Marrying the Cowboy

by Trish Milburn

  She took a bite of a cookie and closed her eyes in appreciation. There wasn’t a better comfort food than oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. After she’d downed three cookies and the entire glass of milk, she let her head drop against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. The longer she sat, the more her body relaxed. She really needed to drag her tired butt to the shower, but she couldn’t scrape up enough energy.

  Elissa was drifting close to sleep when the door opening startled her awake. She blinked several times to clear her vision, then glanced toward the kitchen to see Pete walking through the doorway carrying two pizza boxes from Gino’s and a couple of sodas.

  “Hope those aren’t both for you,” she said.

  A momentary odd expression passed over his face before he walked toward her. “That depends. What will you give me for a slice of pepperoni?”

  “How about I promise not to leave a lizard in your bed?” For a guy who toted a gun and had chased down his share of criminals, he hated lizards with a maddening passion.

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Just for that, I ought to take these down to the music hall and make them first come, first served.”

  “But you won’t because I’m going to now do my best to look pitiful and make you feel sorry for me.” She pulled an exaggerated pout.

  Pete rolled his eyes at her before stepping over her legs and plopping down on the couch beside her.

  She smiled and batted her eyes at him. “I knew it would work.”

  “You do look pretty pitiful.”

  She swatted him on the arm before nabbing a big slice of pepperoni. After swallowing a bite, she glanced back at him. “I noticed you didn’t take it easy on your day off.”

  “Nope, it needed doing.” He sounded distracted.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He glanced at her as if only suddenly realizing she was there. “Nothing, why?”

  “I don’t know. You sound...off.”

  He shrugged as he pulled another slice of pizza out of the box and then clicked on the TV. “Tired, I guess.”

  “No, that’s not it.”

  He looked at her more fully this time and raised an eyebrow. “You’re a mind reader now?”

  “I don’t have to be to know you’re not telling me the truth.”

  “I am tired, and so are you. So let’s just chill, okay?”

  “Whatever.” She shifted her attention to the TV and watched as Pete flipped channels. By the time he started on the third round through the offerings, she couldn’t stand it and stole the remote from him. “God, guys are so irritating with these things. Pick something and stick with it.” She flipped until she found an episode of Hawaii Five-0.

  “Haven’t you seen this one already?”

  “Yeah. And your point?”

  “That you’ve seen it already.”

  “And Alex O’Loughlin isn’t any less hot on the third viewing.”

  “Great. Thanks for that image in my head.”

  “What? Like you’ve never watched something just because there was a hot girl in it.”

  “Not when I’m with you, or any other woman.”

  “Yeah, well, my house. And I’m going to watch hot cops.”

  “I’m a cop.”

  She looked toward him, wondering if she’d heard what she thought she had. But Pete was shoving another piece of pizza in his mouth and staring at the TV. No, she must have imagined it. Damn, she thought she’d gotten past her little infatuation, but evidently not judging from the way her heart had leapt at what she’d imagined he’d said. Her crazy brain had manufactured not only the response but the tone as well, as if Pete wanted her to look at him the way she looked at McGarrett and the gang.

  With a mental shake of her head, she refocused on her dinner. After a few minutes of Pete’s cop commentary on the show, she was ready to slug him.

  “Remind me not to watch cop shows with you ever again,” she said.

  After the program went off, she tossed the remote into his lap and had every intention of heading for the shower. But she couldn’t force herself to rise. Instead, she sank deeper into the couch and let herself get caught up in The Fellowship of the Ring. It was the part where Frodo and the rest of the fellowship were in Rivendell.

  “I want to live there,” Elissa said.

  “You just like the elf dudes.”

  “That would be a nice bonus.” But what she really liked was how beautiful and peaceful it looked, ethereal. “That’s one place I’ve never been.”

  “Pretty sure no one has been to Rivendell.”

  She tossed her balled-up napkin at him. “New Zealand, you goob.”

  “I thought you’d been just about everywhere with your parents.”

  With a travel-writer mother and an arts-dealer father, she had been all over the world until she’d decided to live a normal high school existence with her aunt. “Lots of locales, but not all. The world’s a big place.”

  “Maybe I should go see some of it before the next tornado blows me away,” he said.

  She gave him a stern look. “Don’t joke about that.”

  He seemed surprised by her vehemence. In truth, she was, too. But every time she thought about how close he’d come to dying, it hurt her heart. And a voice deep inside her whispered that it was more than friendship talking.

  She pulled her gaze away from him and refocused on the movie. She sensed that he watched her for a few more seconds before he also returned his attention to the TV screen. Her common sense yelled at her to get up, to leave the room, but it was as if she’d used up the last of the day’s worth of mobility just getting to the couch in the first place. Her eyes started growing heavy as the movie’s atmospheric music lulled her to relax even more. Maybe she’d just sleep here and Pete would eventually leave.

  “Elissa.”

