Page 26 of Soldier Cowboy
“The truth. I’m always going to tell you the truth. No lies between us. Let’s lie to everyone else but never to each other.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t you have something that relaxes you?”
“I used to swim every day. There’s something about the water and the sound it makes that comforts me. We have a pool at the condo complex, but I haven’t been swimming for weeks.”
“Why did you stop?”
“I was…afraid he’d see me.” She bit on her lower lip and wouldn’t meet his eyes.
Jesus. He felt like he’d been punched in the gut.
“Right. The reason you’re here.”
She pulled on her pinky finger. “You know that thing you said a minute ago? That I want people to like me? That I care too much what they think?”
“Don’t listen to me—”
“No, it’s true. I should have been meaner to the man. But he was a fan of the podcast and believe it or not I didn’t want to alienate him.” She shook her head. “Crazy.”
“Not crazy. That makes sense.”
“You wouldn’t do it. No man ever would. It’s only us women, for some odd reason, who believeeveryone hasto like us.”
“Um, I’ve known a few women in my life who don’t care who likes them.”
“Yeah? I want to be more like that.” She paused for a beat. “Well at least I didn’t move from my complex. It was the only stand I took. I won’t move from a place I like just because of him.”
“And now here you are.”
“Yes, here I am. I know what my father would say, but what do you think? Is he winning?”
“I think he was winning when he terrorized you to the point you couldn’t enjoy the pool. When you were afraid to leave your apartment. But Idon’tthink he’s winning now. He’s losing. You’re no longer an object within his reach. Sooner or later, he’ll realize it and move on when he can’t get a reaction.”
“But what if he doesn’t? What if he hurts himself?”
The hint of fear in her eyes made him wonder what she’d seen or experienced, but he wouldn’t go there. What he would do, sometime when he had access to Wi-Fi, is listen to a few of her podcasts. He’d learn something about who she was and what mattered to her. And maybe he’d learn what attracted this stalker enough to obsess over her.
He tipped her chin to meet his eyes. “If he’s going to hurt himself, he will do it with or without you. You’re not responsible for him. Understand?”
“Yes, I know you’re right.” She nodded.
But he saw it in her blue eyes. She was worried about the man.
“I’m going to go shower and shave.” He raked a finger through the beard stubble, deciding that he should probably make an effort to clean up. “Then I want to show you my horse.”
A few minutes later,Jennifer shut off the stove before they left and peeked under the lid. Delores was right. The roast was the most tender she’d ever seen, meat flaking off like butter. Hopefully Colton would cook it for her another time. Being banished from the kitchen was not the worst thing to ever happen to her. She was a regular take-out person and even had an account with a delivery service once she’d stopped leaving the apartment.
Before Colton took her on this so-called tour or walkabout, she grabbed her camera just in case. This kind of scenery begged for its photo to be taken. And, when she was long gone, she’d have memories of this magical place.
“I have to admit, I’m not too fond of horses,” Jennifer confessed as they walked to the stables.
“Not fond of horses, not fond of guns. I see a pattern. You’re probably not fond of cowboys, either.”
She sped up her walk because he had longer legs than she did and an equally long stride. “Shockingly there aren’t many of them in LA”
“Yeah, I know. Sean tried for a while, but he couldn’t hang.”
