Page 1 of The Cowboy Contract
1
Paige
IF SHE NEVER saw another cowboy, it would be way too freaking soon. Watching men so skilled at wrangling animals weighing over a thousand pounds become so damn uncoordinated after a few drinks was embarrassing. For them.
For her it was a fucking nuisance.
She took a calming breath as she crouched down to sweep up the third broken glass of the evening, ready to swing the handle of her broom at anyone who might venture too close.
“You need help with that?” A familiar deep voice stiffened her spine and seized her lungs.
Shaking her head, she braced for what was coming. “Nope.” After quickly shuttling the shards into her dustpan, she straightened, managing a tight smile as Leland’s handsome face came into view. “Thanks, though.”
Her friend’s broad body blocked the path back to the bar, his wide shoulders as effective of a barricade as it got. Madesense considering he was one of Moss Creek’s finest. Setting up barricades was literally part of his job.
He studied her face, his dark eyes probably seeing way more than she wanted as he looked her over. “Rough night?”
Most of them were at this point, but who was counting? Not her. That would be an act of futility. “What was your first clue?”
“The state of your bathroom was a good hint.” Leland glanced down the line of rowdy ranch hands filling the stools of her bar. “The volume in here’s another.” His eyes came back her way. “Plus, you look ready to assault the next person who drops a glass.”
She’d stopped loving how well he could read her years ago. Now it was almost painful. A thorn starting to fester in the wound that was her life.
And she hated it.
She stepped around his big body, weaving through the cowboys milling around the business she’d been running since her dad died, leaving her the owner of Moss Creek’s sole bar. It was a position she used to love. It helped her to feel close to the only parent she ever knew. Helped her feel like she wasn’t completely alone in the world without him.
Now she was starting to see why his life went the way it did. The reason she was all he had. This place ruled her life the same way it had his. Ate up all her time and energy. Sure it paid her bills—more than—but at what cost?
Now she knew.
After dumping the shards of what once contained nearly an entire old fashioned into the bin, Paige grabbed one of the towels from the bar and went back to mop up the mess.
But someone beat her to it.
Leland was crouched down, wiping the floor. Not a single patron encroached on his bubble, likely thanks to the uniform he sported. If she was the one down there, they’d be tripping over her, oblivious to her existence, and sliding across the wet floor, making shit even worse.
“Thanks.” She passed him her fresh towel, taking the one he’d stolen while she disposed of the glass. “Didn’t know mopping up bourbon was in your job description.”
Finished swiping the last of the sticky mess, Leland straightened, his six-five frame towering over her just as much now as it did when they were in high school. “There’s probably a lot you don’t know about me.”
She snorted, taking the second rag. “Considering I’ve known you since we were toddlers, I doubt it.”
Technically, their lifelong connection wasn’t the full reason she knew all she did about the man in front of her. It had more to do with the way she remembered everything that came out of his mouth. But that wasn’t a confession she’d be making any time soon.
Or ever, really.
Leland smiled, the expression revealing the deep dimple in his right cheek. “You really think I made it all the way to a full-grown man without having a few little secrets?”
If his smile hadn’t already sent her heart racing, thoughts of what kinds of secrets Leland might have would’ve done it.
She knew his whole family. His parents. His grandparents. His aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews. All of them. Knew what sports he’d played in school and what position he held on each team. She’d seen his report cards and clapped at his acceptance into the police academy. The only things she didn’t know about him were of a more... Intimate nature.
Like how he kissed. What his hands would feel like against her bare skin.
Leland stepped closer, his broad body nearly brushing hers. “I’m sure you have a few secrets of your own.”
The deep rumble of his voice vibrated through her body, making her pulse spike, dragging along her marathoning heart. She swallowed hard, fighting to maintain her composure at his sudden ownership of her personal space. “A few.”
