Page 71 of The Cowboy's Unshakeable Love

“Okay.”

“Do you want to get up, or do you want to hang out here for a while?”

She pressed closer and ran her hand over his chest. “I’d like to stay here for a while. I’ve never had a man in this bed before; I want to make the most of it.”

He propped himself up on his elbow and smiled down at her. “Damn, I’m the first guy you’ve invited into this bed? That makes me feel special.”

“You are special – and I think you already know it.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “I do, and I can’t wait for you to find out just how special.”

She laughed. “The way you keep building yourself up, you’d better be good!”

He nodded happily. “You can tell me what you think when we finally get there, but I’m not worried.”

Chapter Fifteen

When they got to the school, Travis looked around the almost empty parking lot. “Are you sure you want to go inside? I can just drop the letter off for you if you want.”

They’d spent the morning gathering the belongings that Retta wanted to bring back to Montana with her. She’d surprised him when she asked if he’d mind driving her over to the school so that she could give them her resignation letter.

She gave him a tight smile. “No, I want to go in. It’s probably silly but I want to feel like I did it properly. I don’t want to just disappear. The last I saw of anyone was at the meet in San Diego. I feel like they’ve forgotten all about me – and that’s fine. I just …” She shrugged. “I want to feel like I ended it the right way.”

“Okay.” Travis didn’t understand, but he didn’t need to. He’d support her in doing whatever she felt she needed to.

He got the wheelchair set up and lifted her out of the SUV they’d rented at the airport. She’d suggested that they could take a cab from there and then use her car to get around. But he hadn’t thought that she’d be comfortable in her little car.

As he turned to put her in the chair, her arms tightened around his neck, and he felt her tense.

“What’s wrong?”

“Here she comes – this is Jamie.”

He scowled, and instead of setting Retta in the chair, he held her closer to his chest.

“Loretta, is that you?”

Travis watched the woman approach. She was all smiles and feigned concern as she tucked her sleek, black hair behind her ear, but he’d seen her type before. Her fake friendliness didn’t quite mask the underlying malice.

“Well, just look at you! You haven’t healed yet? I thought you’d be training your way back to full fitness by now, not using a wheelchair still. Then again, I suppose it takes longer to heal old bones now, doesn’t it?” She smiled at Travis. “And who might you be? I’m Jamie.”

Travis just stared at her; he didn’t trust himself to speak. He was too tempted to tell her what he thought of her.

She let her gaze travel over him, making a big point of lingering on his tattoos.

“Are you a neighbor?” she asked.

He frowned, wondering what had led her to that conclusion.

She didn’t wait for a reply, instead she smiled her fake smile at Retta. “I know you don’t have family in town. It’s a good thing you have a friend to help you out. What brings you here today?”

He could feel the tension buzzing though Retta as she said, “I’m here to hand in my notice.”

Jamie didn’t try to hide her smile even as she said, “Well, isn’t that a shame? But I suppose you were almost ready to retire anyway, weren’t you?”

Travis didn’t know if Retta would prefer him to set her in the wheelchair, but at this point he didn’t want to risk putting her down. If his hands weren’t occupied holding her, he didn’t know that he’d be able to stop himself from throttling Jamie.

Retta didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she smiled up at him as she said, “As it turns out, it’s worked out really well for me.”

---