Page 35 of A Cameo for a Cowgirl

“So, have you seen him since?” Poppy asked.

“Seen whom?”

Poppy’s lips curved. “I love how you want to pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about.”

“Um, I’m busy here, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Fine. Pretend all you like. Is Harrison okay after his bite?”

She shrugged. “I guess so.”

“You guess so?” Poppy’s eyebrows arched. “Come on. The man saved you from a snake, and you barely talked to him all Saturday. Don’t tell me you haven’t spoken since.”

“Okay then.”

“So you haven’t?”

She shook her head. Perhaps she was behaving like a child, but she’d never liked being put on the spot like this.

“Wow.”

“Wow what?” Defensiveness clawed up her chest. “I didn’t ask him to be there.”

“He saved you from a snake—”

“Unnecessarily,” she muttered.

“—and then got bitten himself. Aren’t you grateful?”

“Yes. But I still don’t think it was needed.”

“Man. What is your problem with him?”

Good question. One she’d been struggling with since their first encounter. “I don’t like arrogant people.”

“Come on.”

“Or people who act entitled. There’s something about the way that man walks into a situation like he’s expecting the world to revolve around him that turns me off. Plus, I don’t think he’s a Christian.”

“Just because he’s not a Christian—and how do you know that for sure, anyway?—doesn’t mean you can’t still be nice to the man.”

She pressed her lips together, conviction soaring.

“Do you know how embarrassing it was to have to try to explain your behavior while we were waiting at the hospital? The poor man didn’t know why you gave him the cold shoulder. Did you even say thank you?”

Ouch. No, she hadn’t. But still, “I didn’t ask to be picked up. Some people would call that sexual assault.”

Poppy’s eyes widened. “Are you insane?”

“He should’ve asked. It’s called consent.”

“And when was he going to do that in the, oh, I don’t know, millisecond before the snake struck? Cassie, Harrison was trying to help you, not harm you. He wasn’t trying to kiss you or anything else. I don’t know what twisted world you’re living in, but you should’ve heard him. He was in pain, and couldn’t understand why his good deed was going punished.”

Cassie glanced at the lace-edged apron in her hands, her fingers ruffling the edges, shame filling her throat. Maybe there was something wrong with her, that she couldn’t even thank him for trying to help. And while a garter snake wasn’t venomous, he hadn’t known that. So the fact he’d literally put his life on the line for her made her feel very small.

“Has he ever done anything specifically to you in order to upset you?” Poppy asked, more gently this time.

The fog of the past two days lifted, as a roll-call of his previous misdemeanors passed through her mind. He’d been annoying, sure. Thoughtless more than once, too. But he hadn’t actually hurt her, physically or verbally.

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