Page 30 of Still A Cowboy
Instead, Willa calmly, quietly shut the door in Eden’s face. She turned and walked back to the bar, her steps slow, her chest hollow. Her mother was waiting, arms open without saying a word.
Willa stepped into her mother’s arms, let the turkey leg fall to the floor, and sank into the comfort she didn’t want to admit she needed.
Delia finally loosened her hold and brushed Willa’s hair off her shoulder.
“You need to go upstairs and take a bubble bath. One of the good ones with the fancy lavender stuff. You’ve had enough of people showing up uninvited today.”
Willa snorted, but the idea of locking herself away from all this sounded better by the second.
“Yeah,” Willa said, pulling away gently. “Abath sounds good. I’ll make sure I don’t get my toe stuck this time.”
Delia gave her a look. “Probably smart.”
Willa grabbed her phone and made her way up the stairs, the quiet settling around her like a welcome shield. She tried not to think about Cal. About Eden’s words. About anything, really.
But her phone buzzed as she reached the landing. It was from Fia.
Someone just sent me this. It’s already on the internet.
Figuring it was more footage of Edgar, the seagull being an asshole, Willa clicked on the short video clip. Grainy, shaky, but the image was clear enough. Not Edgar. Human.
It was her. And Cal. Kissing in his window. Whoever filmed it had done it from the street.
Her stomach twisted. Panic bubbled up fast and sharp. She didn’t think. She just moved. Her feet carried her to his door, the door she had been avoiding like the plague for days. She knocked hard, still clutching her phone.
When he answered, Cal looked completely caught off guard. His shirt hung open, his jeans slung low on his hips, as if he’d just rolled out of his chair after working at his laptop.
His gaze flicked to the crooked tiara still perched on her head, and his mouth curved into a grin. “Well,” he said, his voice warm, “this is a good surprise. It’s really good to see you.”
Willa didn’t bother with pleasantries.
She shoved her phone toward him. “Fia just sent this to me. Someone filmed us and posted it on the internet.”
Cal took the phone from her, his brow pulling tight as he hit play.
The video was shaky and grainy, but there was no mistaking what it showed. Him. Willa. That kiss in the window. Too long. Too heated. Too public.
He watched in silence, his jaw tensing, his fingers tightening around the phone.
When the clip ended, he let out a slow breath. His eyes lifted to hers, steady, sharp.
“Well,” he said, voice low, “guess we’re not exactly subtle.”
Willa’s heart pounded in her chest. She waited for him to panic, to pull away, to start talking about damage control.
But he just handed her the phone back and said, “Come in. And let’s get this figured out.”
Chapter Nine
Cal should have been focused on the video. Should have been working the angles, sorting out who filmed it and why.
But mostly, he was just glad to see Willa. Glad she was standing in his apartment again. Glad she wasn’t avoiding him anymore.
Even if the reason she was here came with a gut punch.
Once she stepped inside, he closed the door and crossed to the small table where his laptop still sat open. Willa joined him, leaning in close. And poking his nose with the tiara she was wearing.
“Sorry,” she muttered, snatching it off her head.
