Page 8 of Some Cowboys Brave the Flames

His friend gave him a pointed look. “You have to actually spend time with them. You can’t just show up once a month to take her out on a date. Show them you’re committed. Show them you care about her and will take care of her at all costs. These days, actions speak louder than words.”

He made a good point. But it wasn’t one that really applied in this situation. If Ash sat down with the Keagan men and Annabel to tell them he was in love with Charlie, he’d get a variety of responses. Laughter and jokes would be on the luckier side. Accusations and broken trust would be more rampant. It wouldn’t matter if he told them that he intended to keep her safe and love her unconditionally. No one was good enough for Charlie.

Part of Ash had to agree.

And yet he knew he’d claw his way through the wildfires themselves to be with her if that was what it took. She just didn’t know it yet.

4

Charlie

Winged beasts beat inside Charlie’s chest, thrashing and thundering until she couldn’t hear anything but her roaring pulse in her ears. The closer it got to her first cooking lesson, the harder it became to keep a level head.

She felt like she was going crazy. Her reactions weren’t normal. The man who’d be arriving today was just that—a man. She’d known him for years. Sure, he was objectively attractive, and her schoolgirl crush had decided to stick around, but he was also very taken.

Charlie despised the way her body had betrayed her when he’d told Liam he was already dating someone. She knew that was a possibility. It wasn’t like he would have told her about it anyway. The tiny beam of hope that had shone just a few months prior when she’d noticed just how much time he spent at her home had been eclipsed by the hard reality that he was still just her brother’s friend.

“Geez, Charlie, you okay?” Daniel’s voice cut into her thoughts, and she focused on him standing in the kitchen doorway. His brows were pulled tight together, and then he moved across the room and touched her forehead.

She swatted him away. “I’m fine,” Charlie said.

“You look like a zombie,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you even know how long you were standing there staring off into space? Maybe you should go get some rest.”

“I’mfine,” she snapped once more.

He lifted a brow along with both hands. “Okay, okay. You’refine.” Daniel glanced around the counter at what Charlie had spread out. Today she planned on teaching Ash how to make cream cheese rangoons. They were a simple but delicious starter for almost any meal. Daniel lifted his focus to her once more and opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

“If you ask me if I’m okay one more time, I’m going to bite your head off.” She was on edge. She could admit it. But she wasn’t going to have her brothers hovering over her. It had gotten old when she was only twelve. Lately, Daniel had seemed to take on the full responsibility of making sure she didn’t date anyone who was not up to their strict standards, and occasionally his helicopter nature would bleed into everyday life.

Her brother chuckled. He was nine years older than she was and the tallest of all her brothers, towering over her five-foot-four frame a good thirteen inches. He was the most intimidating man in town—second only to Zeke Callahan. He had a couple tattoos on his arms—something Wade had disapproved of the second he’d gotten them. The ironic thing about Daniel was that while he would have been terrifying on the outside to almost anyone, his family knew just what a teddy bear he was.

Daniel was quiet. He loved old buildings and architecture. If he hadn’t been born into the cowboy lifestyle, she could haveseen him designing works of art in the biggest cities around the world.

Charlie smiled despite herself. “Really, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m just a little distracted.” That was putting it mildly. She had no way of knowing how Ash would behave once they were alone. Everyone was busy working today—Daniel included. She didn’t know why he’d come inside, but she knew he would be heading out again any second.

He motioned to the fixings for her lesson. “Are you going to save some for me?”

A wider smile streaked across her face. Out of everyone in their family, he enjoyed her food the most. He was always first in line to eat, and he almost always came back for seconds. She counted him as two people when she fixed supper, and to this day, she couldn’t figure out where he put it all. “Do you even have to ask?”

Daniel beamed. “Okay, good.” His concerns seemed to be forgotten, and he headed out of the house.

Charlie turned her gaze to the food on the counter, and her vision blurred as she let her thoughts be consumed by Ash again. He would be there any second. They’d be stuck together for the next few hours, and she wasn’t sure if her heart was going to handle it.

It would have to. That’s what she kept telling herself. Charlie would have to suffer through the afternoon with Ash close enough to touch. She’d have to ignore all the inappropriate thoughts because he was taken. She didn’t have any claim to him, and she never would.

A light knock, and her head snapped up to find Ash standing just inside the kitchen. He had one hand shoved in his pocket and stood with the majority of his weight on his right foot. A half smile tugged at one side of his mouth, but he didn’t approach her yet. “Are you ready for me?”

No. She nearly blurted the word and told him he should leave—that this was a mistake and the two of them should stay far, far away from each other. But if she did that, she’d be proving that she wasn’t as mature as she thought she was.

Charlie nodded, reaching for her apron off the counter. “Yeah. Come on in.”

He strolled into the kitchen like he owned the world. Darn him and his confidence. Ash had always been that way, though. Come to think of it, he’d been Mason’s opposite, which was why they were probably such good friends.

Charlie swallowed hard and tied her apron behind her. She turned away from him, praying he didn’t notice how he affected her. Six years, and he still made her feel—small, unworthy of his attention.

“Do I get one of those?” His low voice was so close to her ear that she jumped.

A gasp ripped from her throat, and she spun to face him. “What?”

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