Page 44 of The Cowboy's Downfall
“You do seem to be.” Shauna’s brain got busy, trying to figure him out. “You know how unhealthy your marriage was, right?”
“Yeah. I know.”
“When I gave you a phone, did you think you had two women trying to control you?”
He began to look wary. “Something like that.”
“So, it doesn’t bother you that I can afford a phone, and you can’t?”
Wariness shifted to outright discomfort. “I never said that.”
“Meaning it does. And now we have two issues to deal with—control and money.”
Nix’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t we lump them into one big boundary issue? You’re fond of boundaries.”
“And I crossed one of those boundaries I’m fond of.”
“Not on purpose,” he conceded.
“It was on purpose.” He was being honest with her and deserved honesty from her in return. “I was fairly sure you thought it was someone else when I called. But I wasn’t positive. I was already aware that you didn’t like me calling the bunkhouse, and I knew I shouldn’t do it, but I didn’t have any other way to reach you to let you know Taryn was going to be out of town for the weekend. I gave you the phone to prove a point and because I was disappointed about spending the weekend alone.” She touched his arm. “Maybe it was a little passive aggressive of me. And I’m sorry.”
“Look at us, being all mature and carrying on a polite disagreement,” Nix said.
“And with our clothes on,” she added, happy to keep matters light. She could well imagine how similar discussions had gone for him in the past and wanted no part of it. “I’ll say one thing for my mother. She never liked raised voices. If I wanted her to see reason, I had to be polite and use my words.”
“What if she wanted you to see reason?”
Shauna laughed at the thought. “You’d have to meet my mother to understand why that’s funny.”
“Never mind. I’ve met your sister, and I think I can figure it out. I also see why you make a good lawyer.”
“I don’t know how good I am, but I can guarantee I’m better than your divorce lawyer.” Whoever that was deserved to lose his or her license, because they hadn’t done much of a job looking after his interests. “Now that we’ve established our boundaries are no manipulation and no gifts we can’t both afford, can I offer to lend you the phone—one friend to another—until you get your finances turned around?”
“Friends, are we? Nice try, Too Good. The answer’s still no. But I will check into getting a cell phone through work.” He rested his arm along the back of her seat. “There’s the small matter of the dinner you owe me, though.”
“I owe you dinner?” she echoed, trying to think.
“We had a bet, remember? Taryn got on a bull this morning.”
“Was it a real bull or one of those duds you and Levi were talking about? The ones without enough aggression to be athletes?”
“Are you trying to wiggle out of our bet?”
“Not at all. But there are terms to be met. Was this a bull used in competition or one my grandmother could ride?”
“We didn’t specify terms. It was a bull, it was alive, and she got on it, so out of curiosity, if I took you to court, which one of us would win?”
“You’d take me to court over dinner, but you won’t borrow a phone? What kind of logic is that?”
“The kind that makes me a winner. There’s a frilly apron involved, too. Don’t forget that. But we can set dinner aside until we get our communication problems sorted out.” He trailed a finger along the side of her throat, then rubbed his knuckle against the underside of her jaw. Quiet settled over the inside of the car, and she leaned, cat-like, eyes half-closed and content, into his touch. “Taryn and I had a bit of a dustup this morning.”
“Oh?” That explained Taryn’s foul mood. A bit of his earlier surliness, too, although she owned the majority of that. She waited, because there had to be more.
“Your sister’s mad because I put her on Ford’s team. I told her she couldn’t stay on mine because of a rumor she started. Remi’s mad at me over that same rumor.”
Shauna’s sympathy surged. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel almost as sorry for Remi as I do for you. It’s not his fault. But good for you for taking action. Why didn’t you ask her to leave the clinic?”
“Because she’s good at it. You should’ve seen her.” Nix grinned ear to ear for a second, then sobered. “And because she’s a seventeen-year-old girl trying to live in her big sister’s spotlight.”
