Page 23 of Roaring Fork Wrangler

Pete raised his head, then lowered it. “Shit.”

“What?”

“I think she may have heard you.”

I got up but didn’t see her in the bar.

“She hightailed it outta here.”

I sat back down. “I’ll call her when we’re done. I’m not seeing what’s obvious, Pete.”

“I’m gonna help you figure out what you’re doin’ here.” He rested his forearms on the table. “A minute ago, you said that if Juni is involved, you’re out.”

“I don’t want her or her family getting mixed up in this.”

Pete nodded. “I’m glad you said that, because neither do I.”

“Look, it isn’t like I even know her. She offered to show me around town, and we had a fun day. That’s the extent of it.”

“Again, glad to hear it. If anything were to happen to her because of your involvement, it’s you I’d be coming after, not Schultz.”

“Understood.”

“You’ve got my number. Stay in touch.” He stood and threw some bills on the table, more than enough to cover a couple of beers and two shots. “As far as what my niece overheard, I’ll handle it. For now, I think it’s best if the two of you aren’t in contact.”

While I nodded, I didn’t like it. As I’d said, we had a fun day, but there was more to it. I liked Juniper. I wasn’t crazy about her thinking I meant anything against her by what she’d overheard.

On the other hand, maybe it would be better if she did. I already knew that resisting reaching out or wanting to spend time with her was going to take every ounce of self-control I possessed.

I made my way back to my truck, but rather than move it after I’d just had a few, I walked the rest ofthe way to the inn. The feeling that letting Pete talk to Juniper on my behalf wasn’t going to turn out well kept nagging at me.

Maybe she, her mom, and Grayson would show up at the inn again tonight and I’d have a chance to apologize.

That idea was quashed when I walked in and saw the same guy behind the desk I had last night after they’d left.

7

JUNIPER

Could I have been more of an idiot? God, I was behaving like a sixteen-year-old. One would think I’d never had a man pay attention to me or flirt with me. Cord must’ve been mortified when I’d challenged him to kiss me. I flopped on my bed, wishing I could wipe what I’d said from my memory.

“Do you need a reason?” I’d responded when he jokingly said he thought he’d come up with a good excuse to kiss me.

I was one of those people who remembered every single, stupid thing I said or did, even from when I was a child. I knew those words would play over in my head from now until I was Miss Cena’s age.

When I heard a knock at the door, I put my pillow over my head. I was tempted to tell whoever it was to go away, but I didn’t.

“Juni, is everything okay?” my mom asked, walking in and sitting beside me on the bed.

“Everything’s fine. I made a colossal fool of myself, but what else is new?”

“What happened when you went over to the tavern?”

I peeked out from under the pillow. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Okay. Well, it looked like we might’ve interrupted something when we walked into the theater.”

“I definitely don’t want to talk about that.”

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