Page 77 of A Cameo for a Cowgirl

“I know, but if Mal wants you here—”

“Whoa. Are you serious?”

Harrison’s attention shot to where Mal was frowning at the computer screen.

“Hey, you two,” Mal called. “Come over here.”

Harrison wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Are you okay to walk or do you want me to carry you?”

She chuckled. “You know, I’ve always prided myself on being an independent woman, but I think I could get used to having a strong man carry me occasionally.”

“So is that a yes?” He cocked an eyebrow.

She smirked, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Not just yet. But maybe one day.”

“Cassie?” the medic called. “The car is ready.”

“Look,” Mal commanded.

They watched the screen where some of the raw camera footage was displayed. One of the cameras had filmed Cassie in the exact moment she’d seen the snake swim between them. There was no sound yet, but she’d gasped, screamed, then picked it up and thrown it away. It was in that moment she been bitten. Then her head ducked under the water and he had rescued her.

Mal nodded, smiling at them. “This is perfect.”

Perfect that Cassie had been bitten by a snake?

“We have the double rescue, so we don’t even really need to use that footage of the runaway horse before. We’ve got it all here. She protects you, you rescue her. Win win, wouldn’t you say?”

He glanced down at Cassie, caught the way she smiled up at him, with those beautiful pink lips he wanted to explore again. He settled for pressing his lips to her forehead. “I’d say I’ve definitely won, that’s for sure.”

Sixteen

The city lights of early evening flashed in the rear view mirror as Harrison drove her home from the hospital. He held her hand, as he’d tried to ever since the incident at the creek earlier in the day. Like he wanted to touch her, to make sure she was still alive. She laughed it off, but his protectiveness was kind of lovely.

“You know I’m a big girl.”

“I know. But you scared me before. I don’t want to lose someone else I lo—” He coughed. “Care about.”

Cassie’s pulse spiked. Had he been about to say the “L” word? Oh my. He cared that much?

She peeked across. His features held a serious cast, like he would fight a thousand battles for her. “Hey.” She waited until he glanced at her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He nodded, but she could tell he was still worried. Which meant they probably needed to have a few more conversations about trusting God.

She returned her gaze to look out the window. The skies were pinking to a rosy blush, streaks of gold like God had dabbled a paintbrush in gilt and was underscoring his promise with a flourish. “Isn’t that sky beautiful?”

“Yeah.”

Her lips lifted. “Don’t you just love the big skies out here? There’s so much to love about the country.”

“Some things, sure.” He shot her another look, mouth half curving. “I definitely love some things about the country.” He winked.

Giddiness filled her, and not just because of the medication she’d taken earlier. Yep, Harrison really had that swoony thing going on.

“But not everything, I have to admit.” He glanced at her. “I don’t think I want to visit your creek again.”

“Oh, come on. That’s two snakes in twenty plus years. You can’t let a little reptile stop you from having a lot of fun.”

“Fun?”

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