They walked toward each other, and she smoothed her hair behind one ear and moistened her lips with a quick dart of her tongue. “Cowboy,” she said, sounding a little breathless.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “And I don’t usually stalk women in parking lots.”

  “I don’t mind. I hated that I didn’t have a chance to give you my number.” She smiled at him, and held out her phone after opening the screen.

  He quickly entered his digits then dialed his phone. When it rang, he saved her number.

  “Well, you must be really tired,” she said.

  He knew he should just move along and give her a ring later, but he wasn’t feeling tired at the moment, and he liked standing there, with her gaze on him. He sure as hell liked standing there staring back at her. “Don’t suppose I could talk you into gettin’ coffee somewhere with me…?”

  “I’d love it, but we better not go back into the hospital. My brother took an instant dislike to you.”

  “He’s probably just worried about you.”

  “He…yeah… That was kind of what we talked about at lunch.”

  “He didn’t change your mind.”

  She wrinkled her cute nose. “I don’t need his permission to have coffee with a man.”

  “Do you wanna ride with me?”

  Her face for a second, and then a deep blush filled her cheeks. “Yeah. I’ll ride with you.”

  Only, the way she said it made him think she wasn’t talking about getting into his truck. “I’m right over here,” he said, aiming a thumb over his shoulder.

  She glanced down at her leggings and short boots. “I have an employee’s parking pass—my brother arranged it for me. I’ll need to drive around. I’m not climbing that wall. These boots are all show.”

  “I’ll help you over.”

  “That could get real embarrassing,” she muttered. “You know, you having to get your shoulder under my ass to hoist me up.”

  His eyebrows rose. “I was thinking of picking you up and sitting you on the edge.”

  “I’m not little.”

  “I know,” he said, and he couldn’t help his gaze running up and down her lush body, before locking with hers.

  She swallowed hard, and her gaze held his for a long moment, her expression hard to read. But then she shrugged. “It’s your back.”

  They walked to the wall. She set her purse on top of it, then held out her arms.

  Cowboy couldn’t say why that gesture hit him just right. The fact she accepted his touch so easily, and perhaps, her trust, but he wasn’t going to make her doubt him or wait. He stepped toward her side and bent, sliding an arm around her back and the other beneath her knees, and then easily lifted her to sit on the wall.

  She smiled back at him then swung her legs over and dropped to the ground. He set one hand on the wall and leaped over it, landing beside her.

  With her cheeks glowing, she accepted his arm as he escorted her to his truck.

  * * *

  The coffee shop wasn’t busy. They sat at a table in the corner with mugs of hot coffee in front of them.

  Colleen was beginning to think her blush was a permanent thing when she was in his company. The way he looked at her made her feel hot all over. Desirable. The man knew she wasn’t a twig; hell, he’d supported all of her weight when lifting her onto that wall. So, his eyesight wasn’t to blame for the heat in his gaze.

  Honestly, she’d never experienced anything like this. Sure, she’d had boyfriends, but she’d always felt self-conscious, had always dressed to hide her curves. She’d never made love in the light.

  With this man, she could imagine he’d be just fine making love in open daylight. Was he real? Was she dreaming?

  He cleared his throat.

  How long had she been staring at him? “Sorry, did you say something?”

  “I asked if you’d lived long in Bozeman.”

  “All my life. Do you get to Bozeman often?” Say yes.

  He shook his head. “But it’s not that far.”

  She breathed a little easier.

  “My job can take me out of town, even out of state for days or weeks at a time.”

  “Must be hard on a relationship.”

  “The right person would need to know that up front,” he said, looking straight into her eyes.

  Did he think she was the right person? “I’ve never been to Dead Horse.”

  He leaned toward her. “Would you like to visit?”

  “Sure.”

  “Your job flexible?”

  Her job had given her set hours, but it was just a job. She was flexible. “Yeah, I can get away.”

  He nodded. “Good to know.”

  Colleen didn’t like how vague that left things. Good to know. Like, I’ll call you sometime, and maybe we can get together…

  But how could she nail him down to a date without seeming too pushy? Something about the way this day was going made her anxious about letting too much time pass. He might meet a dozen other women before he remembered he’d invited her to his town.

  “They’ll likely release Toby today,” he said. “I’ll drop him at the jail. Then I’ll be free.”

  “Are you asking me to come visit today?”

  His hands tightened around his mug. “I’m riding with Chase. My truck’s back in Dead Horse.”

  “I can drive you back.”

  His eyes widened. “You’d do that? If you want, I can drive your car.”

  That wasn’t vague. In fact, he seemed a little anxious to nail this down, too.

  Colleen found herself nodding. “Won’t you be exhausted after being up all night? Driving there after—”

  “I’m asking you to spend the weekend with me.”

  “Oh.”

  “I can get you a room at the motel I’m staying at.”

  “Does yours not have a large enough bed?” That just kind of escaped, and she bit her lips to keep from saying anything more.

  His mouth crimped together then slowly stretched wide. “I have a king. There’s room. But if you stay, nothing has to happen…”

  Like hell it won’t.

