Page 8 of Cowboy Friend Zone for Christmas

Cookie flew past them again, whinnying excitedly as if enjoying the sight of her trainer being tossed around.

“Whose side are you on?” Noelle spat the question before convulsing into another round of giggles.

When Nash finally slid her back to her feet, one of her hands gently squeezed his right shoulder. Then her fingers trailed lightly down his arm, past the ridge of his stump and on to the bionic section beneath his shirt. She’d done it before a few other times, and it always made that part of him feel more human because of her acceptance of it.

He watched her expression change — not to one of wariness or revulsion, but to one of wonder.

“I still can’t get over how real it looks,” she whispered. “Or how well it works.” She blinked back a sheen of dampness forming in her eyes. “It feels like a miracle, doesn’t it?”

“Every single day,” he agreed in a rough voice. He wasn’t referring to just his prosthetic arm. The bigger miracle in his life was her. Her friendship. Her support. Her unwavering belief in his ability to do anything he set his mind to, despite the extra physical challenges he faced these days.

“Your dexterity with your right hand is phenomenal,” she added in a soft, reverent voice.

It was. He felt like the most fortunate man on the planet to have regained so much mobility after the loss of a limb. So much so that he’d finally signed up for his first rodeo since the accident. His mouth opened to tell her, but she’d already moved on to another subject.

She tossed one of her braids irritably over her shoulder. “I can’t believe I’m on a losing streak in Jenga to you. I mean, seriously. That game has always been my jam.” She wiggled her fingers, then held them up to him. “See? Perfectly steady hands here. Everyone loses to me. Literally everyone except you.” She wrinkled her nose petulantly at him. “Have you been cheating?”

He gave a bark of laughter. “How do you cheat in Jenga?”

“I don’t know. You tell me!” Though she shot him another dirty look, her lips twitched like she was trying not to laugh.

“Quit being such a sore loser.” He glowered playfully at her. “If you take back your accusation, I might offer you a rematch. Tonight. Right after dinner.”

“Deal.” She turned around and leaned back against him as Cookie finally started to slow down.

He hooked an arm around her middle and held her there. “Something bothering you?” He spoke against her ear in case anyone walked in on them. After four months of having her at Canyon Creek Ranch, he’d become pretty familiar with her moods. She only got clingy like this when she was worried about something. Worried about him, to be more precise.

“Maybe I was wrong about something, Nash,” she sighed.

Uh-oh. “Wrong about what?” His brain scrambled to fill in the rest. Wrong about setting up a friendship pact between us? Wrong about insisting on waiting an entire blasted year before we start dating again?

As much as it had hurt to see Adeline reunite with Brady, Nash’s pain had quickly been replaced with his unexpected attraction to Noelle. At first, he’d worried he might be suffering from a touch of the rebound syndrome she’d warned him about. But the way his feelings had deepened with each passing day, he no longer believed that was true. Not even a little. He was falling for his new horse trainer, plain and simple. Unfortunately, he had no idea if she wanted anything more from him than friendship, now or ever.

It took her so long to respond to his question that he hitched her closer to reclaim her attention. “Wrong about what?” he repeated, feeling his first pang of worry. If it was something she was reluctant to talk about, it must be bad.

“About you returning to riding broncs.” She drew a shaky breath.

“What?” He was so shocked by her words that he dropped his arm from her middle and spun her around to face him. “Why do you say that?”

Her green eyes grew glassy. “Because I’ve been doing some reading about…stuff.” Her gaze darted to his arm, then back to his face.

“What kind of reading?” His voice grew tight.

“About your arm and the incredible technology embedded in it.” She bit her lower lip. “It was selfish of me to keep pushing you to get back on a bronc and risk all of that.” She glanced away from him, swallowing hard. “I never meant to imply that being a ranch manager wasn’t good enough, because it is. It’s more than good enough. Every single staff member claims that things have never run more smoothly around here. You’re really, really, really good at this, Nash.” Pressing a hand to her heaving chest, she continued, “So maybe this is the right next step for you.” She spread her hands to include their surroundings. “Not my constant pushing for you to return to the competitive circuit.”

“Well, I’ll be!” He glanced away from her in frustration, not entirely sure how to tell her he’d already gone and done exactly that. He’d be riding three days from now at a local event. A few riders had backed out at the last minute due to other commitments, so the rodeo manager had waived the signup deadline in the hopes of attracting more riders.

“Are you mad at me for saying that?” Noelle’s anxious question interrupted his thoughts.

“Nope.” He was more confused than anything else.

“Disappointed?” Her voice cracked, making his head swivel back in her direction.

“Where’s this coming from?” He felt like he deserved a better explanation than the one she’d given him so far.

“My reading,” she reminded with a vague wave of her hand.

“Care to elaborate on that?” He caught her hand with his bionic one and lowered it between them, tangling their fingers together.

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