Page 59 of CowSex

“Ah, that. I’ll help if I can, but you don’t have to make my stay free. I already paid in full, well in advance of my arrival. Anyway, it’ll be good to get creative.”

He looks my way and opens his mouth as if to say something and then stops and returns his focus to the road ahead.

“I have Malia, my daughter, next weekend, but I’ll go back to Aspen and stay there. Kai will get here in a couple of weeks. He arrives on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and will stay the weekend, I’ll also have my daughter back again then, too, and would like to have their rooms ready, if it’s possible?.”

I knew that his son was coming, I’d heard him on the phone.

“It’s Saturday now, Cowboy, that gives us less than three weeks.”

He sends another quick glance my way before looking back at the road.

“I have a couple of the boys that work for me coming along to help first thing Monday morning. They’ll get rid of all the old furniture and then paint, but I need new stuff to replace it with.”

“Why don’t you just get the stuff from your house in Aspen?”

“Because I haven’t decided what I’m gonna do yet. Live at the cabin or just keep it as a getaway.”

“Fair enough. I’m not sure how you think you’re gonna get furniture delivered at such short notice, though.”

He smiles an insanely sexy smile and gives me a wink. “I’m Koa Carmichael, Essex. That’s how.”

Oh, be still, my fluttering fanny.

EVEN THOUGH MY ARM ISin the compression bandage, I help Koa cook dinner. Tonight is pork chops, I opt for just a salad as an accompaniment, but Koa once again has a baked potato.

The mood is relaxed, helped by the wine we bought in town, and the conversation flows. We finish one bottle at the table, and then I open another while Koa switches to beer when we move to the living room. We talk about everything and nothing. Our lives, loves, hopes, and dreams. We talk about our favourite films, shows, and music.

I sit curled at one end of the sofa and Koa sat the other, his long legs stretch out and rest on the coffee table.

The telly isn’t on tonight, so the only noise is from our conversation and the occasional spit and crackle that comes from the fire.

I’m searching for bedroom furniture online from my phone when Koa asks, “So, what went wrong with the guy you were dating?”

“Nothing really went wrong. We were a bit more than dating. We’d been together for five years and living together for over three of those.”

“Okay, what was it then? Why’d it end?”

He stares into the fire as he asks, so I do the same as I form an answer in my head.

“I thought he wasthe one. I thought that after three years of living together I was ready to make it permanent. Get married, start a family.”

“He didn’t?”

“Neither of us did in the end. I mean, I did, and I sort of gave him an ultimatum. It’s me or the job kind of thing.”

I take a sip of my wine. It’s a Californian cab sav and going down like an Essex girl after, well, after a few wines.

I’m not drunk, just nicely chilled and a little bit wordy.

“We’ve both worked really hard at our jobs the past few years. Reggie’s in international finance and was recently made a partner at his company; all of my time has been spent building my business, my followers, and marketing.”

I pause and watch his throat move as he swigs from his beer bottle.

“I don’t know why, but I’ve always wanted to come to Colorado, so earlier this year, I started making plans to spend six months here. Reggie, my boyfriend, obviously couldn’t take a six-month break from work, but he had enough holiday to stay for five weeks, so I booked the flights.”

“He cancelled?” His eyes land on mine.

I nod. Not feeling even remotely upset. This is how I know for sure that I’ve made the right decision about Reggie.