Page 40 of Cowboy of Convenience
"Tempting, but you still can't go out there like that." Not only for her grandmother's benefit, but also for hers. She needed to think straight and be on top of her game to deal with the woman getting louder by the second, and Grady was proving too capable of stealing every bit of focus she could scrounge up.
"Fine." He snagged the floral robe he'd worn into the bathroom last night, slipping the drapey garment onto his broad shoulders before tying it around his waist. It looked ridiculous on him. The sleeves hit his forearms and the hem barely cleared the weight of his balls. And somehow she still felt a little like drooling.
"A man should be able to be comfortable in his own home," Grady grumbled as he padded out into the hall, headed straight for the kitchen.
Evelyn stuck close behind him, a little unsure of how this morning would play out. She’d had plenty of time to think about the situation while working at her studio yesterday and could only come up with one possible conclusion: Her grandmother was calling her bluff.
In her grandmother’s mind, if she could prove they were lying, it would provide the opportunity to show Evelyn how incapable she was on her own. Humiliating her before attempting to force her back to New York.
And if she refused, her whole life would change.
She’d listened for years as her mother lamented about having no choice but to marry her father, going on and on about how it was simply a sacrifice she had to make because of the connections it would provide the family. Clearly her grandmother was gunning to use her in the same way. She might have gotten out of being paired up with Sasha, but it would only be a matter of time before it was someone else.
Someone who might be even worse.
Her only other option was to give everything up and try to survive on her own here in Moss Creek. Unfortunately, even after nearly a year, her little yoga studio could barely cover her expenses. It did okay, but it wasn't like Moss Creek was a thriving metropolis with an unlimited customer base. She might be able to stretch the money she had left by getting a cheaper car and only buying what she absolutely needed, but there was still a chance she would end up broke and homeless, sleeping on Amelie’s sofa.
She was never expected to be anything outside of an ornament. A representative of her family who was tasked with maintaining their image and the connections her grandparents had cultivated.
A socialite.
And that wasn’t going to get her very far for very long anywhere outside of New York and her family’s influence, let alone a place like Moss Creek.
"How did you sleep, Gram-Gram?" Grady sauntered into the kitchen, looking unbothered by her grandmother's presence and completely at home in her home. "Was your new bed comfortable?"
"I slept fine." Her grandmother was going through the cabinets, clearly not looking for anything in particular. "Do you two have plans for today?”
"Actually, we do." Grady reached for her, taking her by the hand before tucking her against his front, wrapping both arms around her as he cradled her close. "Ev has a class to teach this morning and then we’re heading over to my family's ranch to do a little riding."
Her grandmother's brows inched up the tiniest bit, moving as much as her Botox allowed. "Your family owns a ranch?"
Grady grinned. "Sure do. It's been passed down through the generations for over a hundred years."
Evelyn schooled her features, hoping it wasn't evident this was all new information to her. She knew Grady's family had a ranch but didn't realize it was so well-established or that, from the sound of it, he would one day be the owner.
It was surprising, considering he seemed to really enjoy being a police officer and she couldn’t imagine he planned to keep juggling both things for the rest of his life. It was obviously already wearing on him.
"Interesting." The flatness of her grandmother's voice made it seem like she thought the information was anything but. "I suppose I’ll join you for the class this morning, but then I have some business matters to attend to."
Evelyn swallowed hard at her grandmother’s mention of business matters. Hopefully it wasn’t finding her an acceptable husband to take Grady’s place. The thought had her wanting to be as far from the woman she’d feared her whole life as possible. "I'm not sure this class is anything you would be interested in."
"You clearly think I'm incapable of participating in normal activities such as sleeping on a couch or taking a simple yoga class, but I can assure you I am more than able to handle those things and quite a bit more." Her grandmother’s lips pursed as she yanked open the next cupboard and pulled out the first coffee cup in line. “Now show me how to make a cup of coffee.”
It took everything she had to keep a straight face. "Sure thing."
Evelyn took the cup and turned away from her grandmother, widening her eyes at Grady as she passed.
He gave her a wink and a smile, reminding her she wasn't alone in this. That he was in it with her. He had her back.
After last night, she was hoping he would have more than her back soon.
Evelyn walked her grandmother through the simple steps of putting cream and sweetened syrup into coffee before passing the cup off and making one of her own. She’d just taken her first sip when Grady started rifling through the fridge, pulling out the basics for a simple breakfast.
He paused at the stove because he had no clue where anything else was. She moved in beside him, pulling out the pan she used to cook eggs and a bowl to scramble them in, as if they did this together all the time. He worked on cracking half a dozen into the bowl while she lined a few servings of turkey bacon onto paper towels, popping them in the microwave to cook before going back to collect the empty shells and dropping them in the garbage. Between the two of them it only took a handful of minutes to fix bacon, eggs, and toast. Her grandmother watched them with a shrewd gaze as they set the table and sat down.
"Better eat up, Gram-Gram.” Grady motioned to the food “If you're coming to class this morning you’ll have to change."
Her grandmother looked down at the slacks and cream-colored blouse she wore, lips pinching. "I'm sure I can manage in this."
