Page 36 of Cowboys Next Door

I know what my former therapist would say to me, the one I was forced to see after Simone died in the fire. It was company policy that I visit a shrink in the aftermath, as much as I was against the idea. Turns out, Dr. Phyllis hadn’t been filled with completely bad ideas.

“Why do you have to question it? Just let it happen and see where it goes,” she would say.

But what if I opened up to someone again, and then I had to go through that type of pain all over again if I ever lost her?

“Hey!” Connor calls, snapping me back into the store. “Are you sleeping on your feet, or are you just hoping we’ll do all the work?”

I blink and hurry to catch up with them, wondering why I bothered to come at all. They don’t need me here, and all I am doing is torturing myself by being near Rose when I’m trying so hard to keep my firm boundaries in place.

Oh, who the hell am I kidding? I like being around her.

“I didn’t sleep last night, either,” Connor confides, poking me as Rose ventures ahead and out of earshot. “Last night was hot!”

I swallow my response, pretending to look at the shelves.

“It’s going to be fun to have a girl around for a while, huh?”

“Woman,” I correct automatically.

Connor groans. “Woman, right. She’s definitely that.”

I cast a sidelong look at Rose’s shapely legs. The curves of her ass cheeks are visible through her tight leggings, and I inhale sharply.

No. No, this isn’t going to be fun at all. I shouldn’t have agreed to help Katherine. I should have listened to Hudson and laid down some firmer boundaries.

But it’s too late to back out now. They are depending on me, and I made a commitment. I will just need to keep a respectable distance.

Going forward, I will ensure that we work far apart from one another. That’s the best place for her—far away from me.

CHAPTER13

Hudson

Irush down the steps as the black SUV speeds down my driveway, kicking up gravel in its wake.

“You fuckers!” I curse, seeing the letter at the door. Snatching it up, I toss it into the stainless-steel garbage can without opening it, noting the MVP logo on the letter.

Furiously, I grab my keys and storm out of the house, locking the door in my wake before making my way toward Eli’s place on foot.

The log house sits silently, although Eli’s truck sits parked near the stream, as always. I do a quick sweep of the exterior and head out toward Connor’s next.

Connor’s all glass and wood house is eerily calm, not even the dogs barking upon my arrival. His truck is also parked in its usual place, but there is also another small sedan at its side.

I rap on the door, waiting for Bounce or Silo to growl in response, but there is still no noise from the dogs. Instead, a round-faced brunette in a high bun approaches the front door, cocking her head curiously.

Carolyn? Carrie?

She comes once a week to clean Connor’s pigsty, kept only in order by the supply of maids he keeps parading through the beautiful house.

“Hi,” she says sweetly, swinging the heavy door inward.

“Hey… is Connor here?”

She shakes her head, tendrils of hair falling over her face.

I narrow my eyes. “Sorry, I’ve forgotten your name.”

“Cara,” she reminds me.

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