Page 29 of Cowboy Friend Zone for Christmas

“Alright then.” Nash glanced away from her, trying not to be angry that she was accepting favors from Brady of all people. Hadn’t their entire friendship pact been formed to help her keep her distance from the guy?

“Aw, are Mom and Dad fighting again?” Flint’s mocking voice wafted their way from the other side of the table.

Nash made a mental note to step up his youngest brother’s workout regimen at the gym to punishing levels this afternoon.

“They say they’re just friends, but they act like they’re married,” his youngest brother continued in the same mocking voice.

Lucy’s eyes grew wide. “Keep that up, and this elf is officially withdrawing her protection.” Her meaning was clear. She was going to leave him at the mercy of his brothers if he continued mouthing off like that.

“Throwing me back to the wolves, eh?” He shook his head, pretending to be disappointed in her. “I never knew elves could be so heartless.”

She rolled her eyes and deliberately gave him her shoulder. Her gaze fell on Nash and brightened. “Laura and I made a few updates to our sketch to run past you this morning.”

“Thanks.” Though he kept his voice bland, he inwardly winced at her announcement. What they were planning was supposed to be a surprise for the woman seated to his right.

He watched Laura lean forward to catch Lucy’s eye and give her a subtle head shake.

He quickly changed the subject. “Has designing toys always been your family’s specialty?”

“Though that’s what it often boils down to, our specialty is anything involving Christmas.” She shot a teasing look at his brothers. “The rooms you’re staying in were one of our non-toy-related projects.”

Nash chuckled at his brothers’ shamefaced expressions, knowing they’d be extra careful what they said about the holiday B&B rooms going forward.

The rest of the meal passed in a haze of getting-to-know-you chatter. No question about it, the Lee sisters were nice. He could tell his brothers thought so, too. He could only hope that the friendships being furthered over the breakfast table this morning would help settle some of the restlessness he’d witnessed in them lately.

He felt Noelle’s gaze on him a few times as she ate, making him long to ask what was on her mind. However, she’d made it clear earlier that she didn’t want to be smothered by him. It was something he suspected might be tied to her poor relationship with her parents. He didn’t know much about the situation, since she rarely spoke of them. All he knew was that she considered them to be overbearing and opinionated. Any time he came on a little too strong with her, she tended to pull back from him, too. He wasn’t sure if she even realized she was doing it. It was like a built-in, self defense mechanism.

They ran into Brady on their way out of the restaurant. He was at the cash register, picking up a set of to-go meals.

He looked so surprised to see them that Nash could only assume their encounter was a coincidence. “Shelly had a craving for pancakes and maple syrup this morning,” he announced sheepishly. “Gotta take care of my favorite office manager.”

“Here. Let me get those.” Noelle hurried forward to grab the cardboard beverage tote off the cabinet. It freed his hands to carry the stack of styrofoam boxes.

Nash reluctantly handed his credit card to Ames and peeled away from the group at the register. Speed walking past Noelle, he opened the door for her and said in a low voice, “Don’t forget. I’m only a call or text away.”

“You won’t let me forget,” she whispered back irritably. “Enjoy going over that sketch with the lovely Lee sisters.”

So, she had heard Lucy’s slip up. He shrugged, not sure why Noelle was making such a big deal out of a stinking sketch. “Gotta kill a few hours before the show.” He tossed her own words from earlier back at her.

“I’m only a call or text away from you, too, cowboy.” Looking inexplicably distressed, she sailed out the door ahead of him.

Nash stared after her, wondering why she thought he might need accountability advice during his appointment with Laura and Lucy Lee. Unless…

You’ve got to be kidding me!

His gaze flicked angrily back to her retreating figure. Did she honestly believe he was playing the field with the Lee sisters? Nothing could’ve been further from the truth. The only woman who held his interest these days was the one determined to keep him solidly in the friend zone.

He was still holding open the door when Brady stepped closer with his towering stack of to-go boxes.

“Thanks, man.” Brady gave him a searching look.

“No problem.” Nash’s voice came out colder than he intended. It was killing him that the gift he’d been secretly designing for Noelle had backfired so thoroughly on him. He was half tempted to run after her and spill the details of what the Lee sisters were up to.

He didn’t like having any secrets between them. Secrets led to distrust, and distrust could ruin a lot of precious things.

This is the last one, babe.

After this, he planned to be an open book with her. Between now and then, he planned to hit his knees and pray she wouldn’t be scared away when she found out exactly how much she meant to him.

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