Page 15 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

“Promise me.” He cleared his throat.

“Promise what?”

“That you’ll be the strong one.”

“The strong one?”

“Because you make it difficult to say no.” As though realizing what he’d said, he chuckled, all awkward and boyish. She hated how it endeared him to her all the more.

She’d naively believed that Cole returning to Sweetheart Creek as a changed man would save her from her crush. So far it had made her only more intrigued, and him even more irresistible.

Cole’s bright eyes locked on hers, and she felt that gallop her heart did whenever it seemed as though he saw only her. He brushed a strand of hair off her face.

“You know I won’t be able to think of anything other than when I’ll get to kiss you again,” she said in a husky voice. Jackie batted her lashes, masking the truth. Shewouldn’tbe able to stop thinking about kissing him again, but he didn’t need to know that.

He laughed, his eyes crinkling, before he grew serious again. “Me, too, Jackie.” He gave her a soft kiss. It was tender and full of promise.

“You keep kissing me.”

“That one was a goodbye.”

“It was? Hmm. Barely even registered.”

He choked on a laugh. “You wound me, woman.”

“It’s why you adore me, and won’t ever stop thinking of me. Try not to turn into a stalker, m’kay?”

He was smiling, trying to fight it and losing. “You are the most spectacular woman in Sweetheart Creek, you know that?”

“I do.” She winked and climbed partway into her car, breathless with the idea of being called spectacular. “But don’t start thanking me yet. I plan to fully torture you.”

“Yeah? How so?” He leaned against the car’s frame, holding her door.

She lifted a shoulder. “I’m sure I’ll think of a few ways.”

“I’m certain you will.”

He closed the door, and she forced herself to steer her car home before she changed her mind and threw herself all over the man who, with just a few kisses, had managed to fully capture her heart.

3

Cole wasn’t sure why he’d kissed Jackie again last weekend. He also wasn’t sure why he was trying so hard to do the opposite of what he used to do. And if that was the case, then based on how he used to run from Jackie, he should now be jumping into her arms, right?

But the old Cole had smashed through a lot of fences on his way out of town, and the new Cole needed to keep his undivided focus on mending them. And Jackie was a distraction.

Plus, judging by the tightening in his chest whenever he thought about keeping Jackie, the new Cole wasn’t ready for something serious, and she wanted a boyfriend. Her expression had given her away, despite her claim to the contrary.

It had been days since their last kiss and he couldn’t get her off his mind. It didn’t help that Levi wasn’t loading him up with work on the ranch, but leaving him at loose ends more often than was good for him.

“You gonna drink that coffee or just stare at it?” Mrs. Fisher asked, hustling past, her arm loaded with plates of food.

Cole was surprised the woman was still waitressing at the Longhorn Diner. She’d seemed pretty old to him when he’d been in high school. Now that he was thirty-three, he realized she hadn’t actually been that old back then. But now? She was likely nearing sixty and still keeping the town fed and caffeinated like she was thirty years younger.

“Stare at it,” he replied, then took a sip, finding the bitter taste comforting.

Several stools down the counter a man with a full head of white hair stood with a chuckle. He dropped more bills than were necessary on the counter for Mrs. Fisher. “That’s what I do when I come in here, too.” He winked at the waitress, who rolled her eyes with a weary sigh.

“Garfield, you’re leaving too much money again.”

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