Page 60 of Knot Her Cowboys
“So you’renotgoing to be sleeping in Cash’s room?”
I assumed the question was genuine since he knew about the bond, but the edge in his tone made it crystal clear he was still struggling with the concept.
“Maybe while I get settled.”
“We have a guest room,” Dakota reminded me. “Or you can stay in one of the cabins. Busy season will be winding down in a couple of weeks, so we probably won’t have to move you around too much.”
“We’ll start with the big house,” I conceded. “I definitely need some semblance of my own space, and I’m flexible on if that’s a bedroom or a separate cabin.”
“Bold of you to assume I’m not going to be a space invader.” Cash spun me so my back was to his chest, his arms linked in front of me. He wassofucking pleased with himself in the bond. Every time he touched me, it lit up like a little campfire in my chest.
He was dangerous.
I’d never experienced anyone being so happy to see me on a soul level before, and feeling so wanted, sotreasured,could definitely turn out to be addictive.
“Bold ofyouto assume I wouldn’t let you.”
They announced my birthday to the other guests when we gathered around the campfire for the evening. Cooper had bought enough cupcakes for everyone, plus a few extras.
I moaned as I bit into mine—a chocolate cake base with strawberry icing. They were quite the upgrade from the grocery-store variety we used to eat on my birthday.
“You like them?” Cooper asked as he sat down in the camp chair next to me.
“Fucking delish.”
“They’re from a shop in town. They mostly cater to the businesses, I think, but their stuff is top-notch.”
“This was sweet. Thank you for getting me birthday cupcakes. I’ve missed this tradition.”
He pressed his lips together, and I was pretty sure he was holding in some snark that I wouldn’t have had to miss the tradition if I hadn’t disappeared into the night.
“Be nice,” Cash said, sitting down next to me in another chair.
“I didn’t say a word,” Cooper defended.
“You didn’t have to. It’s written all over your freckled, stubborn-ass face.”
Cooper flipped him the bird and I leaned over, chomping the digit and making Cooper yelp. “Goddamn, I forgot you do that.”
Morgan howled with laughter. “I almost forgot about that too.”
“Save that gesture for assholes,” I said, “not for sweet angels.”
Cash beamed. “I’m the sweet angel.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Cooper said with a laugh. “I can express myself how I want, but keeping my mouth shut is an important part of this process.”
“I’d rather you just tell me off,” I lied. “Get it out of your system.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Cooper took a long drink from his cup. “You got too many people ‘getting it out of their system’ in your direction, and I willneverbe one of those people.”
I stared at him for a while, trying to figure out how to respond to that. I supposed it wasn’t really a preference for people to tell me off, but it did let me know where I stood withthem. That was the only part I liked, even if where I stood wasn’t a good place.
Tempted as I was to push him, I chose not to. Getting into something in front of all these people was probably a terrible idea. I could wait for privacy.
Instead, I asked, “What do you think about me working in the kitchen while I’m here?”
“You want to?” He raised an eyebrow in question, staring into my damn soul.
