Page 28 of Rogue Cowboy
“Six—and you were free to do as you wanted,” she said.“You still are.”
“That’s why I’m here.I want you.”
Riley felt her face heat.Sweat prickled her scalp.Even her neck felt hot with embarrassment.Oh.No.They weren’t going to talk about personal stuff in the middle of a family restaurant loved by locals and tourists alike.Not here.Not now.
Not ever.
Cole dipped another chip in the guac, and she watched him, fascinated by the way he moved, the energy and confidence that wafted off him.It would be so easy to launch herself into his arms.Let him take care of her.Banish the nightmares.The jumpiness combined with the listlessness that seemed to poke more and more holes into the Riley she’d been.Deflating her.
But she had to be strong.She had to remake her life.She knew that, but somehow she’d just never got back on track.
He was relentless so she bit into the chip, and he fed it into her mouth.
Like we’re lovers on a date.
She struggled to swallow and fight the urge to tug on her floral, western-style shirt to cool herself off.Maybe she should dump water down her front to cool herself off.Then they could leave, and she could avoid both Cole’s and the public’s scrutiny.
She actually imagined her departure.Planned it out.Spill.Apologize.Jump up and run the few blocks to Crawford Park, duck down to the riverfront trail, run across the footbridge and then climb down to the riverfront and jog along the trail closer to the field where competitors were setting up their rigs for the weekend.
Before she knew it, Cole had slid into the small booth next to her.
“What are you doing?”
“You looked like you were going to do a runner.”
“I was thinking about it,” she admitted, so shocked that he’d read her mind, but just as she’d sensed his eased tension, he’d sensed her rising anxiety.
Probably like reading a horse.
Not exactly a flattering comparison.
“Tell me what’s happening.”
Of course her instinct was to clam up.Heck she hadn’t even told her family.But maybe if he knew what a wreck she was, he’d procure the papers, she’d sigh and adios her for good.Surely his friendship with Rohan—which had seemed a little tense today: her fault—wouldn’t guilt him into any more moments of martyrdom.
“I don’t date.I haven’t dated.”That hadn’t even occurred to her.If she expected him to look relieved, he didn’t.“You can’t expect me to date after what happened.”
“You were attacked.”
“But I was there.”
The fury that flashed across his face was so fierce and scary and gone just as quickly that she thought perhaps she had imagined it.
“You were working.It was an industry party.You went with your band.You had every right to think you were safe.Those pricks drugged you and then promised to take care of you and instead of getting you an Uber like they said, they took you, nearly passed out from the drug they put in the drink they insisted you drink so you could talk ‘business,’ and they attacked you.”
“How…how do you know all that?”Had she told him?She didn’t remember all the details, just being uncomfortable at the party, embarrassed, and then feeling sick and scared and texting him and blocking the rest out.
Even the part where she was hiding behind someone’s trash cans in an alley, vomiting, dizzy and half-dressed was a blur, but she did remember Cole picking her up and wrapping her first in his jacket and then in a blanket.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“We need to.”
He wasn’t the boss of her.
“This isn’t the place.”
“Where?”
