Smooth-Talking Cowboy

She frowned. Was Bennett the love of her life? What if she didn’t get him back? Was she also never going to be able to move on? Well, it wasn’t like Bennett was dead. He was just not her boyfriend. That wasn’t the same thing.

“What did you need?”

Luke’s question dragged her out of her swampy thoughts. “Oh. I just... Lindy asked if I could bring these by.” She thrust the pamphlets out toward him.

He just looked at them. “Okay.”

She took a couple of steps toward him, with the pamphlets still held out. “Because she thought Wyatt might want to see these. You know, because I know that Lindy’s brother had mentioned to him that Lindy was interested in doing some kind of a... You know, mutual promotion thing...”

“Wyatt mentioned as much,” Luke said, propping the broom up and leaning against the handle. “He also said he wasn’t sure about working with the ex-wife of a friend.”

“Is he still friends with Damien? Because Damien is a cheating louse.”

“Bros—”

“If you say bros before hos, so help me God, Luke, I will give you a paper cut with one of these pamphlets.”

His green eyes glittered with wicked humor. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

“You were.”

“I will take your pamphlets,” he said, reaching his hand out, but not making a move toward her. She swore he was trying to be agitating.

She closed the distance between them and placed the pamphlets in his outstretched palm, her fingertips brushing against his bare skin.

She ignored the little zip that raced down to her stomach. “Thank you. Just make sure Wyatt gets them. For the record, I’m not sure that Lindy is thrilled at the idea of working with a bull rider.”

“Why is that?” Luke asked.

“Pretty sure she hates everything associated with the rodeo, given her husband works PR for them, and also, bull riders specifically since he used to hang out with them. And, more specifically, Wyatt.”

“Fair enough. Now, I don’t know that I’m the best person to judge, considering I don’t know that I’m a candidate for fidelity myself. But I’ve also never tried. And never promised it.”

“Great. Congratulations on being slightly less disgusting than my friend’s cheating husband.”

He looked around as if he were searching for something. “Is there a badge for that?”

In spite of herself, Olivia laughed. “I’ll have one made.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

“See you later, Luke,” she said, turning on her heel and taking a deep breath as she started to walk back toward the barn door, trying to get a handle on her electrified nerves.

“Hey,” he said.

She gritted her teeth. “Hey?”

“Yeah.”

She turned around again. “What?”

“Your dad is still selling that plot of land out of town?”

“I guess. He turns down offers all the time. He has some very particular idea about who should have it.”

“I’ve heard that,” Luke said. “I want to buy it.”

Olivia blinked. “How are you going to buy land?”

As long as she had known Luke, he’d lived modestly. Until he had been in his midtwenties he’d lived at Get Out of Dodge. Now he lived in some ramshackle cabin way out of town in the middle of the woods. He didn’t scream financially sound.

“Don’t worry about the how, kiddo,” he said. “From a financial standpoint I’m not concerned at all. It’s that purity testing he seems to be so fond of that worries me.”

“My dad is rich enough that he doesn’t need money. And that makes him a little bit eccentric.”

“So it seems.” Luke looked down at the pamphlets for a second, then back at her. “He really wants you and Bennett together.”

“Why do you say that?” His assessment made her feel uncomfortable. She didn’t even know why it bothered her, just that it did.

“Just saying. I doubt you would have been with Bennett if your dad didn’t approve. You don’t seem like the type.”

Those words, so unerring, so accurate, sent icy little pinpricks down the back of her neck, all the way down her spine. She had no idea how a man who really didn’t know her seemed to know her so well.

“Okay. So, say that my dad does want me to be with Bennett. What does that have to do with anything?”

“You want to be with Bennett, too,” Luke pointed out.

“Obviously. I told you that. I told you that I loved him.”

“And I told you that you didn’t care, but you’re sticking with your story. I respect that.”

She gritted her teeth. “Because I know my feelings better than you do.” Given her observation from a moment earlier she felt a little bit like she was lying, which was ridiculous. But it also made her feel guilty.

“What if I help you with Bennett? And you put in a good word with your dad. How about that?”

“How are you going to help me with Bennett?”

“He didn’t like us talking last night. He didn’t like me touching you. I have a feeling it’ll only take a couple things like that to force him into making a decision. The problem is he’s too certain of your feelings. Not certain enough of his own.”

“Did you talk to him?” she asked, her stomach sinking. The last thing she wanted to hear was that Bennett had made it plain that he didn’t know how he felt about her.

“Yes,” Luke responded, giving absolutely no quarter to her fragile feelings.

“Oh,” she said.

“He was asking about you. You and me. And he wasn’t happy.”

Heat streaked through her. “How could he possibly...” It didn’t make sense. Bennett knew her. In the year they had been together they hadn’t done... Anything. They had kissed, of course, but she had been holding out for a ring before they took things any further. He thought there was something going on with Luke? As if a guy like Luke would have any patience for her wanting a commitment before sex.