  Was someone saying her name? It seemed so soft, so far away. She moved toward the sound and tried to open her eyes but couldn’t. But that was okay. She was safe where she was, and whoever was calling her would still be there when she woke up.

  * * *

  PETE STARTED TO reach for Elissa, where she’d snuggled against his arm, to wake her up, but the look on her face stopped him. She looked relaxed, an expression he hadn’t seen on her since before the storm. He wasn’t the only one who’d worked himself to exhaustion today, and Elissa deserved to rest even if that meant he couldn’t.

  Chances were she’d wake up in a few minutes and make her way to her bedroom. Until then, he’d just focus on the movie and not on the feel of her warm cheek against his upper arm. Or on the fact that her aunt had evidently gotten the crazy idea into her head to push the two of them together. If Elissa knew, she’d have a fit. But he wasn’t about to point it out to her and make everything awkward when he was still staying in her guest room.

  He fought sleep as long as he could but felt himself starting to drift when Elissa shifted against him. Before he could pull himself fully awake, Elissa had shifted to where her head was lying against his leg. He froze, unsure what to do. If she woke up now, they’d both be embarrassed. Could he slide out from under her without waking her so she’d never know what she’d done? He tried, but as soon as he moved she shifted again and placed her hand on his leg as she might her pillow.

  His breath caught when his body reacted in a very uncomfortable way, a way that it shouldn’t react to Elissa. He closed his eyes and let his breath out slowly, but it did nothing to alleviate his unexpected state. Hell, he should have woken her up when she’d first started drifting off. Better yet, he should have gone out to the Frothy Stein for a drink instead of bringing pizza back to the house. But that damn hindsight was frustratingly twenty-twenty.

  Even though a voice in his head told him he shouldn’t, he let his gaze wander to her face. A lock of her ha
ir lay across her cheek, and before he could think better of it he reached to push it back behind her ear. When his fingers grazed across her skin, he realized he’d never touched her face. She wasn’t a dainty flower of a woman, so the smooth softness of her cheek surprised him. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but the tender feeling that brief touch caused wasn’t it.

  His thoughts careened back several years, to that hot August day when he’d seen her for the first time as they’d been beginning their freshman year of high school. He’d thought her the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Tall with long dark hair and an infectious smile, and she’d been to so many interesting places. His only forays out of the country had been two weekend trips to Mexico. She’d been new, exotic, and he’d fallen instantly and hard.

  But over time, his undying love had faded the way high school crushes usually did. Instead, they’d become good friends, and until this moment that had been enough. Now his thoughts were drifting into dangerous territory. The stories of friends who’d tried to be more only to ruin the friendship were legion, and he wasn’t willing to risk it over what might only be a case of hormones and too long a dry spell.

  He needed to round up a date, and fast.

  But for now, he couldn’t stop looking at Elissa while it was safe. She’d never know.

  He shook his head. What was he doing? He let his head drop back against the couch and closed his eyes. To keep dangerous thoughts out of his head, he forced himself to think of other things. His need to find a new place to live, his work schedule for the rest of the week, the price of a cup of coffee at the Primrose Café. Anything and everything but the feel of his friend’s soft cheek against his leg.

  * * *

  ELISSA CAME AWAKE slowly and snuggled into the warmth of her bed. But when she tried to turn over, something didn’t seem right. As she opened her eyes, the cogs in her head clicked through a couple more turns. She gasped and jerked upright when she realized where she was, waking Pete in the process.

  “What’s wrong?” he said as he pushed the upper half of his body up off the couch.

  Elissa noticed that not only had they both fallen asleep, but somehow they’d also ended up lying down with a quilt draped over them. And early morning light was filtering in through the windows. Turning away from him, she extricated herself from the quilt and stood.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

  Pete tossed the quilt aside and dropped his feet to the floor. “Me, neither.”

  Elissa brushed her hair out of her face and resisted running from the room as if she’d done something wrong. Nothing had happened, even if she did wake up snuggled against one of her best friends. The one she’d been having unwise feelings toward.

  “Good morning.” Verona’s chipper voice startled Elissa. “Would you two like some coffee? I’ve just brewed a fresh pot.”

  Oh, hell. Their situation was growing more awkward by the moment. And the too-happy look on her aunt’s face rubbed Elissa the wrong way. After some quick mental aerobics, Elissa decided the best course was to act as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

  “Sounds good, but the shower is calling my name first. I’m still wearing yesterday’s workday.” Before Verona or Pete could say anything in response, Elissa headed toward the bathroom at what felt like an excruciatingly normal pace. But she was determined to not give any indication that she was freaked out by sleeping on the couch with Pete. She would act as if it were no weirder than if she, India and Skyler had had a slumber party and all crashed out on the couch together.

  Once she was out of their sight, safe behind the bathroom door, she closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. Falling asleep on the couch with Pete was one thing. How had she ended up curled up next to him, using his arm as a pillow? Why hadn’t he gone to bed after she fell asleep? Had he conked out right after her? The clean lot next door indicated he’d had just as busy and tiring a day as she had.

