Page 5 of Wrong Number Right Cowboy
“Mel’s coming to get me?” I ask, reaching for my phone on the nightstand.
“Any time now. But I promised her I’d feed you first.”
“Why didn’t I go to Mel’s last night?” I mumble.
“Because Abby has the flu.”
I snap my attention to Boone. “How doyouknow that?”
“Maybe you could stop being all fucking suspicious and tell me how you want your eggs. I’d say sunny side up, but you’re kind of bitchy this morning.”
Despite the jab, my heart skips a beat.He remembers.
“Have any avocado toast?” I know the question will annoy him, so I ask it extra sweetly.
“Fuck, you really have turned into one of those city girls.” He scrubs a hand over his face as he pushes off the doorframe. “There’s a toothbrush by the sink for you. Use it. Your breath smells like vomit.” Then, he disappears down the hall.
Thunder pokes his head out from beneath the bed, looking up at me. But before I can invite him back up, another boom of thunder erupts, and he slinks back into hiding. Poor guy. Boone named him when he was a puppy. Before either of us realized he’d be terrified of storms.
Thunder was supposed to beourdog.
Guilt twists my unsettled stomach into a bigger knot than it was already in. I hadn’t just run away from Boone. I’d run away from Thunder. And Millie. And all the other animals that were going to beours. And for what? For some empty corporate job that was supposed to lead to a huge paycheck one day?
There was less than a hundred dollars in my bank account. I’d been passed over on a promotion I’d been promised twice now by ass-kissing men who knew how to schmooze up to the boss, and their workloads dumped on me for no extra pay. I had no friends in Dallas. Not real ones. My roommate hated me, andthere was a chance she was selling some of my shit while I was out of town.
But even if my life had been the sparkling picture of exciting I’d hoped, I would still know deep in my gut that leaving had been the worst mistake I’d ever made.
“Will you forgive me, Thunder?”
My phone chimes, and I unlock it to find a slew of notifications, mostly from Mel checking in on me. Another text announces she’s on her way to pick me up, but that I might not want to get too close in case she’s contagious.
It’s the last text, sent thirty minutes ago, that jumps out the loudest.
Mel:Don’t you dare fucking sleep with him, Sawyer.
The god-awful taste in my throat suggests I’d puked at some point last night. Not exactly seduction at its finest. Though I’d bet my last hundred bucks that Boone stayed with me and held back my hair while I retched.I never deserved him.
Sawyer:Just get here already.
Mel:Um, about that…
4
BOONE
Heavy rainfall peltsthe windshield of my truck as I navigate the sloppy dirt road. Mel was supposed to pick Sawyer up an hour ago, but she turned around when she encountered a section of road to my property that washed out. She wasn’t about to risk getting stuck in her front-wheel drive minivan.
Thankfully, I have a heavy-duty, four-wheel drive truck.
I’m fucking haunted enough by the brief time Sawyer Rose has spent in my house—in mybed. I need her gone, before the weather turns any worse and strands us together.
The cab of my truck smells of jasmine, and she’s wearing those damn skinny jeans she had on last night. It doesn’t seem to matter that she shattered my fucking heart when she left me five years ago. My dick still wants to me to bend her over and pull those jeans down her perfect ass until?—
“Maybe we should wait this out,” Sawyer says, eyes locked straight ahead. Not that either one of us can see for shit due to the excessive rainfall attacking the windshield.
“No,” I say firmly.
“Look, Boone. I don’t like this anymore than you do—hey!” Sawyer’s palms flatten against the dashboard as I slam on thebrakes. My truck skids to a stop, the muddy road making it impossible to find grip. “What thefuck, Boone?”
