Page 29 of High Water

I let out a choked laugh, my eyes wide as I stare at my old friend.

“Are we talking about the same person?”

“Wilder things have happened. Look at me and Zeph.”

“I don’t even think holding Aspen captive in the woods would convince her to agree to something like that. If it had been your sister in the same situation as Zeph, she would have sharpened a butter knife while I slept, slit my throat, and left me for dead.”

“Zeph’s a little softer than Aspen, sure. I’ll give you that. But my sister would do anything for the people she loves.”

“The people she loves.” I make a point of emphasizing that last word. Because I don’t think that word would be anywhere in the vocabulary she’d use to describe me right now.

Levi blows out a breath and then looks at me, half amusement and half mischief in his eyes.

“You know how I knew almost immediately when she and Fallon walked into that kitchen that she was yours, despite my completely missing it all those years?” Levi pauses for an answer, but I just shake my head. I knew Aspen was telling him today, but now I know he’d been suspicious for a long time. Patiently waiting for one of us to tell him the truth. “Because I’ve never seen my sister at a loss for words, and I’ve never seen her look at someone the way she looked at you in that moment.”

“It could just as easily have been hate that you saw.”

“Fine line between love and hate. Razor thin, in my experience. So let’s hope you can cross it if we need you to.”

“You’re not seriously suggesting that—” I stop halfway through when I see that he is, in fact, deadly serious about the idea of me marrying his sister in order to push this scheme forward.

“We’re in this deep now. A little deeper to get out the other side seems reasonable to me.”

“She’ll never agree to it.” I shake my head. I know Aspen like I know the back of my hand. People change but their spirit doesn’t. She was tough as nails as a teenager. As a woman, she’s a force to be reckoned with. That’s before we get to the impenetrable fortress around her heart. “She’s gonna hold a grudge until the day I die as it is. Once I tell her the truth? I’ll have better luck building a snowman in hell.”

“Then I suggest you start begging for forgiveness at your earliest convenience.”

TWELVE

Aspen

I’m at the soft opening of Seven Sins Saloon, perched on one of the barstools while I watch Dakota working her magic as she manages her staff and serves customers. I’m also soft-launching my single life tonight. Or so I told myself when I got all dressed up, put on my favorite pair of heels, and came down here sans one teenage daughter who’s at a sleepover. I’m not ready for a relationship or anything serious, but if I’m going to stop the recurring dreams I keep having about a certain cowboy, I need someone new to imagine in his place.

But so far, I’ve been striking out left and right. Every guy who’s smiled at me from across the bar, and one who suggested he could take me around the dance floor once earlier in the night, has disappeared without another word. I haven’t even been offered a single free drink, and my attempts to flirt with the door guy were rebuffed immediately.

I stare down at my phone as I take another long sip of the Ranch Water Dakota made for me and pull up the dating app I was looking at earlier. I’d made an account to swipe through some profiles, but I hadn’t taken the full plunge into making a real one for myself yet. I wanted to try the old-fashioned way, but maybe I’m just too old for that. Too much of a mom to even get hit on at the bar.

“You want another?” Dakota points to my glass when she sees it getting low.

“Yes, please.” I smile at her. “Also, you’re the bar expert. Am I too old to be here? Is it what I’m wearing? Do I just need to find a dating app for moms?”

“Well, for starters, you’re freaking gorgeous. If it’s what you’re wearing, it’s only that you look expensive, and some of these cowboys are probably smart enough to know they can’t afford you. The other half are probably terrified of your brothers. But MILFs are definitely a thing. Usually, it makes the boys come running, honestly. But I don’t know if I’d date the ones who do. I’ve seen some of my friends end up with the frustration that follows. They’re usually looking for someone to iron their laundry and cook their meals, and I don’t think that’s what you’re looking for.”

“Definitely not. I just want…” I trail off as my eyes search the room. Trying to find a guy who seems like he could be what I’m looking for, and they land on a heavily tattooed man kicked back in a booth with motorcycle boots and a leather jacket. He’s in the midst of talking to Bo Briggs, Hazel’s older brother. Whatever the discussion is, it’s animated, and he slams his hand on the table as he erupts into laughter. “Some fun.”

Dakota’s eyes follow mine, and her brow arches when she sees where my tastes have landed.

“Please tell me it’s Ledger we’re talking about and not Bo.” And like he can hear us talking about him, Bo cranes his neck in our direction and flashes a bright smile.

“Definitely not Bo. I don’t need to be hooking up with my brother’s friends. I want someone I don’t ever have to see again.”

“Then you don’t want Ledger either. He’s sergeant at arms for a local MC, and Levi’s hired them to help keep trouble out.”

I sigh. Small town problems. Everyone knows everyone, and there’s no such thing as a true stranger.

“The app or bust then, I guess.” I give my future sister-in-law a forlorn look before I press the button and start swiping through photos while she pours me another Ranch Water.

I’m sipping on it and slowly filling out my profile when I feel a presence at my side, and the scent of leather, pine, and cigars fills my senses. I glance to my right before I allow myself to look up and see black cowboy boots and jeans that are perfectly fitted to the man wearing them. Like he arrived out of the blue to fix all my problems. I lift my lashes to see Carson Beckett, quite possibly the only man who could even hope to garner as much attention as my brothers or Bishop in this town.