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“She did not.” Bodhi was outraged. “What am I, twelve?”

“She loves you. She’s concerned about you.” Nico snuggled closer and kissed the hollow in his throat. “I think it’s lovely. Your granddad, mom, aunts, cousins, they’re all on your side cheering you on.”

“More like waiting for me to fail.”

“They love you, Bodhi. And you love them. That’s the way it should be,” she said sadly, and he hated that she didn’t seem to have a family cheering squad. She hadn’t shared much about her family. He wanted her to feel comfortable to talk to him, not feel like he was quizzing her like his mom always had. He’d felt like his ass was planted in a witness chair during his childhood and in college.

But maybe they had time.

Nico had just snuggled closer to him, Beck was dancing with Ash, and Bowen had taken the stage and sung a few songs with Dylan Telford. And some famous ex-rocker who’d settled in Marietta and opened a music store jumped up on stage before the main band started their first set. Now Bowen danced with Lang.

“Thank you for this night,” Nico said, smoothing two fingers up his chest and twirling them in his hair. “Thank you for this week. I feel…I don’t even know how to explain how I feel. I feel freed. I was driving away from my life, not sure where I wanted to go, and I heard the improv podcast and was thinking about saying yes and…and then I saw a sign for the Copper Mountain Rodeo. That was definitely something I knew nothing about, and I thought it would be a window into such a different life, so I pulled off, bought some jeans and boots, and played with the idea of staying a week.”

“And I was at the bar jawing with my cousins about how to figure out what was up with Granddad—how we could help him when he was too stubborn to let us.”

Nico felt tears prick her eyes, and this time she didn’t try to hide them.

“I can’t believe how close I came to never meeting you,” she said. “I am so, so happy I stopped. And so thrilled I walked into Grey’s Saloon. I only did it because it scared me—the idea of walking into a bar alone in a small western town where I knew no one was intimidating.”

“I wondered at the expression on your face. You looked so determined, but there was a vulnerable glint, a fragility. I had just told my cousins that I was going to find my rodeo bride that night and you walked in the door.”

“Fate.” She tried to sound insouciant and not like she was silently begging him to ask her to stay beyond Sunday night.

“Dumb luck.”

“A chance to make amends,” she murmured, just as the rather raucous song called ‘Wildflowers’ finished with a flourish, and then the music kicked into a dreamy ballad—another song she didn’t recognize.

“My country music knowledge is abysmal,” she noted.

“You’ve got the instincts and the moves,” he said. “Just a little tutoring and you’ll be right as rain.”

“What can you possibly have to make amends for?” Bodhi tucked her body closer to his and sang softly as they danced.

So much. But she didn’t want to tell him. Not tonight with the moon and the stars and the lights and her being part of it all. They’d had fun eating with his family. He’d introduced her to so many people. She’d felt like she’d belonged. Like she was home.

She’d tell him tomorrow, after the rodeo, after the Bash. Maybe he’d be able to understand. Maybe he’d be able to accept that she wanted to make amends, that she wanted to change and to help. Maybe her cooperation and intentions would be enough.

“I want to be alone with you,” she whispered. “Can we leave? Can you stay with me tonight or do you need to go home with your family?”

He took out his phone, checked for messages, and typed quickly.

“I’m a free man.”

Back in her room, she undressed him, taking care with his wrist. Laying him out on her bed like a sacrifice and then indulging herself making long, slow, tender love to him—taking control and ceding some back. And when they were sated, she curled up next to his side as if she’d always been there.

Of course it was too good to last. Nico heard a loud bang and shot up in bed, confused, breath coming in gasps, shivering.

“What is it? Bad dream?” Bodhi sat up next to her, holding her, his hand stroking circles on her bare back.

“Did you hear the bang?” she asked hopefully. It had been so loud. It had woken her. She could still feel the sticky wetness on her skin even as her hands came away clean.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Bodhi admitted.

She curled into him, even though she knew she shouldn’t. He was clean. She wasn’t.

“Come back to me,” he said lying down again and pulling her close. “Do you remember what the dream was?”

She didn’t want to lie to him. “Just pieces,” she said. “It’s all so confusing.”