Page 16 of Charming the Cowboy
She closed up shop and got into her little car, heading out toward Cooper’s ranch. It had been years since she’d been out there. She had been to a few barbecues and things with her brother ages ago. But it had been so long. She had no reason to go there now. She knew the way by heart, though, taking the winding road east, away from the beach and from the heart of town, heading toward the mountains.
It was one of the things she loved about Wild Rose Point. There were lakes and rivers, glorious mountain views, and the stunning Pacific Ocean. It was every great and beautiful thing found in nature, at least, in her opinion.
She didn’t have a lot of memories from before living here, which was too bad. Because it swallowed up memories of her father, too. She could still see his smile. If she thought about it really hard. Though mostly, they were just freeze frames from photographs that she had, rather than actual memories. She couldn’t remember what his voice sounded like. If she tried really hard, she could hear notes of his laughter echoing in her mind. But that was all.
It was why she’d gotten a tattoo done by Jack at Queen of Tattoos about six months earlier. An ode to the signs she attributed to her dad. Blooming flowers and hummingbirds. If she couldn’t have memories, then she had to ink them on her skin.
She wondered if she didn’t have those memories as a form of self-protection, or if it was part of a curse. That even the great and beautiful love she had for her father was destined to be erased from everything. Because he was the man her mother had loved, and therefore couldn’t be part of their lives.
Or maybe life just wasn’t fair.
But that was almost scarier than curses. A curse felt personal, but at least there was some sense to it. A pattern. She could keep herself safe by staying away from all of that. If the world were desperately random, how could she ensure her safety at all? She pushed that thought away. It was strange and melancholy, and wasn’t going to help her get through the rest of this evening, where she was now going to be decorating a wagon with a man who knew she was a big old virgin.
A very hot man, who made her extra warm every time she was around him. How nice.
There was nothing quite like thwarted sexual attraction.
If she were honest, she had never really been as attracted to anyone as she was to Cooper, but Cooper was more off-limits than anyone else. She couldn’t take that kind of risk with him. God, if she caused an accident with him…
No. She would never be able to bear it. Also, it would make things weird around town. She and Cooper were always in each other’s sphere.
At least with all those other guys, she didn’t have to see them again. They had either moved away or had never lived right in town to begin with, and certainly were connected to her via a very close relationship with her brother.
She opened her mouth and let out a long, low note to try to ease some of the nerves inside of her as she pulled her car up in front of Cooper’s house. She knew that he and his siblings all had houses on the ranch, but Cooper had been in his place for a long time, and she had been there several times, so she knew just howto get there. Hank was like Cooper – but even more severe. She liked Lindsay, Cooper’s younger sister, who was even younger than Eliana, and had a vivacious and cheerful personality, and an affinity for crystals.
She would’ve been happy to see Lindsay. But the idea of going to their main house and having only Hank being there…eh. She figured she’d swing by Cooper’s first.
Although with all the strange sparky embarrassment that was still lingering from this afternoon between herself and Cooper, maybe not.
Might be easiest. Might be for the best.
She got out of the car and propelled herself up the steps, unwilling to pause. Because if she did, she might just shrink back in embarrassment.
It was best to just not think in these situations, at least, that was her experience. She had ample experience embarrassing herself around men, so that was fine.
She was about to knock on the door when it opened, and she found her fist hovering right above Cooper’s impossibly broad chest.
Thankfully, she didn’t actually smash her hand into it.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi. Come in?”
Her stomach went tight. “Sure.”
His house was ruthlessly clean. It surprised her, honestly. But then, maybe it shouldn’t. It was easy to think in terms of him being a cowboy bachelor and assume that there would be a lot of clutter, muddy boots on the floor, and all of that.
But Cooper was one of those steady men. The kind who did exactly what he said he was going to do. The kind who followed through. He worked his family’s land tirelessly and had, in many ways, become a man at a very young age because of his father’s death. It was interesting the way those kinds of losses couldshape a person. Marcus had not become a steadfast caregiver in the absence of their dad. Instead, they had all sort of gotten caught up in the chaotic whirlwind of living a life that was all Sanderson, and not influenced by anyone outside of that.
They’d just absorbed their mom’s energy twofold.
And that was all fine and good; Eliana didn’t need for it to be different.
She was just observing.
“We’re not eating here,” he said.
“Oh, I figured.”
