Page 22 of One Lucky Cowboy

Well, then you should stop trying to kiss your partner in all this. Okay, it was time to take her overactive subconscious for a walk. Or jump online to check the order status for the remining ranches in the area that had ordered replacements for their equipment thanks to Bennett’s subsidy. Anything but think about the other Marshall brother and how she’d somehow gone from annoyed with to attracted to in the span of a night.

Not true. You were attracted to him right away.

Ugh. Why couldn’t her brain shut off where Jax Marshall was concerned? She slipped into a pair of running shoes and donned a hat. Maybe she should check in on Maggie before she headed back to San Antonio to pick up her things?

The thing was, her brain wasn’t entirely wrong in its recollection. She had been attracted to Jax right away at the wedding. But his past with the rodeo and the fact that he still went to shows and supported the lifestyle was a bigger turnoff than the rest of him was a turn on.

“Wanna go for a walk?” she asked Lily. All she got in response was a deep snore unbefitting the princess she’d been before she got unceremoniously knocked up. Jill laughed. “Got it. Well, I’ll be right back.”

Jill grabbed her cell phone and strolled through the garden. She’d swing by Maggie’s since she wasn’t leaving to collect her things till that afternoon. But before she knew it, she was walking down the cypress-lined drive, marveling at the reds and yellows that were sneaking into the foliage, making their own mark on the passing of time. She’d seen some lovely color changing in the manicured green spaces in San Antonio, but even her rural-jaded heart had to admit this was better.

It wasn’t that she was avoiding her best friend, but two things kept her feet from heading that direction. First was her lack of a plan. Jax had agreed to help Jill with Steel Born while Maggie was out sick, but that was as far as they’d gotten. She needed something concrete to bring her friend who was putting her whole career and dream into Jill’s capable but unsure hands. This needed to work for more than just Jill’s sake.

The other reason she hesitated heading to the Marshall compound was in case a certain younger Marshall brother was lurking around. Until she’d drummed up an appropriate apology for trying to kiss him the first night of their new partnership, she should probably avoid him.

Another half hour passed quickly as she walked the dirt path alongside the main drag from the highways. She did her best to process the change in plans she’d encountered two days ago, but that might take the whole month. She was temporarily moving to a small ranching town and her best friend was at the beginning of a high-risk pregnancy. Was it really just forty-eight hours ago that both their lives had shifted so severely?

It wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t celebratory news, either.

Then another memory from last night shot through Jill’s core, chilling her. She’d tried to kiss him after he’d overserved her at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse No, not tried. She’d actually leaned in and planted her lips on his before he’d all but shoved her off.

Which was horrifying in itself, but worse was how he’d rebuffed her. Oh, this was bad.

Goddammit, whiskey. Why did she think it was a good idea to have that second two-finger pour? Or worse, the third? That was as good a reason as any to stick to white wine, which she didn’t like as much as whiskey, but it also didn’t inspire her to do idiotic things…

The liquor, combined with the confusing—and surprising—show of humanity from the man, it’d been enough to override her good sense.

Note to self: don’t drink anything around a man who holds the door for sweet old ladies and dances with six-year-old flower girls.

Because those things might make him a good guy, but not for her. He was still way too much of a wild card for her to put her trust in him. Heck, he’d even admitted that he didn’t want to stay with MBE past this year. When she’d asked what his plan was then, he’d shrugged and answered something vague.

What kind of man walked away from his brother and a multimillion-dollar company and didn’t know what came next? Not a man she wanted anything to do with.

Liar, her heart whispered. It sent a shot of heat straight to her core along with a memory of how soft his lips had been, how sweet they tasted…

She shook out her arms and head, trying to reset her thoughts, yet again. Which was about as successful as trying to give herself a haircut in the pitch dark.

Working with Jax the next four weeks sure wasn’t high on her list of things to look forward to. And not because he was stupid handsome, the kind that made her want to stare awkwardly at him when he wasn’t looking. Because that was usually followed by him opening his mouth and speaking, which inevitably made her furious she could find a man like that attractive.

And he’d turned her down. Which meant not only did she have to reconcile finding a rodeo cowboy hot as hell, but she had to deal with the emotions of being turned down by a man she didn’t even really want.

Even now, with the whiskey nothing more than a dull headache, the shame still rose on her skin, making it hot.

Try as she had to stop thinking about Jax, it didn’t work until she crested a hill and realized she’d arrived in the small-town center of Deer Creek.

“Well, aren’t you adorable?” She hadn’t visited this part of the area during the wedding, but now she sort of wished she had. It was like a small-town romance movie come to life.

Boutique clothing shops and niche art galleries lined the sidewalks, as did black lampposts with hanging baskets of fall foliage dripping from them.

Jill inhaled and was treated to the earthy, damp scent she’d enjoyed from Maggie’s porch—the scent of fall in the canyon—but with a hint of something sugary sweet.

Her stomach grumbled loud enough she was glad she was alone. Okay, new plan. Find the source of that food and bring something back for Maggie. Using her nose as her guide, she ended up in front of a bakery with a logo out front of the letter M wearing a baking hat. She knew that logo from paper cups and pastry bags at Maggie’s. Mae’s Bakery, the second half of the duo who’d catered Maggie and Bennett’s wedding, along with Bennett and Jax’s mom, Grace.

Look at her, putting her finely tuned city-garnered ability to literally sniff out good food to use.

This place was supposed to be a local legend. Her stomach grumbled again but she took out her phone to snap a photo of the outside of the store, charmed by the way the sunlight hit the glass and outlined the painted logo with bright yellow.

Pushing open the doors, she wasn’t disappointed. Gone was the sweet aroma wafting through the townscape. It was replaced with specific scents matching delectable-looking treats in the glass display case. Butter from the croissants, both chocolate-filled and original. Rosemary from the rosemary and sea salt loaves she already knew she’d be bringing back for her folks. And then she picked out the source of the sugar scent. Brownies, tarts, and individual cakes lined two of the three shelves of the case.

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