Page 44 of Cowboys Can't Kiss

He stops again with a shaky breath, and while he told me he may need to provide testimony for something soon, I thought he was prepared for it. Clearly not.

“If you need me with you—”

“No! I’ll text you the code and see you later. Please.”

His voice cracks and I hate how he sounds so…defeated.

“Whatever you need, Rye.”

“Thank you.”

He ends the call and a code for his condo comes through almost immediately. After finding fresh clothes, I throw a hat on my bedhead and rush out the door. A shower will have to wait.

Riley said he wouldn’t be gone long, but I’ve already baked and cooled the cake without hearing another word from him.

I don’t know if I should leave or wait for him. He sounded so upset, though. I’d hate to leave and have him come back to an empty apartment. That wouldn’t be right.

While trying to decide what to do next, I run the sink full of water and clean up the mess from baking. I hit play on my favourite country music play list and hum along as I lose myself to the mundane task of washing dishes.

The scent of a freshly baked cake, the soft sounds of music I love, and my hands plunged into a sink of soapy, lemon-scented water, shouldn’t embed themselves into me this much. The only thing that would make this perfect is for Riley to walk through that door and greet me like a boyfriend.

To let me kiss him deeply and ask him how his day was. Maybe even sit at the table before supper and eat dessert first. We’d have a dog and it would lie at our feet while we ate before we walked it to the nearby dog park. I’d throw a ball and Riley would laugh every time the dog brought it back to him instead of me.

It’s perfect.

So perfect, I don’t hear Riley come in until his hand is on my shoulder, and a very surprised squeak leaves my lips before I spin around.

“Shit, Riley. You….” Riley’s normally glowing face is pale, and his red-rimmed eyes stand out like beacons. Without a second thought, I pull him against me in a tight hug. “Rye, what happened?”

His hands clutch at my sides, bunching the fabric of my shirt in his fingers. He doesn’t pull away though, and I smooth a hand up and down his back.

“They made me feel like I was trash, Jackson. Complete untrustworthy trash.”

Anger. The primal need to rip something apart flares and I hold him tighter.

“Give me names and I’ll make sure they never make you feel less than ever again.” The words growl out of my mouth and Riley hitches a breath against my chest before pulling away.

“Chase and the other lawyer! Gabe said it would just be a sworn statement to provide an alibi for him. It would be five minutes tops.” He rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands and sobs. “It wasn’t! My reputation was dragged through the mud because I was a ‘sex worker!’ I was doing the right thing, you know. Gabe told me to confirm Chase was with me on that night and he was. I even have the transaction to prove it.”

Riley paces to the large window in his living room that looks over the town.

“His wife’s attorney tore me apart and made even me doubt my story.” He huffs a humourless laugh. “Because why should my word be taken at face value when I worked for sex? And that’s…” He sighs and turns back to me. “Sometimes I wish I’d stayed invisible.”

“Rye…no, don’t say that.”

He ignores me and walks back to the kitchen. He glances at the cooling cakes, the kitchen sink full of soapy water, and then takes in my still-wet hands.

“Were you doing my dishes?”

“Well, yeah. What else was I supposed to do? You weren’t back, and the cake was baked. So I cleaned up.”

Riley nods like I’ve just stated the weather and stands in place.

“Rye? You’re scaring me. Are you okay?”

“I need to lie down.”

He spins on his heel and walks down the hall towards where I assume his bedroom is. Part of me wants to go to him, but the other part says to stay put. Deciding he needs time to gather himself in private, I return to the dishes and finish washing. Then I dry themand put away the few where I know their places and leave the rest on the counter.

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