Page 47 of Cowboy Don't Go

“Yeah.”

He brushed the hair from her eyes with one finger, then pressed his lips against her forehead.

Eyes closed, she exhaled. “I’m a little out of practice. With kissing and such.”

He brushed his thumb against the corner of her mouth, that place where her lips took a cute little natural turn upward. “I don’t want to push you.”

“I’m a big girl. Nobody pushes me into anything.”

His chest tightened. “I know.”

She laid her cheek on his chest again and let him hold her. Just hold her. It felt good standing under that sliver of a moon, just the two of them, alone in the dark.

“I’ve been alone a long time, Cooper.”

“I know. It’s okay. We can take things slow.”

She nodded against his chest. He felt her relax a little. “It’s complicated, is all . . .”

“By what? Me? My history?”

She shook her head. “Yes. And no. Mostly, it’s me and my history. I . . . don’t trust easily.”

“I know.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“What do I think?” he asked gently.

“That I never got over Ethan and what happened with Ryan. But it’s not that exactly. I really did let that go a long time ago. I can’t even blame my father anymore, now that he’s gone, though I did for years.”

“Blame him for what?”

“It’s not important anymore. He was who he was. And I am . . . trying to be more like Izzy. Open to possibility. Open to trusting someone.”

“Me?”

She nodded against his chest. “And my son . . . he likes you. See? Complicated.”

He knew what she was asking. “We keep this between us.” This . . . this new thing exploding inside him. “For now.”

“Right. Thank you,” she whispered, pulling away to stand beside him without touching him. She scratched Kholá again who was nosing between them with curiosity. Shay laughed. “Okay, you’re included in the secret circle, Kholá.”

The horse blew a breath out against her hand.

He wasn’t ready to let her go just yet, and she seemed reluctant to move, too, even though he half-expected her to bolt toward the house.

Instead, she stared up at the sky above them. “See that constellation up there? The one shaped like a house with a roof?”

“Where?” he asked.

She moved her face close to his and pointed. “There. That’s Cepheus. Right next to Cassiopeia. There.”

“Ah. Okay. I see it.” He inhaled the scent of her again as her cheek briefly brushed his as she pointed out the stars. “Cepheus?”

“Named by the Greeks. You know. They had stories for all the stars.”

“I’m not exactly up on my Greek mythology. What’s Cepheus’s story?”

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