  Maybe he was playing her, acting like he wasn’t expecting anything from her, trying not to pressure her. Frankly, she didn’t care. She still wasn’t confident enough to think that maybe she could hold his attention beyond this weekend, but she wasn’t going to blow the chance to be with someone like him.

  “I guess I’ll need to go home and do some laundry.” And race to Jenny’s to purchase some sexy lingerie and some Spanx.

  “I’ll call you when I’m free to get your address.”

  Colleen sighed and settled back in her chair. “Are you sure about all this?” she asked, giving him an escape if he wanted to jump through it.

  His smile was wide, his gaze direct. “Colleen, I want to spend some time with you. I’ll show you around. We’ll get to know each other. The only people I know in Dead Horse are the folks I work with. I haven’t had a chance to make any friends outside work. And I don’t have a girl.”

  “So, you looking for a friend…or a girl?”

  “Can’t I have both?”

  The way his voice went deep when he said that had her squeezing her thighs together. “Well,” she said, not sure how to respond to that, “I’d like to be your friend. And seeing as I don’t have a guy in my life, I guess we’ll just have to see how this weekend goes.” She squinched up her nose. “We might find out we’re completely incompatible.”

  “You really think so?”

  From her point of view, she couldn’t imagine not loving everything she learned about this man. However, she’d lived through enough boyfriends who’d found her fun to be around only to end up being disappointed they couldn’t change her. She didn’t want to open her heart too wide only to have it broken when he decided he wasn’t that into her after all.

  “I’ll keep an open mind,” she said, giving him a smile.

  His phone chirped, and he pulled it from pocket of his plaid shirt. “Chase, they cuttin’ him loose?” After a long pause, he nodded. “I’ll be there in a few.”

  When he ended the call, she pushed up from the table. “If you can drop me near my car, I have things to do.”

  Colleen watched as several women’s gazes followed them out the door, and she couldn’t help her smug smile. For the next few days, Cowboy was all hers.

  Chapter 4

  Chase and Cowboy delivered Toby to the jail, their prisoner wearing loose hospital scrubs and carrying a bag of meds and an icepack, which they turned over to the corrections officers.

  As it happened, Toby thanked them for “lookin’ after me” and promised to mend his ways. “Nearly losin’ my manhood made me rethink some things.”

  After they returned to Chase’s vehicle, Cowboy turned to his partner. “Can I get you to drop me off somewhere before you head back?”

  Chase’s finger hovered over the ignition button for a second then he turned to Cowboy. “This about that girl?”

  “That girl is Colleen.”

  Chase’s mouth stretched into a grin. “Just where am I takin’ you?”

  “Her place. We’re drivin’ back to Dead Horse together. And I have another favor to ask.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  Chase arched an eyebrow. “Could you turn in the paperwork, write the report…?”

  “You gonna be too busy to do your job?”

  Cowboy blew out a breath because he knew Chase was enjoying this moment. He’d hoped not to give him fodder for future ribbings. “I’m going to show Colleen around Dead Horse.”

  “That would only take about two minutes, man.”

  Cowboy cleared his throat. “I’m planning to take the weekend to do it.”

  “Ah. So, not so much showing her Dead Horse. But does it take a whole damn weekend to show her Lucas Brown?”

  Cowboy rolled his eyes as Chase began to chuckle. “Just drop me at her place.”

  “Plug her address in the GPS. I’ll get you there. Then the rest is up to you.”

  “That’s right. It’s up to me and none of your business.”

  “Sure you don’t need some advice?”

  “I don’t need advice from you, partner.”

  “Never hurts to ask someone with experience.”

  “I’ve got plenty,” Cowboy muttered as Chase laughed and slapped the dash, Cowboy realizing too late that Chase was only baiting him.

  They pulled into an apartment complex, and Chase rolled down to punch in the digits at the gate that Colleen had sent to Cowboy.

  Her apartment was on the second floor of the third building back. When Chase parked in a space, Colleen came out a door and leaned over the railing to wave.

  His heart felt lighter, and he stepped out of Chase’s vehicle smiling.

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” Chase said as Cowboy reached into the back for his go bag.

  “Doesn’t that still leave a lot on the table?”

  Once Chase pulled away, Cowboy waited below as Colleen came down the concrete steps. “You already packed?”

  “My bag’s already in the trunk,” she said, smiling up at him.

  Cowboy went with his instincts and leaned down to kiss her mouth. When he straightened, he said, “I’m glad you said you’d come.”

  Colleen pointed toward her Corolla. “I better drive. You can catch a nap along the way. I want you rested up.”

  Her words were intriguing, and his mind went to the coming night. “I appreciate that.”

  “I’m being completely selfish,” she said in a sly tone.

  Once underway, he leaned against the passenger door and angled his body so he could watch her as she drove. “Did you have to ask for time off from work?”

  She glanced his way and grinned. “No, I quit.”

  Cowboy blinked. “Seriously? Why would you do that? I hope you didn’t quit because of me.”

  “No pressure, Cowboy, it’s not all about you. I was ready.”

  He’d never talked to an adult who spoke so casually about quitting a job. “Just what was your job?”

