Page 19 of The Way to a Cowboy's Heart

“I take it that’s your place,” he said.

“Yep.” She turned to him. “Bollocks.I’d better go this one alone. No need to get yourself tagged on this disaster.”

“Right,” he said, not having any of that. “Take my hand.”

“What?”

“Stay beside me.” He wrapped his warm fingers around hers and tugged her toward the entrance of her brownstone. Immediately, the reporters spotted her and swarmed in her direction. Emily covered her face and leaned into him as he shoved them away with one arm, shielding her from the microphones and the shouted questions.

“Ms. Quinn, were you complicit in the fraud your company perpetrated on—”

“Did you know what the managing partner of your firm was up to when he—”

And another shouted, “Why won’t you answer our questions?”

“Because she has no comment,” Liam barked at them as they hurried up the stone steps. Emily fitted her key in the door and shoved it open, and the pair of them dove inside, slamming the door behind them. It rattled in its frame.

Emily leaned against a nearby wall, eyes slammed shut. She was shaking. Muriel appeared in the hallway. “Oh, my God, Em. Are you two all right? They’ve been here all day. I barely made it inside myself.”

Emily nodded, looking up at Liam who seemed a bastion of calm. “Thanks to Liam. Thank you. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“No apology needed. They’re like damn vultures out there, sniffing out the carcass of a story.”

Emily exhaled. “What they don’t know is… I don’t know anything. They’ll be hugely disappointed to learn that it was all William Bledsoe and the rest of us are simply collateral damage.”

The three of them stood there for an awkward moment before Emily invited him in. “Please come and stay for a bit.”

He swallowed hard. “I’ve got a flight back to Montana this evening and I really should try to make a showing at the reception. I should go.”

So soon? Disappointment washed through her. She wasn’t quite ready for him to disappear from her life. She wanted more time. Especially today when she felt like every fragile thread of her life that wasbeforewhat happened yesterday was unraveling. It was all ridiculous, she knew, with him being from there and her from here, but still, there was something… fateful about their meeting and she’d learned long ago not to ignore that.

Muriel hugged her, then gave him a hug, too. “Thank you for watching out for my sister.” She pointed back toward the kitchen. “I’ve just got something in the oven warming up. I’d better—”

Emily nodded to her and Muriel winked. “Bye, Liam.”

“Muriel.” That delicious smile kicked in again.

When her sister was gone, Emily turned back to him. “She thinks you’re quite all that.”

“Yeah? What about you?”

She blinked. “I think… I think I quite agree. But you know… here we are about to say goodbye forever. Because the stars didn’t quite align, did they?”

He stepped closer. “Oh, I don’t know. I think they did alright, helping us find each other twice in this big pond.”

“I suppose so, yes,” she said.

He pulled his hat off and dropped it to his side. “Anyway, I don’t like goodbyes. So, let’s just say, if you’re ever in Montana… you have my number.”

“And you have mine. Is it foolish to say let’s stay in touch?”

He shook his head, a smile spreading over his face. “About as foolish as sayin’ the stars will decide if we never see each other again.”

“Then… let’s at least say we will,” she said and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. But he turned his face toward her and kissed her on the mouth instead.

If it was an accident, it didn’t matter, because neither of them tried to undo it. Instead, he doubled down with a look at her and kissed her with real intention.

His lips were warm, and his cheeks were cold, and he wrapped an arm around her back without really pulling her closer. He tasted sweet and his lips were soft, and she wanted to lose herself in his kiss. But he kept it brief, maybe because he didn’t want to scare her away or push her. Yet, it was the opposite, really. It was a farewell kiss that felt as natural as the walk they’d just had together through the park and the inevitable culmination of their first meeting, and it had her pulse beating in her ears.

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