Page 79 of Wild, Wild Cowboy

“I was fourteen,” I said quietly.

Stunned silence ensued.

“Oh,shit,” James whispered.

“We need beverages,” Essie announced. “Now.”

Twenty minutes later, after Janie dropped Maya back at her parents’ house, we were ensconced in a booth at Shenanigans waiting for the first round of mimosas.

And then I told them all about it.

32

HANNAH

Zack:

Hey, any chance you’re free tomorrow evening? We need to run through the rodeo schedule, and it would be better to do that here at Lodestar so you can really get a feel for how it’s going to shake out.

Hannah:

You’re still helping me?

Zack:

Come on, duchess. You know I’d never leave you high and dry.

Hannah:

I’m off at three. I’ll come by after.

Zack:

Great! See you then.

Ileft brunch feeling like I had been hit by the emotional equivalent of a tsunami, if that tsunami had also hurled an eighteen-wheeler right at my feelings. I was wrung out from the conversation with my friends. My limbs felt heavy, and I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.

But it had been good.

Chloe had been right. It did help to talk it out. Everything with Zack had happened so fast. One minute I was lying in his arms, blissed out on post-sex endorphins, and in the next I was fourteen again, fighting for my very survival.

PTSD, Chloe had said, gently squeezing my hand.It’s not just for soldiers and firemen.

I took a long, hot bath the second I got home and then crawled into bed. That was when I saw Zack’s text message asking me to come by Lodestar tomorrow. Warmth spread through me knowing he was still going to help me. His innuendo even elicited a dry chuckle. Zack had never been able to resist an innuendo.

I slept like the dead for fourteen hours, and when I woke up, the sunlight felt brighter, somehow.

“Okay,so I was thinking that instead of handing out schedule flyers, which are all going to end up scattered in the pasture anyway, we could put a big sign here with a QR code. People canjust scan it and pull the flyer up on their phone.” Zack gestured as he talked.

I swallowed, watching his forearms bunch and flex. It was hard to concentrate when he looked so delicious. His maroon t-shirt clung just enough to his shoulders and pecs that I could see the shape without it being skin-tight, and the rusty red color made his eyes look bluer than ever. The worn-in Wrangler’s hugged his butt and thick thighs. And the backwards baseball cap? Lord, save me.

“What do you think?” Zack asked.

I think I want to bite your clavicle.

I cleared my throat. “That’s a great idea. No waste, and it will save us printing costs, too.”

“Great.” He grinned and my heart just about stopped beating.Whydid his smile still do that to me? “So you’re doing an opening speech, right? To welcome everyone and thank them for supporting the public library. I remembered you said something about that, so it’s the first thing on the schedule.”

---