Page 11 of Some Cowboys Fight for Love

Daniel pulled the truck door shut and leaned over to open his glove box. There had to be a pen in there somewhere. He needed a few things from town, and he couldn’t afford to forget anything.

Knowing how the last couple of days had gone, he wasn’t sure he had the brain capacity to recall everything, especially when Aria’s face popped into his head so often.

She’d made him supper every night so far, and on the second day, she’d brought a variety of groceries for him to manage his own breakfasts and lunch breaks. Sophia had gone overboard in requesting her cousin’s help. Daniel didn’t need, nor want, a babysitter. Aria wasn’t even good at keeping an eye on him. If anything, she was getting in the way. Last night, he’d had a hard time going to sleep because he kept reliving their first meal together.

No one had ever stirred the feelings in his chest that she managed to. He could still feel the heat from her touch, and it had been a few days.

He rubbed at the spot with his left hand, his frustration growing at not being able to track down a miserable little pen.

Knocking on the window glass broke him from his concentration and he startled. His head bumped against the sun visor that had been left down from the day before. Daniel turned to find Aria standing at his door, waving a hand at him.

That ridiculously fake smile was still plastered to her lips. He considered starting the truck and driving off before she could speak to him. He’d had enough of her to last him for the rest of the week. How many days did he have left?

She knocked again and pointed to the window.

He groaned, resting his head against the seat before he pushed the button to roll down the window. “What do you want, Aria?”

Aria pouted, though he could see the workings of a smirk forming on her lips. “Is that any way to treat the woman who feeds you?”

“I’ve got a lot of work to do today. So if you need something?—”

“Roman said you’re running to town to pick up something from the feed store.”

“Yes,” he ground out. “It’s on the schedule that Sophia left for me.”

“Great,” she chirped. Without another word, she hustled around the front of the truck. His eyes followed her until she stopped at the passenger door and tugged on the handle. Aria pouted again and folded her arms before pointing to the door.

Once more, he considered driving off. He already knew what she wanted, and he wasn’t interested in a tagalong.

For reasons beyond his understanding, he pressed a button and unlocked the door.

She beamed and pulled it open. She hopped onto the passenger seat and dragged the seatbelt across her chest before giving him an expectant look. “Well? Are we heading out, or what?”

“We’renot doing anything.I’mgoing to town. I don’t know what you think you’re doing in my truck.”

She sighed as if he’d missed a conversation they’d had about this very topic. “I have to go to town, too. It’s kismet.”

“It’swhat?”

“You don’t know what kismet means?” At his blank stare, she patted his arm. He didn’t even bother pulling away. There was no use. This was apparently how Aria was. “It’s fate,” she explained. “You were heading to town anyway. And I needed to go. It was meant to be.”

He dragged a hand down his face. If this was fate, then fate was messing with him and had a terrible sense of humor.

“Come on, sweetheart. Put the truck into gear. Let’s get going.”

“And why can’t any of your cousins take you?”

“They’re busy,” she said as if it answered every question he might want to add to the one he’d already asked.

“I’mbusy,” he muttered.

“I know. So it begs the question, what are we still doing here?”

“I couldn’t find a pen.”

She stared at him, her lips curling into an infuriating smirk. “I have one.” She dug into a purse he hadn’t even noticed she carried. When she brandished a blue pen, her grin widened. “And it even matches your eyes.” She shoved it toward him. “See? Kis?—”

“Don’t say it.”

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