Page 66 of My Cowboy Freedom
His face paled.
Okay, wow. Weird.“It’s okay Sky, I’m just—”
“Sorry.” As quickly as he’d hit his knees, he rose. “I’m so sorry. I can’t think what came over me, except it’s been a really long day.”
As he blinked up at me, he seemed to be looking for a sign. Apparently he didn’t find it because his hands shook when he scrubbed them over his face.
“You’re not mad, are you?”
“No. Of course I’m not mad. I’m just tired.” Gently, I pushed him away from me. “You should get some sleep too.”
“I’m sorry.” He took a step back, eyes stricken. Breathing hard like he’d done something just awful. “I am pretty beat. I’m sorry if what I did back there made you feel—”
“There’s no need to apologize.”
“I should go.” His smile was narrow. Sheepish.
“Sure.”
“I’ll walk with you as far as the bunkhouse, if that’s okay,” I said.
Sky jammed his hands back into his pockets and nodded.
“Not for, um. You know...” I waved off what had just happened with a glance back toward the ranch house. “I’m just not ready to go inside yet.”
He nodded. At that point, I was frankly worried he wouldn’t make it to the bunkhouse on his own.
Maisy trudged along beside us. Occasionally, she’d glance up at Sky, and then back at me, like she wanted to know what was going on. I could tell she was wondering what we were doing, wandering around at night like that. Maybe she thought I’d taken on Sky as a project, and now she had to look after him too.
Maybe I had done just that.