  She shook her head and shucked her dirty clothes. Maybe a warm shower would calm her racing thoughts and she’d emerge from the bathroom to find things weren’t as awkward as they felt right now. Yeah, right.

  By the time she finished showering, her heart rate hadn’t slowed any. Why was she so freaked out? It wasn’t as if they’d done anything. They hadn’t even kissed, though she could now kick herself for letting that image form in her head. She shouldn’t be thinking that way about someone she’d known since he’d been a gangly fifteen-year-old.

  Well, he wasn’t gangly or fifteen anymore, was he? No, here in the safety of her steamy bathroom, she could admit to herself that the man she’d awakened next to had filled out nicely. And if she stripped away the freaking out, it had actually felt oddly nice to have that warmth and firmness next to her.

  She cursed under her breath. These kinds of thoughts were stupid because they weren’t going anywhere. They were buddies, nothing more. Not to mention she was quite happy with her casual dating lifestyle, and Pete, while he dated, too, was going to eventually be one of those settle-down-and-have-two-point-five-kids sorts of guys.

  After taking a deep breath, she opened the door and headed for her room to get dressed. She waited until she heard Pete close himself in the bathroom before she emerged and headed for the kitchen, determined not to even acknowledge she was aware of Verona’s plan. She’d already told her not to go down that road. So if Verona persisted, Elissa was just going to pretend she didn’t notice until her aunt gave up and refocused her matchmaking efforts elsewhere. There were plenty of other unattached people in town she could drive up the wall.

  When she entered the kitchen, she headed straight for the coffeepot. She filled her thermal bottle and then nabbed a couple of the oatmeal cookies.

  “You need something a little healthier than cookies for breakfast,” Verona said as she emerged from the laundry room at the opposite end of the kitchen.

  “I’ll grab something on the way to work.”

  “I don’t mind making breakfast for you and Pete.”

  Elissa didn’t miss the hopeful note in Verona’s voice, but she didn’t let it show. She nodded toward the bathroom. “You’ll have to ask Pete if he wants anything. I’ve got to get cracking.”

  “You two looked so cozy when I came home last night.”

  Elissa gave a little snort of a laugh. “I was so tired I probably could have slept on the driveway.” She took a big bite of a cookie and headed for the door. “Later.”

  As she made her escape to the garage, Elissa was already planning ways to stay out late. She needed to keep away from Verona until her jittery feelings regarding Pete went away. She needed to be able to say with absolute certainty that she wasn’t interested in her friend romantically, and if she lied, even a little bit, she was afraid her aunt would know. And then that particular runaway train would be impossible to stop.

  * * *

  “PETE.”

  The sound of Anne Marie’s voice jerked Pete from his wandering thoughts. He realized when he looked at her standing in the doorway to the 911 dispatch room that she’d obviously called to him more than once. “Sorry, what?”

  “I said there’s a wreck out on Gilbert Station Road where it meets up with Buckner Lane. Where were you anyway? Because it sure wasn’t here.”

  Back on the couch with Elissa curled up next to him. But he wasn’t about to spill that truth to Anne Marie, or anyone else for that matter. Especially when he was damn confused about how it had felt to wake up with the realization that they’d spent the entire night nestled together on the couch.

  He shoved the thoughts aside as he stood but refused to meet Anne Marie’s gaze. “Got it.” He grabbed his new hat off the edge of his desk and headed out the door.

  But as he drove out of town, his mind shifted back to that morning, to how Elissa had jumped off the couch as if she’d been burned. Did she t
hink he’d deliberately wrapped her in his arms? Surely she wouldn’t think that when they’d been friends for so long.

  He rubbed his forehead, trying to prevent the headache he had from getting worse. If he acted normally, things would be fine. Of course, it would help if he could forget that moment when a part of him had wanted to pull her even closer. He told himself that was nothing more than the involuntary response a guy was bound to have when he woke up with a female body snug against him. But a little voice at the back of his brain whispered that he was lying to himself, that maybe he had been without realizing it for a long time.

  “Hell.” Just what he needed when he was sleeping in the next room. He had to find a new place, and soon.

  When he reached the intersection where a pickup truck had crunched the front passenger side of a small car, he refocused on his job. But when he stepped out of his patrol car, he recognized the car just before he heard the ambulance siren behind him.

  He hurried to the open driver’s door to find India sitting with her feet on the pavement and the airbag deflated. Pete dropped to one knee in front of her. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “I think so, but...” She placed her hand on her stomach. “I’ve got to make sure the baby is okay.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t see her. The sun was in my eyes.”

  Pete glanced up at a man he didn’t recognize, evidently the driver of the pickup. “Sir, are you injured?”

  The guy shook his head. “I’m fine. Is she okay?” Worry filled his expression and his shaky voice.

  “If you’ll go wait by your truck, I’ll be with you in a minute.” Pete refocused his attention on India. “The ambulance is almost here. Have you called Liam?”