Page 3 of A Gift for the Hopeful Cowboy

“I’m staying.” He reached up and tucked a strand of hair from her face. “I’m gonna be hanging out in Texas for the next little while.” Rob ducked his head and studied her for a moment before his cheesy grin faded. “I hope that’s okay.”

Her head spun. But when she got to the point where the clouds cleared, she beamed at him.

“Okay? It’s great! I can show you all the great spots. You can see my restaurant. We can…” Her voice trailed off and she glanced away. He would know what she was alluding to. Their romantic-non-romantic past. It would be nice to have someone to spend time with again.

He hooked his finger beneath her chin and stared hard at her. “You’re sure?”

“Sure? Of course, I’m sure.” She pulled away, her breath escaping her lungs. “This is going to be better than those summers I spent in Rocky Ridge.”

CHAPTER TWO

Rob didn’t miss the way Pippa moved away from him. The last time he’d been able to touch her had been over a year ago, and even then, she didn’t shy away from him. She’d spent plenty of evenings in his arms. Her kisses were some of the sweetest he’d ever tasted and difficult to forget.

Perhaps she was still upset about him keeping this secret from her. He hadn’t thought it would rub her the wrong way this badly. Was it possible he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did? Of course it was. Their friendship was mostly long-distance. The possibility of growing apart was a lot greater than if they had been in the same city.

He watched her scamper off toward the barn, motioning for him to follow. A quick look around ensured they weren’t being watched or followed, and a distinct sense of déjà vu washed over him. Rob sauntered after her, wondering if she was going to come clean about why she was acting so weird.

Rob had to stop just after stepping into the barn. He blinked several times to help his eyes adjust to the dim lighting. When there were no longer flashes of color preventing him from focusing on his surroundings, he took in Luke’s barn. There were only about five stalls to his right, and each one housed a horse. On the other side was a workbench covered in tools. Dust particles floated and swirled around him as he moved farther into the barn.

The place looked almost identical to Brent’s barn. It had a similar feel and, obviously, a similar smell. The strangest part about being here was he knew whatever he did, he wouldn’t have his father breathing down his neck.

That was the reason he’d moved out here in the first place. He couldn’t continue living his life under his father’s thumb. At some point, he had to grow up. It was getting embarrassing when he had to tell people he still lived at home. There was a certain disdainful look people got when they found out.

Pippa poked her head out from one of the stalls and grinned at him. Now, she was a woman who had her life put together. He’d always admired how driven Pippa was—not that he ever wanted to be this serious about life and work. There was a certain pleasure to be had from going with the flow. But he’d always thought their differences were what made their pact work.

“Are you coming or not?” Her voice hauled him out of his own head, and he moved toward her. She chuckled. “You seem a little out of it. Maybe I should be asking if you’re okay.”

Rob rested his folded arms on the stall door and grinned at her. “I couldn’t be happier than I am right now.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” Her tone had returned to the usual light one he liked so much. She was a pro at teasing him, making it feel so natural to be around her.

Pippa turned around, her back leaning up against the stall door as she faced him. Her chin rested over her shoulder and she fluttered her eyes at him.

“Let me guess. It’s because you get to be here to spend time with little ol’ me.”

Something tightened in his chest. He’d be lying to her if he told her she wasn’t a factor in his coming here. He could have gone elsewhere; he had distant relatives in Colorado and Idaho. But he wasn’t as close to them as he had been with Pippa and her family. Together with the Duncans, they’d been inseparable.

Her eyes widened, forcing him to realize he’d waited too long to continue bantering. Pippa was now staring at him like he had actually confessed to having feelings for her. The tension between them grew more cloudy—muddied by words unspoken, promises broken.

Rob had no other choice but to overcorrect.

He tilted his head and grinned at her. “If the job is the ice cream sundae, you are the cherry on top.”

It was cheesy. It was corny. It was everything she would have expected from him. Their intimate relationship was mostly over-the-top, cringy inside jokes. Rob tapped her nose.

“Admit it. You only ever wanted to visit your cousins in Montana because you knew you were going to see me.” Her mouth dropped open and her faint smile showed up again. “Turnabout is fair play, Pippa, and you know it.”

She laughed. There it was. The Pippa he knew and loved, but not in the way he sometimes wondered about. Love was a strong word for two people who were so different they only agreed to see each other out of convenience.

Rob pulled back from the stall. Being too close to Pippa had a way of biting him when he least expected it. “I must admit, though, I’m excited to be working with your brother. Brent knows his way around his ranch.”

He eyed Pippa but didn’t see any more of her previous disdain and annoyance.

“Aren’t you always telling me I have potential?” Rob said the word with as much flirtatious sarcasm as he could muster. “I’m surprised you weren’t the one pushing me to come out and tap the potential I haven’t found yet.”

She rolled her eyes as she turned and leaned on the stall door. The horse behind her nudged her and she laughed as she waved him off. Her eyes connected with Rob’s.

“I didn’t have an opinion one way or another on where you ended up. I thought you could do so much better than to stick around working your family’s business.”

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