Page 34 of The Cowboy's Unlikely Love

“I know, but I know that you guys are friends, and I know what you’re probably thinking, so I figured it was best to get it out in the open.”

Tanner tightened his arm around her shoulders. “In case you don’t know, Shane wouldn’t have anything to say even if he thought that you were just some chick that I spent the night with. He used to be just like me before he met Cassidy.”

Everly laughed. “I gathered that much from what I’ve heard already.”

Shane tried to look offended, but he didn’t manage to pull it off with the way that he was smiling. “I want to ask what you’ve heard – and who from – but this isn’t about me. Cassidy keeps reminding me that not everything is, and in this case, I know she’s right,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m more interested to hear what’s going on between the two of you.” He winked at Everly. “I would never have thought that you were just some hookup, that’s not who you are. If I’m surprised about anything, it’s that this guy was smart enough to figure that out for himself.”

Tanner laughed and punched his friend’s shoulder. “Fuck you! You figured things out in a hurry when you met Cassidy. What makes you think that I…” His words trailed off when he realized what he was saying. This morning, he’d made it sound as though he and Everly were the same as Kolby and Callie. Now, he wascomparing their situation to Shane and Cassidy – who were married.

To his relief, Everly let him off the hook when she patted his arm, and said, “That’s okay, nobody’s saying that you’re just a pretty face. Although, it is a very pretty face.” With that, she rolled up onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I’m going to head in now. I’ll see you later.”

His heart pounded. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her yet, but she was already walking away.

“Hey, Ev! What time do you want me to pick you up?” he called after her.

“You don’t need to; I’ll be there around eight.” The way she met his gaze and held it, reassured him – she wasn’t just running away from him.

“I’ll call you at seven,” he shouted.

She nodded before disappearing through the front door of the lodge.

“Shit. Sorry about that,” said Shane. “I didn’t know what I was getting in the middle of.”

“It’s okay.”

Shane laughed. “You should see your face. It looks so far from okay that it’s not even funny.”

Tanner blew out a sigh. “It’ll be okay. We haven’t made any arrangements for later, yet. I’m not totally convinced that she’ll show.”

“And it’s important to you, isn’t it?”

“Hell yeah, it is. I don’t know what she’s doing to me, but I like it. If she doesn’t show later, I’m not going to be worth a shit behind the bar.”

“I’m guessing that she left her rental there last night?”

“Crap! She must have. When she first came in, she was saying that she could only have one drink because she had to drive back here. I gave her a ride home. Then, I picked her up this morning and we hung out today and…”

“So, how about Cass and I bring her to Chico later. That way, we can deliver her to you, we can hang out for an hour or so, and one of us can drive her rental back here.”

“Thanks, but I don’t know if she’ll go for that.”

“She will. Leave it to me.”

Tanner narrowed his eyes at his friend. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that. I’m not sure that Cassidy would, either. I know you used to wrap women around your little finger all the time, but…”

Shane laughed. “Relax, would ya? I’m not saying that I’ll try to persuade her. I’ll just put Cassidy on the job. She was only saying the other day that most of you MacFarland boys have settled down now, and she was wondering when you’d fall.”

Tanner scowled.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m just curious. I’m not saying that you’ve fallen already. At the same time, you’re not denying it, are you?”

~ ~ ~

As soon as the front door to the lodge closed behind Everly, she wished she hadn’t rushed away like that. But it was too late now; she could hardly go back out there. She didn’t even know why she’d done it. She’d just have to apologize to him later. In fact, she’d give it a little while and then text him. He’d looked so panicked that she felt bad.

“Hey! There you are. Where have you been all day?”

She was surprised to see Corinne behind the reception desk. “Never mind me, what are you doing here? I thought you didn’t work weekends.”

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