Page 21 of Take Me Home, Cowboy

He turned and smiled into the welcoming face of the man who looked so much like himself. “Yeah, little brother, I am. It’s really good to see ya, man.”

They exchanged a slap on the back, and Matt followed his brother in the door. God, he’d really missed all of that. He’d avoided going back to see his family because being there made him remember, and he hadn’t known how to handle it then, so he’d made a clean break. After a while though, phone calls hadn’t been enough. He was homesick. Not homesick so much for the place because he liked Wyoming, but homesick for his family. There hadn’t been much else to smile about over the last two years. Until Ally.

He stayed ‘til closing, filling his brother in on the last month. Meeting her and having Jesse end up in the hospital, falling for her and having her leave. He was determined to find her and make her understand. He wanted her with him. He needed to know if she wanted him, too. Or was he too late?

* * *

Ally didn’t wantto see him. It hurt too much, but he looked so amazing she couldn’t move her eyes away.What is he doing here? How did he find my office?She’d just started sleeping again, if only a few hours every night. Now, she’d be back to no sleep and crying all over again. She’d had to unplug her phone to stop the messages from flashing at her on the answering machine every time he called. Damn her daddy for giving out her number and apparently her address. She didn’t have anything to say he would want to hear. If he had wanted to know, he would have come after her when she left, right? Embarrassed beyond belief, her insides melted at the echoes of his delicious warm baritone. Panicked, she dove behind her secretary’s file cabinet.Oh, crap.Hopefully, Sandy hadn’t noticed, so she wouldn’t be in a position to have to lie for her.

Ally could see he hadn’t changed. Of course, it’d only been a couple weeks since she’d left, but it was by far the hardest fourteen or so days she’d ever been through. It pissed her off when she realized how much the man had come to mean to her, but he’d turned his back on her—basically sent her packing without a word—and that hurt. Maybe she was better off, and it shouldn’t make a difference. He hadn’t wanted her then. She might even reconsider dating her boss, Daniel. No, on second thought, that just made her feel sick.

So, what did Matt want? Had he come to his senses, or was he in New York to yell at her again and then disappear?

She stayed hidden until the conversation ended, and he walked away. It was really hard to crouch down in stilettos, so by the time she got back in an upright position, her secretary stared at her, shaking her head.

“What in the world are you doing?”

“Oh, God. You don’t want to know.” Ally tried to move right by her secretary’s desk and into her office, but it wasn’t going to happen.

“Stop right there, missy. You have some explaining to do. He was one hell of a hunk of man. When you got back and told me the sordid affair, you kind of left off the part about how drop-dead gorgeous he was.”

“I think I’m having a mental breakdown.” She kept up her pace, and her friend followed. “What is he doing here?”

“He was here to talk to you. He wouldn’t give me any more details, but said he would be back. Maybe you should talk to him. He really sounded sweet and totally stuck on you.”

“Oh, my dear friend, don’t fall for his charms, he’ll—”

“He’ll what, princess? What exactly will he do?”

The deep sexy voice that had kept Ally up all hours of the night for the last two weeks startled both women.

“I’ll just leave you two alone.” Her ever-efficient secretary hurried out of the office, slipping by Matt, who stood in the doorway.

“Traitor!” she screamed after her friend.

“Hello, Ally.”

“Matt.”Oh shit, don’t cry. Just breathe.“Can I help you with something?”Yeah, like he needed that kind of an opening, ugh.

“I believe you and I have some unfinished business, princess.”

* * *

“I’m notsure what you mean.” From the look on her face, she hadn’t counted on seeing him, especially at her office.

He hesitated briefly, wondering if he’d done the right thing showing up there. He’d seen her duck behind the filing cabinet at her secretary’s desk. The poor woman tried hard to be honest about not knowing where her boss was, but the secretary had seen her, too—she was just doing her job. Ally had a loyal employee, and those were damn hard to come by these days.

“Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m talkin’ about, and I’m not leaving here ‘til we get it all out. I let you leave once. I won’t let you walk away again ‘til you know it all.”

Matt freely engaged in a long talk the night before with his brother, and it proved only to encourage him to pursue Ally. Zach had been thrilled to hear all about the woman who stole his big brother’s heart. Nothing would keep Matt from her this go around except the woman herself. He could be wrong, but with the time they’d shared together, she seemed equally invested. They were both too stupid and proud to voice it aloud.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say, Matt.” She wouldn’t look at him.

The only strike against him was his past. He hadn’t been honest, but really, killing someone wasn’t the type of thing to tell a woman he’d only recently met.Oh before I forget, I killed a woman in my past. But no worries, all’s well now.

He hadn’t told Jesse either, but he had told Matt right from the start.“Your past is none of my concern as long as it stays in the past. You do what you came here to do, and we’ll get along just fine.”He’d gotten by with that for two years, but apparently it was time for his past to pop up and bite him in the ass. He was positive she would only see a betrayal, andthatwould be the reason she would never want to see him again.

“I want you to admit you have feelings for me, same as I do for you.”

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