Page 13 of Still A Cowboy
Willa shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t want to know.”
She grabbed a clean towel and turned away, her heart beating way harder than it should. Fia stayed quiet, watching her.
Fia’s boyfriend ordered a couple of drinks from Dani, the other bartender working the shift, clearly giving Fia and Willa some space.
Her sister leaned in again, her voice dropping to a near-whisper. “So, I may have done a little digging on Cal. You know, just a casual background check.”
Willa narrowed her eyes. “Fia.”
“Don’t get mad. I just wanted to be sure the cowboy wasn’t secretly a professional lizardwrangler or married to six other women.”
“And?” Willa couldn’t stop herself from asking.
Fia grinned. “He’s clean. Never been married. Successful. Runs Bennett Rodeo Promotions out of Dallas. Former rodeo star. I mean, a real star. A two-time NFR finalist. That’s National Finals Rodeo. He has a nice house, no criminal record. Oh, and he once got banned from a mechanical bull contest because he broke the machine by accidentally kicking off the bull’s plastic balls. It’s in a blog post. Very entertaining.”
Willa blinked. “You’re unbelievable.”
Fia beamed. “I’m thorough.”
Yes, she was, and if there was a red flag, Fia would have found it. Too bad there wasn’t one. Because if Cal had been a scumbag, then that might have cooled down this attraction she had for him. Kicking off plastic balls certainly wasn’t doing the trick of getting her attention off him.
With that thought skipping through her mind, the door opened again. Willa didn’t need to turn to know it was him. She felt it, that familiar blast of heat that rolled through her.
Cal had just walked in.
And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to shut him out.
Willa took one look at Cal as he crossed the room and knew. He was in pain. He moved slow and easy as if he was trying to hide it, but the tension in his jaw, the stiffness in his stride, theway he shifted his weight told her exactly how much he was hurting.
She didn’t hesitate. She stepped out from behind the bar and went straight to him.
“You all right?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.
“I’m fine,” he said, brushing it off, but his voice was tight, and he wasn’t walking fine at all.
“Uh-huh.” Willa slid her arm under his, steadying him. “Come on.”
“Willa, you don’t have to—”
“I’m helping you up the stairs. Just accept it.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but the truth was written all over him. He gave a quiet nod, and she led him toward the staircase in the back.
She felt the eyes of the bar trailing after them. The soulmate gossip would double by tomorrow morning, but for once, Willa didn’t care.
Together, they moved slowly up the stairs, his breathing short, his grip tightening just slightly as they climbed.
“What happened?” she asked. “Did you twist it again?”
“Overdid it,” Cal admitted. “Went out sightseeing. Thought I could handle more than I should’ve.”
“You mean you pushed it.”
“Something like that,” he admitted. “But I got to see a lot of pretty places.”
She gave him a look but didn’t stop climbing.Willa wondered if he’d seen a lot of pretty people as well. Or rather one pretty person. Eden.
“The town’s not going anywhere, and it’ll still be pretty in a week or two. Next time, take it easy,” she muttered.
