Page 44 of Opposites (Never) Attract
None of that was happening for me. Not with Sunshine. Not with anyone.
Sunshine had a whole other life as Kaitlyn, back in New York.
One of the things every cowboy understood was always, always, choose a local woman as a wife.
The second a cowboy fell for a tourist, or a visitor, or a person who didn’t have this land deep in their soul…it was the first step towards heartache.
“Sunshine Calloway is too smart and too damn rich for this cowboy,” I said. “What did you always say? The help should never fall for a member of the family. She’s a McGraw now.”
He shook his head and grabbed my beer from my hand. Took a swig and handed it back.
“Bullshit.”
My dad always did know when I was lying.
“Is that a handkerchief hanging out your back pocket?”
I reached for my left back pocket and felt the thin, silky fabric between my fingers. I quickly shoved it deeper and tried for innocence.
“Nah, just some trash that flew by, did you leave any leftovers for me?”
“Franks and beans.”
“Seriously, Pop,” I groaned. “They’re called vegetables.”
“Seriously, kid,” he said. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
I set down my beer and opened the fridge to see a bowl covered with clear wrap on the top shelf. It was surrounded by a whole lot of nothing. I took the bowl and popped it into the microwave over the stove.
“That girlfriend of yours come up with any ideas to save the Swinging D?”
I’d filled Dad in on some of the will drama, but he’d waved me off before I got halfway through the story. According to him, Leroy McGraw had always been more trouble than he was worth.
“Pop,” I barked at him. “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s not my love interest. She was an assignment.”
“Hmm.Yourassignment. Not her mother’s or her sisters’.”
“Because I volunteered,” I reminded him.
“Hmm.”
“Because everyone is so freaking afraid of this woman,” I said, in a burst of frustration. “She’s not that intimidating, she’s just smart. She’s not mean, she just thinks faster than most people, so she comes off as curt. Truth is, she spent a lonely childhood here because everyone in this town, including her own damn family, wrote her off as odd.”
“Right,” Pop drawled. “But there’s no interest there.”
“I’m taking my franks and beans and going to my bedroom,” I announced, as soon as the microwave beeped. I took the bowl, a napkin and a spoon.
I needed space and I wasn’t prepared for any more ofDad’s hmmms and questions. These last few days had been…well, a lot.
Like a bull in heat, I was sexually charged, but I had nowhere to go with it.
What I’d told Pop was the truth. There was no point in having any interest in Sunshine Calloway.
She was as untouchable as any woman I’d ever met who wanted to spend some play time with a cowboy. I went along for the ride because I could see all the pain, hurt and vulnerability stuck inside of her, with no release.
I’d wanted to give her that. At least that. One good memory in this town to try and make up for some of the bad ones.
I took my food down the narrow hallway to the back of the cabin. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom my dad and I shared. Small, sure, but it had everything we needed.
