Page 34 of Tempted By the Broken Cowboy
The reaction is immediate.
“Ooooh, my,” one of the ladies cheers, not even bothering to hide it.
“Mercy,” another fans herself dramatically. “If I’d known this was part of the package, I should have invited him to join us earlier.”
They burst into laughter, tossing compliments at me. The words handsome, lumberjack, and fine specimen get thrown around, and I can’t help it when my grin stretches wide.
Quinn, on the other hand, looks like she wants the earth to swallow her whole. Her cheeks flare pink, eyes narrowing at me.
I tilt my head, flashing her a wicked smile. “What do you think?”
“Put your damn shirt back on,” she hisses, quickening her pace.
But the other ladies are eating it up, and I’m not about to waste an opportunity. “Aww, don’t be jealous, sweetheart. Even these ladies know the good stuff when they see it. Jealous?”
Her glare could melt steel, and it only makes me laugh harder. “Ha! You wish,” she scoffs, running a bit faster to avoid me. I’ve teased her enough, so I let her be.
By the time the run winds down, I’m loose and buzzing. I’ve actually enjoyed myself, which is a damn inconvenient truth.
The ladies clap me on the back, toss me a few more compliments for the road, and promise Quinn they’ll “see her next time.” A couple even wink at me before heading off. I swear, if they were thirty years younger, I’d be in real trouble.
Quinn practically bolts the second we’re clear, her ponytail bouncing furiously.
I fall into step beside her, still grinning. “So, not bad, huh?”
She doesn’t look at me. “You were unbearable.”
“I was charming.”
“You were soaking up attention like a peacock on parade.”
I laugh, loud and unbothered. “Can I help it if I’m a hit with the ladies?”
Her glare cuts sideways, sharp as a blade. “You’re insufferable.”
“And yet, you dragged me out here. Which means you are to blame for them liking me,” I drawl, bumping my shoulder into hers.
She groans like I’m the bane of her existence, but she doesn’t pull away.
I’ll be caught dead before I admit it out loud, but I’ve had fun—the part where I was not fighting for my life.
There’s a lot more on Quinn’s extensive itinerary, and I know that even if I might not enjoy it at first, she knows what she’s doing, if today is any proof. Now I understand why she wanted to bring me along on that run. Those ladies run the gossip mill in Wrangler Creek, so if they start singing my praises, everything else will be much smoother. Such a smart cookie, this one. She deserves all the praises my family are singing about her.
The guards let us back in, and we jog slowly back down to the house. The sun is spilling gold over the horizon, and for a second it feels easy. As if we’re not two people who are constantly at each other’s throats.
Of course, I can’t let her know that. So I grin, cocky as ever, and say, “Same time next week?”
The look she shoots me could kill, but her lips twitch—she’s holding back a smile.
13
QUINN
“This is a bad idea,” Beck mutters for the umpteenth time, glaring out the truck window. “Kids don’t like me, and I don’t like them. Everybody wins if we just turn around.”
I bite back a smile, keeping my eyes on the road. “You don’t have to like them. You just have to show up. And you can’t really say that—I’ve seen you around Daisy. You get along very well.”
“She’s different. She’s family. I adore her as much as she adores me,” he grumbles.
