Page 213 of Ride a Cowboy

Jacob laughed. “I took out some chicken. Thought I’d make curry.”

“Damn,” Rodney said, rubbing his stomach. “That sounds good.”

Jacob looked at his brothers. “Why don’t the three of you clean up while Rodney and I get supper going? Bridget, you can use the bathroom in the guest bedroom if you want. I bet you’re itchy after spending all that time in the barn.”

He wrinkled his nose as he said the word barn. Bridget laughed. “The ranching gene sure missed you, didn’t it?”

Jacob didn’t take offense. “I figure it hit two of the four of us. Caleb’s no fonder of the ranch than I am. Fifty-fifty’s not so bad, although my dad might have disagreed.”

Jacob’s comment about his father sent a string of questions running through her mind. There was so much she didn’t know about Matt and Mark that she was curious about. Hell, she sighed. She wanted to know everything about them—their histories, their dreams, their desires, their bodies.

She pushed the image of her two cowboys away. It was an illogical, impractical dream. She couldn’t have both of them and she couldn’t choose. Better to keep things light and easy. “I’d love a shower.”

Jacob started down the hallway, leading her to the guest room. “I’ll grab a pair of sweats and T-shirt from Jessie’s dresser. She won’t mind you wearing them. It’ll save you having to put your dirty clothes back on.”

After popping the question the night of their Valentine’s Day feast at the inn, Caleb had whisked Jessie off to Colorado for an impromptu vacation to celebrate. According to Jacob, they weren’t due back to the ranch for three more days.

“Thanks, Jacob.”

“Sure thing. Hey, is your brother seeing anyone in New York?”

She grinned. “Wow. That was pretty direct.”

“I learned a long time ago that the best way to get an answer is to ask the question.”

“Spoken like a true journalism major.” She’d had to stop herself several times from talking shop with Jacob whenever he mentioned some article he was writing or something one of his online professors had said. She missed her writing terribly. Watching Jacob tap away at the keys on his laptop had left her more homesick than anything else these past few weeks.

“I’m not going to lie, Bridget. I like Rodney. A lot. But I get the sense there’s something holding him back. Keeping him from taking a chance with me. I figure there must be someone else.”

There was someone else, she wanted to say. Her. He was holding true to his promise to protect her, to keep her safe. “There’s no one else, Jacob.”

Jacob looked relieved and confused by her response. Then she watched both reactions replaced by sadness. “Oh, well, I guess maybe it’s just me he’s not interested in.”

“No,” she said hastily. “That’s not it at all. Rodney really likes you. I can tell. It’s just we’re on vacation. I’m sure he’s hesitant to start something because of the distance. I mean, what if you guys hooked up and it was truly wonderful? It would make leaving that much harder.” Her words were spoken on her behalf as much as Rodney’s. She could easily let herself fall into Mark or Matt’s arms, but where would that leave her when the time came to return to New York?

Jacob shrugged. “Seems like a poor excuse.”

“What?”

“We only get one shot at this life, Bridget. I’m definitely not letting geography dictate where I’m allowed to find my happiness. Might have to explain that concept to your brother tonight over root beer floats.”

“Love at the bowling alley?” she teased.

“Nothing classier. I’ll go grab you those clothes.”

Jacob left her alone. Rodney wasn’t the only one depriving himself a shot at true happiness. If there was one lesson she should have learned in the past year, it was that life is precious. Fate was handing her a chance for something better, something richer, and she was throwing it away by blaming timing and distance and a crooked judge for her loneliness. There was only one person holding her back and that was herself.

Walking to the guest bath, she started tugging off her shirt. What if her destiny, her happiness was here, on this ranch in the middle of Nowhere, Wyoming? Her problems were still going to be here in the morning, but what happened in a month—after she’d testified?

Where would she be then?

She turned on the water, letting it heat up. Stepping beneath the steaming jets, she let the water soothe her sore muscles.

She was too tired to think anymore. Tonight, she just wanted to be. To feel.

Tonight, she wanted to take a chance.

The only question was…with who?

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