Cowboy Blues

“Well, I hadn’t expected you to react to me like that,” she added. “But it’s a nice perk. Now, hold that cold beer on your side to bring down the swelling.”

Since she’d run all those words together, it took Nick a moment to process the first part. He wanted to deny that he had any kind of thoughts about her that didn’t involve her leaving now. But it was difficult to lie when he had the beginnings of a hard-on.

“You’re sleeping here tonight,” he concluded when she took a pair of pj’s from the suitcase.

Lindsay nodded, smiled again and said something that Nick was certain would come back to haunt them.

“You’ll never even notice I’m here.” She added a wink. “And if you do notice, then all the better. Good night, Nick.”

CHAPTER TWO (#u4f97b486-294d-5598-a0fb-046276cb0fe6)

LINDSAY COULDN’T SAY she’d had the most restful night of sleep, but it had been interesting. Actually, everything about her return to Wrangler’s Creek had fallen into that category.

She’d landed her dream job at the Granger Ranch, would be working with some of the best horses and best equipment that money could buy—thanks to the Grangers’ deep pockets and love of the cowboy way of life. And she’d spent the night under the same roof as Nick.

He was the reason for both the interesting homecoming and why she’d had a less-than-perfect sleep cycle. Hard to relax when she’d seen so much of him in that little towel.

Good grief, the man got better looking with every passing day, and that was saying something since he’d been one of the hottest guys around in high school. He could still hold that hot label despite the scowls he’d continued to give her not just the night before but also this morning when he’d gotten up, grumbled something about needing a shower and headed into the bathroom.

Lindsay doubted he’d give her a second towel peep show, but her memories were clear enough that she didn’t need another visual. Though she wouldn’t have turned one down.

She winced at that thought. Somehow, she was going to have to rein in these feelings. Or not, she quickly amended when Nick came out of the bathroom and she got another eyeful of him. No towel this time, though. He was dressed in his work clothes—jeans, a blue shirt and boots—and he somehow managed to look almost as good dressed as he had naked.

Almost.

She finally decided that he was amazing no matter what the situation, and she was going to have to deal with the feelings that she’d had for him for years. It’d been a lot easier not to think about those feelings when he’d been out of sight, but even that hadn’t been a fix. Especially since she had seemed to run into him every time she’d come back to visit her sister.

The last visit had been especially memorable.

“I made coffee and scrambled eggs,” she told him.

It was a sort of peace offering, but Nick was still sporting that scowl. A scowl that would likely get worse when she told him what she’d learned from the phone call that she had made while he was dressing.

“Someone’s using the Granger guesthouse so I can’t go there,” Lindsay explained. “Dylan said he’d get someone to fix up the room in the new bunkhouse but that he wouldn’t be able to spare anyone to do it today. I told him that I understood, that you and I were both adults and that we could share the same space. Besides, this place suits me just fine.”

Nick had already started pouring himself a cup of coffee, but he stopped mid-pour to stare at her. No longer scowling, but he clearly wasn’t happy because he was filling in the blanks on that conversation. Maybe he was also wondering if Dylan had picked up on the fact that Nick hadn’t wanted her there.

“I didn’t mention the towel incident,” she clarified, and since that made her want to smile—something she definitely shouldn’t do—Lindsay quickly added, “How’s your Gumball injury?”

“Better.” You wouldn’t have guessed that, though, from his grumpy tone. A tone that made it all the way to his expression and his sizzling blue eyes. He drank some coffee, then huffed. “You can’t think us sharing a bunkhouse, alone, is a good idea.”

It depended on the definition of good, so there were several ways she could interpret that. Maybe he was referring to his very male reaction when she’d put the lip balm on him. Or something else. Both, or either, would be weighing on his mind, so she decided to go ahead and get that thousand-pound gorilla out into the open.

“I’m sure you remember a group of us ended up at the Longhorn Bar after a charity rodeo,” she threw out there. “You and I drank some beer, danced, and when we ended up going outside for some fresh air, you kissed me.”

Nick stared at her for what felt like hours and then cursed. “I apologized for that. I was way out of line.”

Lindsay frowned, but that was exactly the answer she’d expected. “Clearly, you and I have a different take on things. You kissed me, and I liked it. No apology was necessary.”

“You can’t argue with the out of line part,” he grumbled. Nick did more of that cursing. “For Pete’s sake, you’re my ex-girlfriend’s sister. That makes you off-limits.”

Apparently, his feelings on that hadn’t changed in the past six months. Of course, her feelings hadn’t changed, either. Somewhere in between the dancing and the kiss, Lindsay had fallen hard for Nick. Probably best not to blurt that out, though, or it would send him running.

It had nearly sent her running, too.

She hadn’t been “in the market” for falling for a man. It hadn’t even been on her radar. In fact, until that kiss from Nick, she’d decided that the life her sister had would never be hers. Not that she envied what Carol Ann had now. Nope. But Lindsay had just about decided that being in love wasn’t something she would ever experience. She wasn’t in love with Nick, not yet, anyway, but she could see it as being a possibility. No way would Nick see it that way.

Lindsay smiled when she looked at him. Not especially hard to manage that, since he was hot eye candy in addition to being a decent guy. Her exes hadn’t quite qualified for decent status, and as Carol Ann liked to say, Lindsay was a turd magnet. Lindsay had totally agreed with her.

Until that kiss.

“When you kissed me that night, it felt as if something clicked,” she confessed. She went closer to him. Probably too close. But she didn’t want him to miss any part of this. Besides, it was just nice being next to him, especially when she took in the scent of his soap and the leather from his boots. “In that moment, I realized I couldn’t settle for another turd.”

In hindsight, she should have explained that better or at least given him a detail or two about the “turd” label. “Huh?” he asked. His forehead bunched up.

She would have explained herself, probably would have also moved closer to test his off-limits comment, but there was a knock on the bunkhouse door. Lindsay frowned, but it wasn’t as deep as Nick’s, and while checking his watch, he went to the door.

Lindsay checked the time 7:00 a.m. Early by some people’s standards, but their workday would start in about a half hour. Apparently, it was early enough for the boss, too, because their visitor was Dylan Granger.

He stepped in, his gaze sweeping around the bunkhouse before it landed first on Nick, then her and then on Nick again. The corner of Dylan’s mouth lifted.