Page 49 of Buck ’Em Cowgirl

“I’m just saying,” Beau said, his voice pulling me back. “I came here to offer you a peace offering. Before I thought you were dying and broke in. I want to be friends. We’ll be working near each other. We should be friends.”

“Should we?” I asked, tilting my head.

His shoulders slumped slightly, and I felt a twinge of guilt for giving him a hard time.

“Listen, I just got out of a serious relationship⁠—”

“You told me. I remember.” His voice was soft and his eyes were wide, taking it all in.

I nodded, chewing my cheek. “Yeah, well, it kind of fucked me up. We were. . . whatever.”

“Whatever?” he repeated, his brow arching slightly.

“Whatever.” I chuckled softly.

Mike was just whatever in my life. I didn’t know it then, and maybe I still don’t fully know it, but the truth was, he wasn’t worth a second of my time, especially since he was giving Trishelle most of his.

For a moment, the tension between us felt lighter. “Alright. Is that why you walked out on me?”

My smile fell, and I glanced down at the table. “I’m sorry about that,” I said quietly. “I got out of the shower and saw you were gone. Figured you left me, to be honest. I saw your stuff still there, but before I could think, I imagined I’d never see you again. I thought I was going to have a job in Chicago. I never expected to end up here, and then Harleigh said you lived in Dallas.”

“I did.”

“You did?”

He nodded, leaning back in his chair. His shoulders flexed with the movement, and it was impossible not to notice the way the muscles pulled against his tight shirt.

“Yeah. I was living in Dallas for a while, but then I decided I needed to come back. So, I bought the property next to Kline a few months ago.”

“Lucky me,” I muttered, but my heart betrayed me with a flutter, as if it knew this was anything but luck.

“How did you get out of the hotel?” He leaned forward in his chair again, and this time, I got a glimpse at his thick thighs inside his jeans. “I was in the lobby dealing with Dalton’s bullshit, so I figured I’d see you walk out.”

“I left out of the back of the hotel. I walked down to the road and took a rideshare, wanting to avoid you at all costs in case I did see you.”

“Jesus, Cowgirl. Was it really that bad? Way to hit my ego.”

“Stop.” I playfully swatted at his knee.

The moment my hand made contact, we both froze. His gaze dropped to where my hand had landed, lingering just a second too long. I coughed, pulling my hand back awkwardly, desperate to shift the conversation somewhere else.

“So,” I muttered, grasping for something—anything—to change the mood. “What were you saying about being friends?”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, shifting in his chair. “I, uh, wanted to come here and extend a peace offering.”

He gestured toward the bag and held up his coffee cup. “Figured we’d be seeing a lot of each other, so I wanted to put everything behind us. Thought maybe we could start fresh.”

“Does that mean you’ll stop with the innuendos?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him, though I couldn’t quite keep the smile off my lips.

The edge of his mustache twitched, a telltale sign of the smirk he was fighting. “If I tell you I’ll do my best, does that count?”

I giggled softly, the sound surprising me.

“I think I can work with that, but as a first order of business, you have to promise to never break into my house again,” I said, crossing my arms.

“You took my key,” he pointed out, nodding toward my pocket.

“Okay, fine. No more spares?”