  “I was an assistant manager at a clothing store. A glorified clerk, really. I can find another position.”

  “You said you were ready. Do you do this often?”

  “Yeah, I kinda do,” she said and sighed. “I’ve had so many jobs. I keep hoping to find my calling, but it hasn’t happened yet. I work a while, get bored, and then it’s on to the next adventure.”

  As a man who’d had exactly three jobs in his entire life, he found her attitude a little disquieting.

  “Oh, now, you think I’m the big flake.”

  “No, I’m just curious. We don’t really know each other. That’s what this weekend’s all about.”

  “Really? I thought it was all about sex.”

  Again, her cheeks flushed—this time a deep red. The woman might talk a good game, but she wasn’t quite as brave as she pretended to be. Why did she think she had to be?

  “Tell me about all your ‘adventures’,” he asked.

  “Shouldn’t you be napping?”

  “Worried I’ll be too tired for sex?”

  Her gaze swung his way, but so did the steering wheel. He straightened in alarm. “Watch the road!”

  She brought the right-side tires off the shoulder of the road. “Yeah, I should probably do that.”

  “Adventures, Colleen,” he reminded her.

  “You hoping I’ll drone on and put you to sleep?”

  “Yeah. Exactly,” he said, as he resumed his position leaning back in the corner.

  As she talked, he watched her face. When she described getting fired as a substitute teacher and quitting college when she’d been months away from finishing her degree, she sounded cheerful, but her face told another story. It was as though she was disappointed and a little confused about her own behavior.

  When she talked about working on the road crew with a bunch of guys, she’d made it sound like she didn’t mind being the token female, relegated to being the person turning the Stop/Slow sign. However, her eyebrows lowered just a little. When she joked that she hadn’t minded because the job had interfered with her texting, he didn’t buy it. She’d been frustrated being pigeonholed into the least important job on the worksite and uncomfortable with the misogyny.

  A stint as an office manager at a waste disposal company had ended when she’d miscalculated employees’ pay. “Math just wasn’t my thing,” she said airily, but her expression told him she’d been sad to lose a job where she’d been part of a team, the hub of communications, the “liaison between the customers and the company” she’d said proudly.

  Cowboy didn’t want to feel sorry for her, but Colleen seemed to be a round peg forced into too many square holes. She hadn’t found the work that would challenge her or make her feel proud being part of something.

  “You asleep?”

  “You haven’t told me about the dress shop you just quit.”

  She lifted her shoulders. “It was a clothes shop.”

  “What did you sell?”

  “Clothes.”

  The fact she didn’t wax on with a funny story about her time there made him suspicious. “Women’s clothes? Men’s clothes?”

  “Women’s.”

  He decided that if she didn’t want to talk about it, she must be more upset over quitting than she’d let on. “Do you think they’d rehire you?”

  “Oh, I don’t want to go back.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Look,” she said, her tone blunt. “It was a fat girl’s store. Plus-sized clothes. They hired me because they wanted customers to identify with me.”

  Cowboy thought about what she’d said while she kept her gaze trained on the road. “You don’t think that maybe they hired you because you’re beautiful and any woman walking in there might want some advice to look just like you?”

  Her jaw dropped an inch, and she shot him a quick glance. “You don’t have to say that.”

  “Do you think I didn’t mean it?”

  Her brows lowered, and her bottom lip quivered. “I’ve had trouble with my weight all my life. I know what I see when I look in the mirror.”

  “Then, sweetheart, you need a different mirror.”

  * * *

  Colleen tightened her fingers around the steering wheel. What was he doing? Was he trying to butter her up so she’d be eager to jump into his bed? He didn’t have to. She’d already as much as said she was willing.

  He sighed beside her and moved away from the door. Her tension lessoned a bit because he’d been turned toward her the entire time, and she’d felt like she’d had to suck in her stomach. Now, she could breathe.

  He leaned sideways toward her, his elbow resting on the console between them. “Do you want to know what I see when I look at you?”

  She did, but she didn’t. “Only if you’re honest.”

  “Do you know when I first saw you in the hospital, you just about took my breath away.”

  He’d had a similar effect on her, but his body rated a bit of panting. She hoped he wasn’t expecting her to respond because she’d likely tell him that just to deflect.

  “First thing I noticed was your skin.”

  A finger traced a path from her cheek to her chin. “I can’t see any pores, it’s so smooth. And most of the time it’s cream-colored, but you blush a lot,” he said, touching her cheek again.

  “It’s the curse of being a redhead.”

  “Your hair’s as bright as a copper penny.”

  “Most people don’t think that’s a good thing,” she murmured. “My brother’s is auburn, which is more desirable.”

  “I didn’t notice.”

  “I’d have been worried about my chances if you had,” she quipped.

  His finger touched the side of her mouth. “And then there’s this. I had to kiss you to know if it was as soft as it looked. It is.”

  “So, you like my skin, copper hair, and my soft mouth.” Good Lord, had she just asked him to continue to flatter her?

  “Your eyes are the same color as a cold winter day. Kind of…glacial.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “That doesn’t sound pretty.”