Page 28 of The Cowboy’s Forever Promise

“Do you know who’s doing the catering?” asked Arlene.

“I tried to get hold of Jill on Friday to find out,” June said, “but she didn’t pick up. I’ll try again tomorrow.”

As the conversation moved to food, Abby tried to eat. Sitting next to Carson, being aware of his every movement, the heat radiating from his body reminded her of what had happened in the bar and of course then her thoughts moved to what happened afterward and she couldn’t concentrate on the food in front of her.

“… Tuesday night,” Willow was saying. “Abby, I hope you’ll join us? We’re reading Jane Eyre at the moment.”

“Thanks, I wish I could, I love reading and the classics are my favorite, but I won’t have time,” Abby said. “I’m leaving on Sunday.”

“Well,” June said, “I’m certainly going to do my best to change your mind.”

“Well, come on ladies, the shops are waiting,” Arlene said as she got up.

As all the women got up, Dylan grabbed June’s hand. “When can we expect you back?”

“You’ll see us when you see us.” Arlene teased. “Come on, Abby, let’s leave this lot to say goodbye to their husbands. It may take a while.”

“Enjoy,” Carson said, as Abby pushed back her chair. “And remember what you have to buy,” he said softly. “Don’t forget our date tonight.”

Without answering, Abby hurried outside. Oh, my goodness, she’d been so close to touching Carson. Her hands seemed to get a life of their own around him.

As she stepped outside, Willow joined her. “You’ve fallen for our Carson, haven’t you?” she said under her breath.

“No!” Abby said quickly. “Nobody has fallen. It’s just … it’s just …”

“Yeah?” Willow was smiling.

“It’s not what you think.”

“I’m talking about what you’re thinking,” Willow said as the others joined them.

June grabbed her arm. “Come on, you and I and Arlene are going with Willow. Ellie, Rose, and Laura are following us in Laura’s car. Don’t worry about the storage boxes we’re getting, they can be delivered later today or tomorrow.”

Abby grimaced. She hadn’t even thought of that. The reason she was here was to help her friend and she couldn’t even focus on the basics of her job because her mind was on a sexy cowboy.

Trying to evade Willow’s eyes, she followed Arlene to the car.

*

Hours later, Abby was tired, her feet were hurting, and she was hungry, but the Weston women were like a bunch of kids buying candy—still excited as they rushed from one store to the other.

Their first stop had been to get all the storage boxes she’d need for the two houses she was going to organize. Afterward, she was ready to go home, but the real shopping had apparently only just begun when they’d entered the shopping mall.

“One more stop, Abby”—Arlene motioned to the next shop—“and then we’ll have lunch.”

“Ooh,” June said as everyone else hurried forward. “This place has the most beautiful clothes, come on!”

In the middle of the big shop was a huge, inviting couch. Abby made a beeline for it and flopped down. “You shop, I’ll watch,” she said, out of breath.

“You haven’t bought anything yet,” Ellie said.

“Abby believes in a basic capsule wardrobe.” June pointed toward the one side of the shop. “But, Abs, I think you’ll see something over there that you’ll like. Abby’s kryptonite is sexy black or red lingerie.”

The others giggled and said something, but Abby barely heard them. Getting up slowly, she moved to the beautiful display June had pointed out. Black and red silk and lace—her favorite. These were gorgeous. An image of Carson’s eyes, both darkened by desire, flashed in front of her. Her heart kicked into gear; the butterflies woke up.

Seriously. This was getting ridiculous. She was with other people, this was so not the time to think about Carson.

“Come on, Abs,” June cajoled. “Live a little. I would love to buy you a dress to thank you for your help this week, so don’t even look at the price.”