Page 13 of Ride a Cowboy

“You’re not fooling anyone,” Amanda said. Clearly Macie’s mum’s-the-word attitude was only sparking her friends’ interest more. “Are we going to have to resort to guessing?”

“You could guess all day and come up empty. There’s nothing to tell. I have work to do,” Macie said, still hedging. She walked to the opposite end of the counter, refilling a couple of nearly full water glasses for her new cousin-by-marriage, Chas, and his Uncle Julian.

“Hey, guys. Do you need anything else?” she asked, quickly striking up a conversation about the weather and their latest construction job so Amanda and Brandi couldn’t keep up their third degree. She didn’t expect her friends to give up, but she was hoping to buy enough time to figure out a story they would accept.

If she’d had a brain in her head, she would have worked a little harder at hiding her happiness. Amanda and Brandi hadn’t been the first two people to remark that she’d been wearing a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin all day. It was just her luck two of her best friends would show up near the end of her shift and call her out. Another hour and she could have escaped back to her apartment with no one being any the wiser.

She’d spent the entire day replaying each minute of her night with Hank, and now she was in a state of near-painful horniness. She had every intention of spending a little one-on-one time with her vibrator the second she got home.

“We’re good.” Julian reached for his wallet, digging out money for the bill. She was distracted from counting out their change when the bell above the restaurant door rang.

Macie had looked up every single time a new person walked in today. And given they always did a good business, she’d lost count when she hit the hundreds. This time, she was rewarded for her persistence.

Hank walked over to the counter, his gaze locked on hers, and claimed his usual stool.

“Hey, Hank,” she called out, trying to sound casual and hoping the sudden heat she felt in her face wasn’t showing up as a blush. When she saw several heads pop up curiously, she realized her mistake. “Er, Coop.”

She hastily poured a beer and carried it over to him.

He took the beer, and then gripped her wrist to stop her from moving away. “You had it right the first time.”

She’d had a million conversations with Hank Cooper in the past year, and not once had his voice had the effect on her that it did at that moment. Her pussy clenched, her nipples tightened, and she could swear some hormone-driven electrical current had her skin humming, vibrating. Lightning could have struck her smack on the head and had less effect than Hank’s voice.

She leaned closer, lowering her voice. “People noticed. I thought maybe you wouldn’t want?—”

“Told you last night what I wanted. That hasn’t changed. Call me Hank.”

“All I’m saying is this place is full of busybodies—my dad at the top of that pile—and it was just one date.”

Hank scowled.

She clearly wasn’t saying this well. “You know how folks are around here, drooling for any little scrap of gossip. Every single time I’ve gone out with a guy, I’ve been subjected to a third degree. You don’t want to have to endure that, trust me.”

His expression darkened and her nerves kicked in. Which meant she just kept talking, digging the hole deeper.

“I just don’t fancy everybody nosing around in my sex life.”

“Your sex life,” he repeated in a tone she couldn’t even begin to read.

So she shrugged, wishing she were capable of keeping her stupid mouth shut sometimes. She could feel more than a few people looking at them. Probably because Hank still had an ironclad grip on her wrist and they were talking in hushed tones. Behavior like that indicated a good story, and too many of the jackasses in here salivated for gossip. “Um, yeah?”

“And how is your sex life?”

She wasn’t sure if he meant overall or just in the past twenty-four hours. Because those were two completely different beasts. “Well…I guess it’s…I mean…”

“You want to play games, Whiskey? Or you want to shoot straight?”

She wasn’t exactly pleased to admit that when it came to guys and dating, she was an expert player. “I usually play games.”

“And how’s that working out for you?”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m thirty-one and still single, so…” She rolled her eyes, letting her expression fill in the rest.

For the first time since he’d sat down, his expression lightened. Hell, for Hank, he almost looked happy. “I’m not interested in playing games, so I’ll just come out and say it. As far as I’m concerned, you became my girlfriend the second you had that sexy-as-hell orgasm in my kitchen last night.”

Chas and his uncle, who were still waiting for their change and standing right there, glanced over at Hank’s comments. Macie could see their raised eyebrows with her peripheral vision. Her cousins were going to blow up her phone tonight.

If Hank noticed, he didn’t give any indication as he kept talking. “We’re going to keep dating, Macie. And the end goal for me is getting my ring on your finger.”

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