Page 20 of The One Who Saw Her: Boone

"Because you're living under his roof, New York. Around here, that's two gossip sessions away from picking out baby names." She took a pack of buffalo jerky and tore into it without paying. "You should hear the ladies at the café. Half of them think you're some mail-order bride with a Pinterest addiction. The other half figure you're his midlife crisis in yoga pants."

Vivi blinked, mortified. "Midlife? I'm not even thirty!"

Jo lifted a challenging brow.

"Okay, so I turn thirty next month—but technically I'm still in my twenties and I own that shit."

She'd been in town all of five minutes and had already become the week's entertainment. The last time people had talked about her this much, she'd tried to host a dinner party and ended up outing three secret relationships before dessert. At least in the city she could hide behind sheer population density. Here, there wasn't Wi-Fi strong enough to escape small-town speculation.

A slow ache settled in Vivi's chest as she watched Jo sift through a rack of Carhartt pants—and a thought hit her like cold water. What if Jo hadn't come out today just to hang out? What if she'd come to see for herself whether the rumors were true? What if Jo was just another person waiting to see if she'd trip?

If that were the case, it would break something in her—a quiet, fragile hope she'd only just begun to trust. Because she wasn't just chasing belonging anymore. She'd thought she'd actually found a sliver of it.

"Well, I'm neither," Vivi said. "I'm a woman chasing happy, who hopes to find a little of it here in Bridlewood."

Jo snorted, flipping another pair of boots in her hands like they were a loaded deck of cards.

"Happy, huh? That's mighty ambitious for a city girl in pink cowgirl boots. But hell, I get it. Me? I'm just trying not to get stomped on in the process. And you, New York, you’ve got me to make sure you don’t trip over your own two feet while hunting it down." Jo grinned sharply and tossed the boots back onto the shelf. "So yeah, you chase your happy and I'll make sure it doesn't run away before you catch it."

"Thanks," Vivi said, genuinely touched—because that was as close to a hug as she thought Jo would ever get. It lingered in her chest like a warm little ember of something real.

"So does that mean his crotch isn't packing some pretty serious heat?" Jo asked and Vivi burst out laughing.

"Well, I wouldn't know about that."

"You're a terrible liar. Do I think you slept with Boone? No. Do I think something happened? Abso-fucking-lutely. Do I want to hear about it? I'm not your fucking therapist."

"You are not," Vivi said, relief flooding out of her so fast one could practically smell it. "But for the record, we did not sleep together. Scratch that. We did sleep together, but we were fully clothed and we did not have sex. Nor did we kiss, if that was your next question."

"Remember the part where I'm not your therapist."

"Right."

"But I guess since you talked me into taking your ass shopping, I'm your stand-in friend."

"I've had friendships based on less."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. This is a one-time thing," Jo said, but Vivi could tell she was having a good time. "Now, how does one accidentally fall into bed with the town's grumpiest bachelor?"

Vivi leaned back into the chair and let herself relax a little. Being so far from home was harder than she'd expected, and the first few days on the ranch hadn't exactly gone smoothly.

Boone helping her after she'd face-planted into the river had been a mix of mortifying and strangely endearing. Then there was the fire-side chat, which was confusing as hell. But now, being able to share the ridiculousness of the moment, and maybe even the little sparks of tension with someone who actually got it? That felt good.

"As everyone in town apparently already knows, I rented his house for the month. I was in bed minding my own business when I woke up to a hungover Boone cupping my boob, with me playing the role of the little spoon and his, well, his, um⁠—"

"Dick."

"Shhh—"

"You write dating bios for a living and can't say dick?"

"Fine. His dick was pushed up against my backside."

"Asscrack."

"Gross. Anyway. We both freaked out and I never want to talk about it again. There."

"Which is how you know he's packing heat."