Page 3 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

He twisted toward his open door. “Levi?” He went that way and caught Levi’s retreating back as he dashed into the bathroom.

A moment later, an awful retching noise filled the cabin. Henry’s pulse leapt and lunged, and he stayed where he was as he asked, “Hey, are you okay?”

“No,” Levi moaned.

Henry’s weekend plans flew right out the window, and he turned in a full circle. His packed bag waited for him, mocked him.

Levi moaned again as the water ran in the bathroom, and Henry moved to check on him. “I’m sorry, man,” he said as he leaned over the sink and washed out his mouth. “I can’t go to game night. I ate something that seriously doesn’t agree with me.” His skin was the pale gray color of a dry sidewalk, and his eyes seemed to sink into his face further than normal.

“It’s fine,” Henry said, though he now couldn’t go to game night either. He wondered what his parents were doing on a hopping Saturday night on a ranch, forty-five minutes from civilization. How they lived so far out, Henry could notcomprehend. “I’ll just go stay with my folks. Let’s get you to bed.”

He put his hand on Levi’s arm to steady him as he helped his friend into his bedroom. “There’s loads of food here, and I’ll let everyone know you’re not feeling well, so they can check on you.”

“Thanks, Henry,” Levi said as he collapsed into his bed. He never made it, so the covers had been left where he’d flung them that morning and all he had to do was pull them over him, his eyes already settling closed.

Henry backed out of the room and went back into his, gathered his bag and his phone and went out to the kitchen. They had a group app for all the horsemen, cowboys, and farriers at Lone Star, and only the most important messages were meant to be shared on it.

This was one of those things, so Henry quickly typed out,Levi isn’t feeling well, and I’m headed to my parents’ house for the weekend. Let’s be sure someone comes by and checks on him from time to time, okay?

That done, Henry needed to decide if he still wanted to grab something to eat in Stinnett, or maybe go all the way to Three Rivers and drive through somewhere there. Or he could make himself a sandwich here and stay for another couple of hours before he had to leave.

“Decisions decisions,” Henry muttered as his phone lit up with affirmative responses that the others here would check on Levi for him. He was tired of making decisions.

He’d just opened the fridge when someone knocked on his door. “Come in,” he called, because they never locked the door, and Henry knew everyone who lived and worked at Lone Star.

No one came in, and irritation snagged through Henry. “Just come in,” he muttered as he closed the fridge and went to answer the door. He pulled it open with, “You just walk in around here.”When he saw the heavenly being on his porch, he said, “Oh,” and backed up a step.

Since he’d worked with Angel White for a while now, he could recover much quicker than before. “Hey, Angel,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

“Levi is ill?” She looked past him like Levi might be making dinner, the joke on the entire boarding stable.

“Threw up a few minutes ago,” Henry said. “Said he ate something bad at lunch.”

“What did he eat?” Her blue eyes roamed around, finally coming back to lock onto his. Henry loved her eyes, and he couldn’t name the exact shade of blue they were. Stunning blue. Was that a color?

Maybe for a nail polish, he thought, and it made him smile. “I have no idea.”

But a very dangerous idea had just entered his mind. He’d learned so much in the past couple of years about himself, about self-control, about his temper. But apparently, he hadn’t yet learned to stop his tongue from wagging out his thoughts, because he said, “What are you doing tonight? Levi was supposed to be my date for a game night, and I can’t go alone.”

Angel blinked her long eyelashes at him, and blinked some more, and blinked some more. He’d never stunned the pretty woman into silence, though if he’d wanted to, asking her on a date would’ve sat at the top of his idea list.

What a stupid thing to do, he chastised himself, but he couldn’t recall the words now. So he waited to find out what the lovely Angel White would say to his game night invite.

Chapter Two

Angel White gripped her cellphone so hard, she feared it might break. Only two words screamed through her head:Game night.

Game night, game night, game night.

Game night?

Henry stood up a step from her, a tall, imposing figure with such a handsome face. Big hands too. That deep, sexy voice, which said, “We were going to get dinner in Stinnett. We could do that, or I could—you could—we could meet here and go straight to game night. It’s at my cousin’s farm in Three Rivers, so it’s a bit of a drive.” He took a quick breath. “A little over an hour.”

A little over an hour, trapped in a truck with Henry Marshall. She wanted to go so badly, she almost started crying. At the same time, the rational, calm side of Angel’s brain told her she’d been in desperate need of a break from this ranch for a month now. Anyone who asked her would elicit the same reaction.

Bottom line: Henry wasn’t special.

He fell back a step. “Sorry I said anything,” he said. “Can we forget it? Flint, Clay and Grady said they’d come check on Levi.I’ll just cancel on game night and go see my folks.” He pulled out his phone and started typing.

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