Page 64 of Soldier Cowboy
She didn’t belong here.
Jennifer couldn’t risk his future happiness. It would be wrong and selfish of her. All she really wanted was his happiness. She wanted to see him smile and laugh more, ride Freya, hang out with his brothers, cook delicious meals.
Live the rest of his life in peace, not with a woman who came with her very own stalker.
“You’re right.” She climbed off his lap. “I’ve been thinking. Even though we don’t want to tell your family the truth about us, you could tell Cherisse.”
His famously quirky eyebrows did their thing. “Why would I want to do that?”
He hadn’t moved from where he’d been sitting but instead shoved a pillow on his lap. She could guess why. Dear God, she was a harlot! This poor man. He’d vowed to protect her, had rearranged his plans and entire life to do so, and she was mauling him.
She waved an arm in the air. “She’s your first love. And it’s like Sean and Bonnie, and this Jackson Carver dude I heard about today and his wife, Eve. Do you know he came back for hisbrother’s wedding? And he and Eve got back together, worked out their problems. A second chance. Maybe you two could find a way past all the pain. And…I just want you to be happy.”
He made another frustrated male sound, ran a hand through his hair, and might have cursed under his breath. “Yeah.”
Yeah?Yeahwhat?
Yes, he should get his second chance, or yes, he understood she wanted him to be happy? Yes, he understood this thing between them was hopeless?
Or yes, he heard, but didn’t necessarily agree with her?
Not surprisingly, he didn’t elaborate.
Colton wasawake before his alarm went off the next morning and this time not due to a nightmare.
Instead, he’d tossed and turned all night, sexual frustration burning a hole in his brain. Last night, he’d been about to get very, very stupid and he couldn’t let that happen again. Still, just the memory of her sweet soft body so close to his, revving him up like he hadn’t been in years, sent him spinning.
She was vulnerable and having been pulled out of her real life saw him as the only person she could rely on. Depend on. Maybe he was an escape for her. All he knew was that he couldn’t start something with her now, when she was reeling from a man who’d obsessed about her. He was going to be the very opposite of that man, so she could relax and feel assured of her safety with him.
But he had no clue where the hell this idea about Cherisse had come from. The obsession with first love was odd to him. Maybe because he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body, but hell, he had zero interest in going backward. The plan was to move forward not revisit old relationships that didn’t work out in the first place.
There was often a damn good reason for breakups. Lack of commitment, maturity, loyalty, love. But he didn’t want to argue with Jennifer, so he’d simply gone to bed and tried to push down his more basic thoughts about her. Thoughts of ravaging her and going a lot further than a simple kiss. He hadn’t been with a woman in a long time and had a feeling when he did, it might wind up being a bit disappointing for the woman.
And he sure in the hell didn’t want the woman he disappointed to beJennifer.
Just before sunrise, he took a shower, dressed, then made coffee. He peeked into Jennifer’s room, finding her dead to rights on her stomach, her long hair covering half of her face. She’d apparently had no trouble getting to sleep after nearly givinghiman aneurysm.
He made a quick breakfast burrito, leaving one for Jennifer and taking his with him. With Sean and Bonnie Lee off to their honeymoon, Colton was ready to pick up the slack. His day began in the stables, feeding Freya and the other horses, then leading them out two at a time to graze in the pasture. By then the sun had risen and he saw movement inside the main house where Riggs and Winona lived.
Riggs hadn’t set a time, just told him to come by in the morning, so Colton headed over.
Delores swung open the front door, holding Mary in her arms. “Colton! Hi, sweetheart. Come in, come in. You’ve missed breakfast, unfortunately.”
Beer came toward Colton, jumped up to greet and smell him, then ran back to the dog bed and settled down. He’d be staying with Riggs, Winona, and the kids while Bonnie and Sean were gone.
“Already had breakfast. Riggs told me to meet him here. I’ve been out there for a few hours, but it would be good to know exactly where he needs me now that Sean is gone for a bit.”
“Our routine is a bit off the rails today,” Delores said, carrying Mary on her hip into the kitchen. “Joey threw up during the night, and then Cal did. We think they had a little too much fun yesterday. Overstimulated and all that.”
“Yeah. All those forks everywhere.” He chuckled.
“Anyway, poor Winona was up all night. So was Riggs. She’s sleeping now because the boys are finally sleeping.”
“Oh, damn. Anything I can do to help?”
“I’m sure Riggs will want you to do everything on the ranch today.” Delores laughed. “But that’s impossible. With Sean gone, things are going to be tough around here for a while.”
It irritated the hell out of Colton that no one thought he could step in easily enough. The military wasn’t exactly a paid vacation and he’d worked harder than he ever had in his life. Ranch work was going to be easy after some of the things he’d done.
