Page 50 of A Sweet Chat for the Cowboy

Wynona fell into herbed so exhausted that she felt like she was trembling. She couldn’t actually see her body shaking, but something was shaking, orshaken, at least. She didn’t understand why she wasn’t adjusting to the new hours by now.

Maybe it was the combination of fatigue and being so chilled for so many hours. She had underestimated how worn that would make her feel. It really hadn’t beenthatcold out. The temperatures were nowhere near freezing. If one were to go for a short walk, one might even find the temperature comfortable, but being out there all night? It was a different kind of cold. A slow cold that crept up on you.

She hadn’t expected that kind of assault.

She picked up her phone and stared at it. No word from Wolfgang. She couldn’t blame him. He had initiated conversation the day before, but that didn’t mean he was going to do it every morning. Maybe he was giving her a chance. Maybe it was her turn now. But did she even have it in her? She was feeling awfully introverted right now.

You’ll feel so much better after you talk to him, a voice in her head whispered. This was likely, considering how she had felt after their previous virtual chats.

Why was this happening? Was there something special about Wolfgang? Or was it their mode of communication? It was so low pressure chatting with a man she didn’t know.

There was just something so pure, so simple, about the way they were getting to know each other. She hoped that meeting him in person wouldn’t ruin it. Maybe she should never meet him in real life. Maybe they could just keep chatting like this. She laughed at herself.

Yeah, what were the chances that anyone would be willing to dothat? People on this app were looking for life partners, not pen pals.

Once she had decided to reach out, then she had to wrestle with what to say, which made her feel foolish. More than anything she needed to sleep, so why was she spending so much time worrying about communicating with this complete stranger?

But he wasn’t a stranger anymore, was he?

“Good morning,” she sent.

He answered at once, which made her feel good. “Good morning. How was your night?”

Her smile spread wide. She had made the right decision. This small sleep sacrifice was worth all the good feels. “Pretty crazy, actually.” She hit send.

“Oh yeah? What happened?”

It was too bad she couldn’t tell him what was going on in her life. She wished she could say,Great news! I found toad poop, so we hiked out early in the dark, and I’m so excited that I will never sleep again!

She was starting to regret all the secrecy, but he was a local who loved the outdoors. Surely he’d heard about the potential of FWS shutting down hunting season. Surely she shouldn’t reveal that she was the one who was sort of in charge of that.

A new fear gripped her. What if theydidshut down hunting season? What if she didn’t find the toad, and for some crazy reason, FWS decided to close off the forest for the entire winter? She would never be able to reveal herself to this guy. And she wouldn’t stretch out this secretive communication. She wouldn’t do that to Wolfgang.

If things went that far south, she would break off contact. The idea of this possibility hurt her more than she thought it should.

“Did you fall asleep?” he sent.

She laughed. “No, sorry. I was trying to think of how to describe my crazy night, but words are hard when I’m overtired.”

“Words are always hard for me.”

For reasons she didn’t understand, she found this admission incredibly endearing. “Well, first, my coworker is harassing me a little, but some other coworkers stood up for me last night, so that was a wild ride. I felt small because I didn’t defend myself sufficiently, but I also felt warm because other people cared enough to do so for me.” Though she had only touched on the night’s craziness, she hit send so that her message didn’t get too long. She didn’t want to send the man a wall of text.

“Wish I could have been there,” Wolfgang wrote back. “I would have defended you.”

A tingling warmth spread through her. She imagined a scenario—her standing in the center of a triangle with Holden, Tucker, and Wolfgang at each vertex. She would be so protected, so safe. She felt silly for enjoying the vision. She was a strong woman. She didn’t need to ensconce herself in a triangle of tough men.

But the vision persisted.

“Thank you, that’s kind of you. And the night stayed crazy. I’m just under a lot of pressure at work right now.”

“I imagine that being a secret spy is quite the high-pressure job.”

She laughed. Maybe it was time to tell him that she wasn’t a spook. “I’m not under James-Bond-level pressure, thank goodness.”

“Good to know. I pictured you hanging by your fingertips off the landing gear of an airborne helicopter.”

She laughed again.

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