Page 2 of A Gift for the Hopeful Cowboy

Pippa held up a finger. “Hold your thought. We’ll make sure to catch up as soon as we’re done eating.” She released a quiet squeal. “I’m so excited you’re here.”

And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling something was off. Rob told her everything. Why wouldn’t he tell her he was coming for the holiday?

Something was going on back home. That had to be it.

Or maybe he’d grown tired of their friendship and their ridiculous pact.

Rob had found someone.

Her heart sank. They were never supposed to fall for each other. She couldn’t break her promise. At least, she couldn’t tell him she’d broken her promise. Rob didn’t need to know she got jealous whenever he mentioned he’d taken a different girl out to dinner. And she definitely didn’t need to tell him how relieved she was whenever it didn’t work out.

She eyed him from across the table as everyone took a seat. Ideally, she would have preferred to sit beside him so they could whisper under everyone’s conversations. Then again, that might be a bad idea. What if she couldn’t control herself and revealed how hurt she was he'd shown up without telling her he was coming?

Thankfully, their meal was filled with compliments and questions about the food—enough side conversations she was able to remain distracted. But when everyone had their fill, Pippa was pushed out of the kitchen. Her brothers might know better than to prevent her from cooking, but they drew the line at cleanup.

It was just as well. She needed to have a little talk with Rob about a few things.

Motioning for him to follow her out the door, she slipped away without anyone else noticing. Everyone in her life assumed Pippa and Rob had had a fling in their more formative years, and no one bothered asking her about where things were now. Even if they had, she would have told them there was nothing going on. Rob and Pippa were friends.

And that was never going to change.

She hurried down the steps and ducked around the side of the house where no one would be able to spy on them without making themselves known. She waited for what felt like an eternity and finally, when she’d nearly given up, Rob materialized around the corner.

He wore a stereotypical crooked smile like he knew they were going to be up to no good. Geez, he could make her stomach do all sorts of things. She placed a hand to her abdomen to quell the churning sensation, but it didn’t help.

When he reached her side, she gave his shoulder a shove. “Now you have to tell me. Why didn’t you say you were coming?” Her brows lifted and a smile spread across her own face. “You came for my birthday, didn’t you? It was supposed to be a surprise.”

Rob reached for her, holding her at her waist and pulling her close. “It worked out nicely, don’t you think?”

She frowned. “Except you should have told me because then we could go on one of our NSA dates. I’m going to be swamped this weekend. How long will you be here?”

He glanced away and Pippa felt her stomach drop. He was still hiding something from her. This wasn’t like him. He never kept anything from her even when they were teens. It was one of the bigger reasons she agreed to their pact.

Dating with no strings attached meant they both agreed to the deal and nobody would get hurt. The promise ensured they both had a good understanding of where they stood with one another. And this kind of promise meant no secrets. Why was he holding back?

Pippa reached up and placed a hand to the side of his face. “What’s going on? You didn’t come here for my birthday or for the holiday, did you?”

Until this moment, she hadn’t allowed herself to fully feel like he’d betrayed her in some way. But by the way he was behaving, they needed to get to the bottom of whatever this was.

He turned a chagrined smile on her, throwing her off guard and making her question her ability to read him. “I should have told you. I’ve been holding onto this for a while now.”

“How long is a while?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Since this summer?”

She shoved him playfully. “Seriously? How many conversations have we had since this summer? I can’t believe you haven’t told me what’s going on. You’re a rule-breaker, Rob Clifford!”

She shook her head, unable to fight the smile. At least whatever it was couldn’t be bad. He looked guilty, but not upset. That had to be a good sign.

“So, what is it? You can’t leave me hanging.”

He glanced over his shoulder toward nothing in particular—at least not something she could see. Then he swung his focus back to her. “I’m not going to be here only for Thanksgiving.”

Pippa’s eyes narrowed. “So… what? You’re going to stay for a week? You helping Brent out or something? You showed up with him, right?”

“In a matter of speaking.” He chuckled, clearly enjoying holding this back from her. She resisted the urge to push him again, waiting instead. Rob reached for her once more in the sweet, playful way he did when they were alone. “I’m taking a job at your brother’s ranch.”

The words didn’t hit her right away. It was almost like he’d spoken a different language. He was taking a job with Brent? At her family’s ranch? Her brows furrowed and she lifted her gaze to meet his. “You’re staying,” she said flatly.

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