Page 76 of Soldier Cowboy
“Oh! Maybe we should call itThe Naked Cowboy!”
“I think that one’s taken.”
She dissolved into loud peals of laughter.
This was another thing he hadn’t done in a long while. Laugh, and laugh loudly. She brought it out of him. And he’d like to think he’d helped her too. She still talked more than anyone he’d ever met but there was also a playful quality to her.
He didn’t think she was quite as concerned with what others thought about her as she’d been before. She didn’t seem to have the blazing need for everyone to like her. Hopefully she’d come to understand only what she thought mattered.
Unfortunately, she was a kind and loyal person who some idiot guy had seen as a mark.
If he did nothing else while she was here, he’d convince her one bad experience shouldn’t change who she was. He didn’t want her to shrivel up and let fear rule her actions. She had a huge heart, and a great deal of talent she should be able to share with the world. But the truth was when he looked at the stalker situation, he wasn’t sure there was any good resolution here.
He agreed with her father that she’d at the very least have to move permanently. But she might not have to move out of Los Angeles since in a city that large she could become anonymous again.Ifshe stayed off the podcast. Her best bet might be to start over, and she wouldn’t like that. Not that he could blame her. She’d accomplished a lot and had the kind of success that took some people decades to achieve. But at least she was still young and had time to start over.
“Colton, where’d you go? Come back to me.”
Ah, she was behind him now, arms wrapped around his waist, mouth pressed against his back. This time, the reason he’d zoned out had nothing to do with a bad memory or a flashback.
“I’m right here.”
He turned to grab plates, and she showed him several pictures. In each one he was the epitome of stony concentration, attending to the task at hand like nothing else in the world mattered.
“Look at you,” she said. “You’re so relaxed, in your own little world.”
His brow furrowed, he wore the hint of a smile on his lips. The picture expressed everything he felt. She’d perfectly captured him. At home, and at ease with everything around him. It was strange to think now that he’d ever worried about coming home again and fitting in. Strange he’d feared he wouldn’t be the same person he’d been when he left, and that he’d be the jagged piece of a puzzle who didn’t fit anymore.
“That’s the same way you look at me when we make love. Like it’s everything you need. Everything you want.” Her smile was sweet and almost a little…shy.
“Itiseverything.”
She set the camera down and went into his arms, reaching up to bury her face in his neck.
“Hmm. You smell so good.”
He drew her closer, instinctively knowing he should count every second of his time with her from this point forward. Every single moment before she left him.
He kissed her deeply and then slapped her behind. “Now, let’s eat these burgers so we can hurry up and go back to bed like you wanted.”
“LikeIwanted?”
“Like we both want.”
“Want to see how fast I can eat a burger?” She grinned.
They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes, until she decided to finish eating her burger…in his lap. It was an interesting dynamic and a change from the early days of eating across from each other like an old married couple.
“Here,” she said, offering him a bite. “You’re always feeding me.”
He narrowed his eyes, chewed, and swallowed. “Not sure that counts. I still made this meal.”
“I feel guilty I haven’t cooked anything, but you banned me from the kitchen.”
“I wasn’t serious about that.”
“I don’t think you’d much like what I know how to cook. I can make a toasty grilled cheese and I’m excellent at heating cans of soup and chili.” She lowered her gaze and her voice hushed. “My mother was the real cook in our family. All kinds of delicious casseroles and cakes. Too bad she didn’t leave behind a book of recipes, but she probably didn’t think she’d die at forty-two.”
The quivering tone in her voice made him hold her tighter. “Did you know she was dying? Were you prepared?”
