Page 4 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

“Can you walk?”

“Of course.” She hobbled a few steps, pride forcing her to tip her chin up in defiance of the throbbing.

“You’re bleeding,” Cole said. He’d crossed his arms, his shirt bunching and stretching at his shoulders again. It seemed as if he might bust out of the thing. She closed her eyes, trying to fight the image of what that might look like. “You need to get cleaned up.” He stretched out an arm as though about to guide her back into the saloon, but she shook her head.

She braved a glimpse at her knee in the faint glow of light. Not good. And her new jeans weren’t doing great, either, the fabric over the knee ripped and already stained by blood. She didn’t even want to consider the large scuff across the toe of one of her new shoes. And she certainly didn’t want to go back inside and have people fuss over her.

“I live just down the block,” she said, hobbling a step toward her apartment.

He straightened. “I’ll walk you.”

“It’s fine, really.” Jackie took a few more tentative steps. “You can’t leave your party.”

“On the contrary.” He hooked an arm around her waist, as he had earlier. The move felt natural and fluid, not at all awkward like their conversations had been since his return home. “It’s my party so I can do whatever I want.” He flashed her one of those patented Cole Wylder devilish smiles and that fizzy feeling enveloped her.

“Fine. Miss your welcome-back party. See if I care.” Her voice sounded breathless to her own ears, and she reminded herself that he was Mr. Fun and she was no longer Miss Short-Term Fling.

Cole gave her a grin that melted her insides. “You’re down this way, right?” He pointed toward her building and she nodded.

“You’re not sad to miss the hoopla?” she asked, after limping along beside him for a few moments.

“It’s weird being the center of attention.”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s as if everyone only knows…” He inhaled sharply and shook his head. Jackie felt a stab of awareness that was not at all unpleasant.

“They only know the old version of you?” she suggested, inching along beside him.

He stopped moving and looked down at her. He was about four inches taller, a sexy, sexy height that made her feel extra feminine. “Yeah.”

Her heart softened. “And they don’t seem to want to see who you are now?”

Their eyes met and locked for several beats, and Jackie was struck by an odd feeling. It was as though they understood each other, on some plane that nobody else in town even seemed to know existed.

Cole cleared his throat and looked away.

Jackie hazarded a few more slow, limping steps. Rusty was still fussing over her, dancing around and nudging her leg with his nose.

“This your dog?” Cole asked.

“No, this is Rusty.”

A shadow crossed Cole’s face. It was fleeting, but telling.

“You haven’t met?” she asked casually, realizing Rusty had become a fixture in Cole’s absence. She guessed it must be odd to return to a town you’d always known and have a gap in its history, missing small, new things everyone else assumed you knew.

Jackie winced and leaned closer to Cole as they stepped off the curb to cut across Main Street. It was empty other than a few vehicles parked in front of The Watering Hole. “He was a stray a few years back. He started hanging out in front of the saloon, begging for day-old cheese bread. Brant was going to find him a new home as part of his animal control duties, but by then, in just a few days, Rusty had won everyone over. The bar’s owners adopted him and built him a doghouse out back. He has a dish of food and water, but still loves the cheese bread best. In the summer he ducks under the swinging doors to visit all the patrons. He’s become a local institution, like Bill.”

“Isn’t Bill an armadillo?”

“Town mascot,” Jackie confirmed. She loved Sweetheart Creek and all its quirks.

She glanced at Cole to see what he thought of her story, and he smiled, his eyes shadowed under the brim of his cowboy hat. The smile was warm and satisfying, and felt like it was just for her.

As they reached the other side of the street, Cole snugged her closer, helping her take the weight off her knee as she stepped up onto the sidewalk. It was good being in his arms, and for a moment Jackie thought that maybe one day she might have something like this, just like everyone else.

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