A Cowboy To Come Home To

The word seemed hollow somehow, and left him wanting more. So much more it left him floundering.

“Mel…”

Amy came back inside, rosy-cheeked and bringing a rush of fall wind with her. “One coffee, cream and sugar, just as ordered,” she announced brightly.

It was time Cooper got out of there. He’d done what he’d set out to do—given her the cookies and made peace between them. More than that, he’d realized that all this time he’d been holding on to a vision of the girl he’d once known and loved, rather than the woman she’d become.

“I’ll see you around, Mel,” he said quietly. “Amy.”

“See you around,” Melissa replied, while her assistant merely smiled and gave a waggle of her fingers.

Outside the shop the air had turned suddenly cold. Coop shivered as he realized two very annoying things.

First of all, he’d forgotten to ask for his jacket back.

And second, his whole plan had backfired. Instead of letting go so he could move forward, he was starting to realize that the woman Melissa had become could be even more of a threat to his heart than the girl she’d once been.

Melissa watched Coop walk down the street, and tried hard to ignore the shocking way her stomach seemed to be tangling in knots. Her pulse still raced, beating at the hollow of her wrist where his fingers had rested only moments ago. That had been no ordinary handshake. Things had tingled. In a way they hadn’t since she’d been sixteen and had finally given up on him ever looking at her as if she was a girl. Scott had kissed her one night after a school dance and that had been the end of any crushes on Coop. She’d accepted that they’d only just be friends. It had been fine while she’d dated Scott, and after, when she’d married him. Coop had ended up being more like a brother.