Page 43 of A Sweet Chat for the Cowboy

Chapter 22

Tucker stared as hisphone, anxiously awaiting May’s reply. What on earth was wrong with him? He needed to break off this conversation and get some sleep. But he couldn’t make himself stop.

Talking to May felt too good.

“I can tell you’re smart without an IQ test,” she wrote.

He had no idea how she could tell he was smart, or how smart he really was, but he was glad that she thought so.

“I’m sorry that your coworker is patronizing you,” she added.

“Thanks, but I’ll be okay. I’m a big boy.” He was tempted to add another laughing face, but he was embarrassed that he’d already used two. Things were spiraling out of control.

He did not understand what was happening to him. If someone had asked him a month ago if he was lonely, if he was pining away wishing he had someone to love, he would have laughed. He hadn’t been interested in dating. He certainly hadn’t been interested in texting a stranger for hours on end. So then why was he doing it? He didn’t know.

It was crazy, but he felt like if hestoppedtalking to May,thenhe would be lonely.

It was as if he wasn’t missing something until he tasted it.

He shook his head, trying to shake out the craziness. This was insane. He didn’t even know this woman. Was he really so pathetic that a complete stranger chatting with him about Taylor Swift and license plates was going to upend his whole life?

He was never going to forgive his brothers.

This made him think of Ryker. If there was one dude that Tucker was convinced would be single forever, it was that guy. Maybe Tucker should talk to him. Maybe Ryker could shed some light on what was happening.

No. That was nuts. Exactly how would he phrase that question?Hey, bro, I’ve got a crush on a woman I’ve never met, and I’m acting like a complete loon. Got any suggestions?He couldn’t do that. And what was Ryker was going to say? He would tell Tucker to just go with the flow because Ryker now lived with his head completely in the clouds.

His phone beeped. “Sorry I drifted there for a minute,” May wrote. “I just got an angry email from my boss. Took me a minute to read it and respond.”

“That stinks. Sorry you have to deal with that.” He knew he shouldn’t ask, but curiosity was a powerful drug. “What did you do?”

“NOTHING!” she answered in all caps. “That’s the thing. I didn’t do anything, but something was done, and because I’m in charge, I’m on the hook for it.”

“Oh wow. That’s why I work for myself, I guess.”

“You work for yourself?”

Oops, he’d said too much. “Yeah.”

“What kind of self-employment makes you work nights?”

He wasn’t sure how to answer that. He didn’t usually work nights.

“Oh, wait, I know! Are you like private security?”

What? How had she jumped to that? “Something like that.” Private security for endangered toads.

“Wow, you sure are evasive.”

He laughed. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been accused of that before. “Not really. I just want to meet you in person before I say too much.”

“Yeah, I want to meet you too. Sorry it’s taking so long.”

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