Page 39 of Ride a Cowboy

Because Macie had been struggling with the ghost of Sharon, comparing herself to the woman, worrying about measuring up.

She and Hank had amazing sex, there was no denying that. And they had fun together. But was that enough?

Her cell phone pinged. She glanced at the screen, surprised to see Porter’s name.

On way back. Coop’s phone died. He wanted you to be ready.

She grinned, despite the heavy feeling in her chest. She knew what be ready meant.

Then she recalled Porter’s presence in the kitchen last week as he watched her and Hank. Sharon had taken them both to her bed. And it was obvious Hank had enjoyed that aspect of their sex life. He’d mentioned it to her the first week they’d started dating.

Macie’s heart began to race as she considered her next move. Realistically, she knew she wasn’t in a very good frame of mind. So what she was thinking of doing was really stupid. But she also wasn’t sure she’d ever have the courage to initiate this in a lucid state.

Having Porter watch them had been really hot. Maybe taking it to the next level would…what? Make the current mess bigger? Make things clearer? Make it obvious that she could be just as good for Hank as Sharon was?

What the fuck was her goal?

She sucked at planning. And common sense.

So before she could reconsider, she responded to Porter’s text.

You coming with him?

There was no reply, even though she could see Porter had read the thing. God. No doubt the men were sitting in the truck thinking WTF right about now.

She stood up, pacing the floor and trying to give herself a pep talk.

“You’re better than this, Macie,” she mumbled. “You’re letting that bitch win. Get her out of your head. You are his type. Hank’s crazy about you. You’re crazy about him. You can do this. You can do this. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you.”

“He loves you.”

She twisted at the sound of Hank’s voice in the doorway. Shit. How long had he been there? Given his amused grin, she was fairly certain he hadn’t heard it all. Otherwise, he would have asked who the bitch was.

“Hey.”

He tilted his head as his gaze raked over her, taking in her nightie. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Nervous?”

Stressed-out was probably a better description, but when Hank stepped into the room, followed by Porter, she knew he’d misinterpreted her pacing and muttering.

Hank’s forehead creased when she didn’t reply, when her mouth fell open and she made a very unattractive squeaking noise.

He frowned. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Macie, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“No,” she called out quickly. She needed to take some sort of control back. Needed to reclaim the confidence she’d let Janice shake. “Wait.”

“No, we’re not waiting.” She didn’t have a clue what Hank saw in her face, but obviously her pep talk hadn’t worked.

Hank glanced at Porter, who walked toward her. He cupped her cheek and gave her a soft kiss. Macie stood stock-still through it all, confused as hell. And panicking. She thought by “not waiting,” they weren’t going ahead.

But now they were?

Oh God. What would they do if she screamed and ran out of the room?

Porter smiled at her. “Me and Coop talked. This isn’t going to work out, Macie.”

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