Page 76 of Protective Cowboy

“Jayden, listen to me,” she said with as much determination as she could muster. “No matter where we end up, I promise you we’ll be okay. We’re a team, aren’t we?”

“Y-yeah.” But he looked away.

Autumn sighed, poking at the remaining half of the pot pie on her plate. She’d lost her appetite.

She suddenly wished she hadn’t agreed to this dinner. Her sisters meant well, but they didn’t really understand what Autumn was going through.

This job offer wasn’t just about her career ambitions or even the money, breathtaking as that number was. It was about proving to herself that she could still succeed on her own terms without relying on family ties for her paying gigs.

“Look, I promise I’ll consider everything very carefully before I talk to Karla on Friday,” she told all of them.

Chapter Nineteen

Just Desserts

Thursday, August 27

The next day, Matt slouched on his sofa, the weight of impending heartbreak pressing heavily on his chest.

Time was running out. How the fuck was he supposed to convince Autumn to stay when she was working so hard to avoid him?

I should’ve said something earlier. That’s what I get for being such a fucking coward.

Last night, Autumn had been deep in thought after she returned from dinner with her sisters.

Matt had hoped to use their usual “porch talk” time to tell her how he felt. But she’d spoken to him in monosyllables, her expression closed and unreadable, then vanished into her own room right after Jayden went to bed.

He’d lain awake for hours, hoping against hope for her knock on his bedroom door. But no luck.

Then she and Jayden had left the house early again this morning before Matt woke up.

Sitting alone at the breakfast nook table, he’d decided he officially hated eating breakfast by himself.

Now he was scrolling through his tablet. He hit the RedCarpetRumorMill.com site and saw a new video posted on the front page. The headline read:

Shocking Twist in Snowberry Springs Scandal

Phillip Garthe cheated on TWO women at the same time!

Exclusive BOMBSHELL interview below!

In the video preview, a young woman’s tear-streaked face filled the frame. She looked like she was barely out of high school, and she could’ve passed for Autumn’s younger twin.

Guess Phillip has a type, Matt thought grimly as he tapped the Play icon.

The video opened in an apartment living room cluttered with brightly colored plastic toys and a zoo’s worth of stuffed animals.

Theresa Botticelli sat on an overstuffed couch, her heavily made-up eyes reddened and watery, and a box of Kleenex sitting on her lap.

“I can’t believe I fell for his lies,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “If I had known Phillip Garthe was still married when he asked me out, I never would’ve…”

She trailed off, shoulders shaking with sobs.

“Can you tell us how you and Phillip met?” asked a sympathetic female voice off-screen.

“Yeah, sure,” Theresa sniffled. “We met when I was a student at Mercer County Community College. I went out for drinks with my BFFs and this handsome older guy comes over and buys me a drink. We hit it off right away. One thing led to another, and he asked me out for a date. He told me he was separated from his wife and she lived in another state. They were just waiting for the divorce paperwork to come through.”

“And you believed him?”

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