Page 70 of A Cowboy in the Streets

“Essie, I can feel his eyes trying to incinerate me from behind. He might hate you, but that doesn’t mean he’s okay with you and me having drinks.”

She snorted. “Boys. Still fifty percent Neanderthal. Zack had the same stupid concerns. Trust me, Brax doesn’t care what I do or who I’m with. If he’s mad, it’s because he thinks I’m not good enough for you.” She scraped an olive off the toothpick with her teeth, then took a lingering sip of her martini. “Anyway, this has nothing to do with him.”

“Yeah?” My curiosity was piqued. “What are we doing, then?”

Her gaze slipped over my shoulder and her lips tilted in a smirk. “I’m going to do you a big favor, Adam.”

And with that, she grabbed my hat off my head and placed it on her own, laughing.

Wear the hat, ride the cowboy.

Goddamn it, was Essie trying to get me killed?

“Essie—”

But I didn’t get another word out because suddenly my face was full of water. I blindly reached for a napkin and wiped my eyes clear.

Right in time to see James’s fine ass storming out of the bar.

“What the hell just happened?” I demanded.

Essie calmly sipped her martini, the picture of innocence. “Go get your girl, big guy.”

When I stared at her dumbly, she rolled her eyes. “Go,” she prodded. “You’re not really going to let her think I’m taking you home with me, are you?”

My gaze shot to where the door banged shut behind James. Hell no, I didn’t want her thinking that. “Tomorrow we’re going to have a serious conversation about minding your own damn business.”

But I was settling my tab even as I spoke. Of course I was going after her.

“Adam,” she called after me, her voice husky with laughter. “Don’t forget your hat.”

Chapter 29

James

I couldn’t believe I did that.

Literally threw a glass of water in Adam’s face. It might not even have been his water. Or Essie’s. Maybe it was a stranger’s water and now he had a face full of a stranger’s germs. Gross.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I never did things like that. Never. Dad had deemed any show of female emotion to be too much, so I had learned to siphon big feelings into palatable, carefully chosen words. The more I felt, the more cautious and deliberate I became. It served me well with horses, even if I resented the hell out of it when it came to people. Because I wasn’t hotheaded and brash, no matter what Dad said.

Until tonight. Until Adam.

Essie had told me she wouldn’t do anything with Adam, and I believed her. But that hadn’t stopped me from losing my shit when she plopped his hat on her head. If I had stopped to think for even a second, I would have known it meant nothing. Emotion had pushed out every rational thought in my brain.

I stormed into my cabin and kicked the door shut behind me, buried my face in my hands, and screamed into them.

A heavy fist pounded on the door. “James, open up.”

Adam. My heart kicked pitifully, like it wanted to burst through my chest and run to him. Stupid, stupid heart. “No,” I said.

There was a pause.

“Open this door or I will break it down.”

The words sounded like a promise. I rolled my eyes. “It’s unlocked. Maybe try opening it yourself instead of moving straight into property damage.”

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