Page 112 of Cowboy Heat

It’s Beau. I’m in bed with him in Big House on Blue Lolita.

He’s warm and sleeping heavy.

His arm is across my stomach and his leg rests between mine.

He isn’t holding me.

It’s more like he’s using me as a soft place to land.

And I love that.

Iwantto be that for Beau Montgomery.

I want to be his safe space. Where he can tell me all the ways his heart has broken and healed. Where he can let me hold his hand when the past tries to pull him back down. Where he can show me his courage and empathy and scars.

I look at him now, face slack with sleep and realize that I don’t regret the choice I made in protecting him or myself from Louis Becker.

I’m glad Beau is with me.

Even if it’s dangerous.

I could go back to sleep, but I realize my racing mind is what got me going. That and I need to use the bathroom.

Beau must really be in a deep sleep. I’m able to move out of his hold slowly but without him stirring. He readjusts slightly when both of my feet hit the floor, however, he isn’t getting up. I stay there a minute to make sure, then I head for the bathroom down the hall. On the way there, I pass the rising sun and grab a change of clothes from my overnight bag.

While I had no problem sleeping in Beau’s oversized shirt and my somehow-ripped pajama shorts, walking around that relaxed with danger lurking around Robin’s Tree doesn’t feel as sensible. So I go through the motions of getting clean, smelling good, and even corral my hair into a high-pony that I usually only wrangle together when I’m about to attempt to exercise.

Then I smile in the mirror, and despite the bruising, give myself a nod.

I guess that’s right around the time I remember I got up for more than just the bathroom.

There are no new messages or missed calls on my phone as I check it while I’m standing in the kitchen. The digital readout says it’s just after seven. I know Mimi is up which means Wyatt is too.

Yet even though I call his phone, it’s Mimi who answers in a huff.

“Are you okay?” she asks in greeting. There’s movement on her end, and I’m sure she’s been up for hours already.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I actually wanted to ask Wyatt something about the Bayou Cowboy story he loves so-”

“You didn’t tell me that Dan Cleary was the man you found in the grave.”

Mimi cuts me off with such ferocity that I’m not registering her words as fast.

“What?” is all I manage.

“Wyatt’s sister is friends with Dan’s ex-husband. They’re in some book club group chat, and he spilled the beans that he had to come to town to ID the body. Was it really Dan?”

She sounds so distressed. I glance at the coffee maker. I should have already made myself a cup.

“I wasn’t supposed to tell you about the body in the grave at all,” I say, catching up mentally. “I just needed you to know that this was serious and you and Wyatt needed to lie low until this whole thing is handled.” My head tilts to the side on reflex like she’s in front of me. “I didn’t realize you and Dan were so close.”

“I’m not, but well, I’m not sure a lot of people know what I do about him.”

My head is almost horizontal.

“What?”

I hear Wyatt saying something in the background. Then Mimi says something to him with the phone covered. The feeling of security a night with Beau has given me is starting to fade. I find my shoes by the door and am putting them on when Mimi focuses back on the conversation.