Page 36 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

Cole felt strangely rejected, and he took a moment to watch her work.

But what if hewanteda girlfriend? Jackie would meet all of his requirements, plus some. She was smart and funny, easy to work with as well as hang out with. And he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t attracted to her.

He couldn’t help but think once again that there might be validity to her idea of dating someone—like Jackie—to show the community he was stable and serious now, intent on staying in town and building a life for himself.

“I can hear you thinking all the way over here,” Jackie said.

“Yeah? What am I thinking about?”

She’d straightened, a collection of wrenches bunched in her hands. She studied him with her pretty blue eyes. “You think you’re a mess.”

“I am a mess.”

“But you need to remember that dating me—a flirt—would only reinforce the worst rumors about you.” She dropped the wrenches in the toolbox with a clatter, bringing Buckey running over to check on her.

“You’re too hard on yourself,” he murmured. Jackie was well-loved, and with her past history of not dating anyone seriously it would only add weight and meaning when she finally did. And that small fact might help her, as well, as he’d learned over the years that there was nothing like a woman being taken off the dating market to make men feel as though they’d lost out on something. If he were to date Jackie—even as a ruse—it might just show the town that she was more than a flirt, and bring her Mr. Right out of the woodwork. “A relationship would show I plan to stay.”

She didn’t argue, nor agree.

“Something slow and steady. Something to demonstrate I’ve grown up.” He sighed, leaning against the tractor again. “I’m tired of sitting around, waiting for a chance to prove myself to Levi. That’s not working, but a relationship might.”

The problem was that a steady relationship came with expectations. A ring. A house. If he didn’t settle down with the woman, it would appear as though he hadn’t changed. And anyone he approached would think he was looking for either a wild and crazy time or something serious, when all he wanted was to calm everyone’s minds about why he’d returned home and who he’d grown up to be.

He needed a woman who didn’t want forever with him, and wouldn’t demand the things he couldn’t give. He needed someone like Jackie, the town sweetheart, where if she chose him it would mean something—and not just because she’d been publicly chasing him for years. He needed a woman who wouldn’t cause him to ruin the reputation he was rebuilding. Someone who could play the game, help him move toward his goal, without tripping him or herself in the process.

“So find a girlfriend,” Jackie said lightly, not looking his way. “I’m fairly sure you have a lot of options.”

“I don’t want a lot of options,” he mused. He rubbed his mouth, a hint of strawberry lip balm from Jackie causing him to focus in on her again.

He needed someone who wouldn’t get serious. Someone like Jackie. Because despite what everyone thought, she could take him or leave him.

There was only one woman for the job. Only one woman he would enjoy being with for several months while this played out.

He needed Jackie.

The idea was as powerful as a bull kicking him in the thigh on a dismount.

* * *

“Will you be my girlfriend?” Cole asked, with such earnestness Jackie’s heart nearly stopped working.

“What?”

“I mean, as a fake. You know, like you were saying earlier.”

“I did not suggest you lie to the town and your family by faking a relationship with someone, and especially not the local flirt. That doesn’t show you’ve changed. And trying to trick them—”

“No, I don’t want to lie,” he said quickly.

She froze, swallowed hard. “So you’ll tell everyone your relationship is fake?” Or did he mean that his feelings were real? Feelings about her? The woman he’d asked to stand in as a girlfriend.

“No… I…” He wiped a hand over his mouth as he’d done moments ago. “Okay, so it would be a lie. But I was thinking a relationship that was real, or real enough, but with an agreement that it won’t go anywhere.”

“Still fake. Still a lie.” She shook her head. The man seriously hadn’t changed. Would this latest bit of knowledge finally allow her crush to die? Now that she could see with clarity that he wasn’t good for her?

“It’s just dating. Without the wedding or blowup at the end. I need to show I’m putting down roots.”

“Buy a house.”

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