Page 75 of Cold Foot Cash

“I was supposed to hate men for a while,” she teased, clutching onto his shirt at his hips.

“Oh yeah? You had big plans on becoming bitter?”

“Yep. I had my cat sanctuary planned, and designs in my head for myno boys allowedsign on my front door, and I was mentally prepared to never care about another man again.”

He chuckled and pulled her in closer. “Plans denied. I’m a man, and I need you to like me.”

“Oh you need it, do you?”

He lowered his voice. “I need it.”

Harley leaned forward and rested her cheek on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her up tight. “I think I’m going to like my new life,” she said.

“You will. I’ll make sure you will,” he promised, and she believed him. Cash was solid. He was a good man. Whatever his past looked like, now, he was genuine, and had good intentions.Oh, he could be a monster and fight a crowd if they messed with him or his people, but with her, he was protection. He was a safety net she hadn’t realized she needed.

She scanned the room and goodness, this place was full of good mojo. King and Katrina were playing a game of pool. Wreck and Kade were playing darts, and Timber was near them laughing at something Wreck had just said. Reed and Sasha were hanging with Garret and Raynah, and Baby Breah at a table in the restaurant-area, closer to the door. Abigail and her husband were chatting with Carolina about what all happened today near the bar. Tammy was working away, making drinks. A pizza delivery guy was unloading about a dozen pizzas up front, and Cash’s heart was beating strong right against her cheek.

Everything was okay.

“I can feel how happy you are,” Cash murmured.

She looked up at him. “Can you really?”

His gold eyes swirled with emotion as he nodded. He inhaled deep. “Best feeling in the world.”

“Better than flying?” she asked.

She’d never had a man look at her like this—like she was the moon and the sky. Like she was everything. She never wanted the moment to end.

A flyaway curl had escaped her clip, and he brushed it slowly to her ear, then dragged his gaze back to her lips, and leaned down, and then it happened—he kissed her.

Everything before this moment dulled in an instant. The way he tasted, the pressure of his lips, how he moved against her…this was where her new life began. This was the true first moment of Day One.

There would be no missing her old life, or wondering ‘what if.’ Here, in his arms, she knew that no matter what came next, she was going to be just fine.

He had started out as her friend, but in a way, he had always been more.

He had always felt important.

Cash had been her person from the moment she laid eyes on him.

It was Day One of her new life, and she didn’t know what it would look like in a year, or two years, but she did know she wanted to take the time to build it right with Cash.

For the first time in a long time, she was excited to see what came next.

Chapter Twenty

Windblown.

That word had never meant a single thing to Harley before she’d met Cash, but now? Windblown was how she wanted to be.

She had shed her fancy coat jacket, and opted for his oversized flannel from the back seat of his truck for tonight.

They’d closed down the bar, but she hadn’t been tired. She hadn’t been ready to go back to her apartment yet. She wasn’t ready to stop the celebration, so Cash had driven her out here, deep into the woods, with the promise of a flight. And God, she’d never seen Bozeman more beautiful than up in the sky, looking down on all the lights.

Cash was pulling his pants on just a few yards away. She could see this routine forming. He was quiet right after her Changed, and tomorrow she would ask why. She would ask if it was the transition from animal to man that stole his words. Or if he needed quiet after peaceful flights. Or if he didn’t quite remember how to be the man right after he slipped back into his own skin.

She wanted to know everything about him.

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