Page 48 of Falling for the Cowgirl
Jericho braced himself. He didn’t plan to fight back now any more than he had earlier. As much as he’d loved the kiss with Ivy, he shouldn’t have done it, especially not under the circumstances with their being alone and her without her bodice on.
“Wyatt.” Jericho eyed the cake on the brown paper that served as a plate. Should he put it down or let Wyatt stuff it into his face?
Wyatt lifted his hat, scratched his head, then set his hat back in place before he tugged on his neckerchief. “Listen. I wanted to apologize for Flynn and me getting all fired up earlier.”
Wyatt was apologizing? Jericho almost allowed his shoulders to sag with relief. He didn’t deserve the kindness, was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to extend it if the situation had been reversed.
Wyatt glanced over to a nearby wagon where his wife sat on the bench, holding the reins to the team. She was watching them, and from the back of the wagon in the bed, Astrid was holding one of the children and peering his way too.
“You and Flynn had every right to get riled up. I shouldn’t have been with Ivy—”
“Reckon it’s natural enough for a man to wanna kiss the woman he loves.” Wyatt’s statement came out soft, but the power of it hit Jericho in his chest hard enough to stop his lungs from expanding. Wyatt’s eyes were filled with a certainty and knowing that Jericho wanted to argue against, but he couldn’t get his airways to work.
Did he love Ivy?
He shook his head. Impossible.
Wyatt spread his feet slightly. “Flynn and I, we did some jawing since the, uh, incident. And we’ve both seen it, plain as daylight, you caring for Ivy something fierce.”
Jericho might be able to deny that he loved her, but he couldn’t disagree with Wyatt about caring for Ivy something fierce. That much was becoming clear with each passing day he was with her.
“Flynn and I agree we couldn’t ask for anyone better for Ivy than you. Not a man for miles around can compare with what a good and decent fella you are.”
“Thank you, Wyatt. That means a lot—”
“Ivy came clean about competing as Buster Bliss.”
Jericho’s gaze shot to Ivy in the dance area, twirling away like she’d been before, being passed around among the men like she was the prize of the night. She was a prize. Any man would be lucky to have her.
After how hard she’d tried to keep her secret about beingBuster Bliss, why had she admitted to it? In doing so, she’d lost her chances of competing and making money. She’d never be able to save up enough for Steele’s land now. Not on the pittance she’d make working for Greta.
Wyatt took his hat off and scratched his head again. “She said you’re not to blame for the indecency at the church.”
So she’d made the admission to protect him? “I take full responsibility for everything that happened. I could have walked away, but I didn’t.”
“Yep. Mighty hard to walk away from a pretty woman you got a hankering for.”
Jericho had learned just how true that was.
“That’s why I’m standing by my decision that you move on out. Ain’t no good gonna come from you living so near Ivy. Reckon you best keep your distance until you marry her.”
Until he married her? Wyatt seemed awfully confident, almost as if his being with Ivy was a foregone conclusion.
“Flynn said you could live with him until the wedding. And I’m agreeing to keep you on at the construction site as long as you need the work.”
Jericho had to set the McQuaid men straight, and fast. “I appreciate the offer to stay with Flynn as well as the offer of work. But I was serious about not being able to marry Ivy. I can’t do it.”
Wyatt folded his bulky, muscular arms. The fellow could hit as hard as Flynn, if not more so. Regardless, Jericho couldn’t lie to this man about his future with Ivy. “What’s stopping you? Another woman?”
“No. Of course not. I’m not interested in anyone else and never have been.” That didn’t come out right. It sounded anawful lot like an admission that Ivy was his one and only. Was she?
Wyatt cocked a brow.
Jericho shook his head, his frustration mounting. “I’m sorry, Wyatt. I’m not in a position in my life where I can think about marriage.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated.”
