she?” Draven asked. “I can handle her, if you need me to.”

Lily grinned. “No need. She’s calming down. I’m sure in the days leading up to the wedding it’ll all explode again, though. Max, are you getting to know Draven?”

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