Page 10 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
A few butterflies did, maybe, but wisdom seemed to be hiding, because Karen was far too tempted to accept Finn’s proposition.
It would be a terrible mistake. Broken heart? She’d survived it once, but enough jagged edges remained that stabbed deep at the most inopportune moments.
Was it worth getting tangled up with the man who was her personal addiction when she had a time limit on staying here? What’s more, at least at this point, unless something major had changed in Finn Marlette’s life recently, she doubted he planned to stay in Heart Falls for any longer than it took to make a success of his latest venture.
She wanted her education, true, but more than that? She wanted to set roots. Deep and firm, established in family and friends. She couldn’t do that with a man who hadtemporarywritten on the soles of his boots.
The sun moved slowly. Nothing but a few wispy clouds drifted through a blue sky toward the distant mountains. It was beautiful and peaceful and exactly what she needed to make a decision.
She raised her nearly empty glass toward the fields. “I’m here for my family. I’m here to findme, and that means I don’t have time for a fling. This is the summer of celibacy. More importantly, it means I concentrate on the task at hand.”
The first of which required getting together with her sisters, and not when there was a horde of others around. Because it was not the time for group discussion; it was time for a gathering of the Whiskey Creek Coleman women where the oldest of them—namely her—explained exactly how this worked.
Aka, Karen was going to lay down the law and make sure everyone knew exactly where her priorities were. That there would be zero tolerance of any further messing with her personal life.
She pulled out her phone and sent a couple of text messages to arrange an afternoon meeting of the minds.
3
I wasn’t trying to be mysterious when we met at Traders, but honest to God, I was more distracted than I want to admit. Your attitude is sexy as hell.
Please accept this flower as a peace offering. Look forward to getting to know you better this summer.
~Note from Finn to Karen, found on her second-storey windowsill the morning after he started work at Whiskey Creek ranch~
His visit with Karen hadn’t been long enough. While Finn was disappointed she hadn’t immediately jumped to accept his plan, asking for a little time was reasonable.
He’d also figured her answer to them getting back together would be no, probably for at least a couple of weeks.
That was pretty much what had happened five years ago. Back then they’d been determined to go as slowly as possible until the fire between them had ignited and become impossible to ignore.
Still, to anyone looking on, he’d pretty much blown it. Finn was tempted to take the long route back to the ranch house. Maybe if he walked slow enough, Zach would have found something new to entertain himself and left the house.
No such luck. Not only was the bastard still hanging around, another visitor had joined him in the kitchen.
Josiah Ryder, local veterinarian and, until recently, Finn’s landlord and roommate, glanced up. A mess of paperwork was spread over the surface of the roughhewn table, and he and Zach had been poking through the pile.
“I don’t see any missing limbs or severed arteries,” Josiah offered cheerily.
“Did you really assume a positive feminine response from the lack of mutilated appendages?” Zach asked dryly. “If I didn’t know you managed to land a woman, I’d be worried about your dating techniques.”
“Hey, I’m just being hopeful here for our man Finn.”
Finn sauntered to the table and glanced at the papers, discovering blueprints, timelines, and shopping lists all mixed together. “We need to get going on the accommodations sooner than later. Plus, someone needs to overhaul this main house layout because the kitchen and dining area need to feel homey yet still meet health and safety standards. Right now it’s a pit.”
Zach folded his arms over his chest and nodded slowly as if taking in every single word. Then he dashed Finn’s hopes that they had moved on to the next topic. “Struck out, didn’t you?”
Josiah checked his watch. “How long was he there?”
“Twenty minutes, max.”
A soft whistle escaped Josiah. “Struck out, magnificently.”
“Jackasses,” Finn muttered. “She’s thinking about it.”
Two identical expressions stared back. One brow raised in speculation, lips twisted into a smirk. Then Josiah and Zach turned toward each other and completely ignored Finn as they carried on their conversation.
“Thinking about it isn’t a no,” Josiah pointed out.
