Page 7 of Her Missing Cowboy (Silver Creek Ranch #10)

Seven

Cassie

The room felt cold when Cassie opened her eyes and it wasn’t the freezing cold air conditioning like in most hotel rooms. It was the knowledge that she had been left alone in bed after spreading her legs for that man.

The pain she felt was significant. What would make him abandon her after the night they had?

The lovers had picked up right where they left off in Syria.

The chemistry was off the charts. That told her it wasn’t a performance issue.

When she thought about it, she realized that Joaquin never took off his clothes, even when she asked him to.

It didn’t seem suspicious at the time, but now she was giving him the side eye.

“What the fuck, Joaquin?” Cassie said out loud to an empty room.

Just as she was letting her mind run rampant with all kinds of scenarios, her phone rang. Hearing the smooth sound of Bill Withers singing Lean on Me could only mean one thing. It was her brother calling. Maybe he could help her figure things out.

“Hey, big brother,” she whispered into the phone.

“Cassie? Why are you whispering? Are you okay?”

“I was, but I’m not sure anymore.”

There was a bit of silence on the line and then his angry voice rang through.

“What the hell does that mean? Do I need to get on the road and come give that man some act right?”

“Maybe. I don’t know, yet.”

“Cassie, stop fucking playing around. What happened? Tell me now, girl. I ain’t fucking around.”

“James, calm down. Things just didn’t go as I anticipated.”

“So, you saw him?”

Cassie took a huge sigh and shook her head, as if he could see her. She was hurt and confused, but she didn’t want to start a war between her brother and Joaquin.

“Yes, I saw him. We ate lunch at the ranch with his co-workers. His boss even gave him the rest of the day off so we could get reacquainted. We spent some time talking and then we spent some alone time together.”

“I don’t need to know about that.”

“Yes, you do because that’s where things went left.”

“Did he hurt you? I’ll kill that fucker.”

“No! Stop it big brother. I don’t need a protector right now. I just need a listening ear and maybe your manly opinion after I tell you.”

“Fine. Tell me.”

“We had sex. Our chemistry was off the charts. It was as if we never missed a beat. But there was one odd thing. He never took his clothes off. I thought it was a bit odd, but I was too caught up in the moment to care. The problem came when I fell asleep. I asked him to disrobe and get in bed with me. He didn’t say no, but he didn’t comply either.

When I woke up, he was gone. No note, nothing. ”

“Say what now?”

“Yeah, I get that some men don’t like to cuddle, but Joaquin was never one of them. He always loved to snuggle afterward. Hell, he enjoyed it more than I did. I just can’t figure out what happened. Why did he leave before morning?”

She could hear her brother cursing under his breath. That was not a good sign. Cassie held her breath waiting for James to speak.

“Okay, sis, there are a few reasons a man dips out on a woman he just sexed. One, it was a one-time thing, and he wants to avoid the weird morning after. Two, the sex was trash. Three, he’s hiding something.”

“I’m going with number three because we would have discussed number one and number two is not a possibility. Trust me when I say the man had a good time.”

“I’ll take your word for it. No details please. So, you think he’s hiding something, but what?”

“Not sure. It may have something to do with the reason he wouldn’t take his clothes off. Earlier, he refused to talk too much about the IED explosion. That could be something.”

“Like maybe he was injured?”

“Maybe. Let me contact my IT guy. He may be able to get me his medical records. Let me call you back.”

And just like that, she was off to the races trying to figure out just what her sexy cowboy was hiding. She was on a mission. It didn’t matter what it cost or how long it would take. Cassie wanted to know everything. It was the only thing she could think of to soothe her soul.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Michaels, it’s Cassie.”

“What’s up, girl?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I need your help again. Listen, can you pull up some medical records of the guy you were working on for me?”

“Medical records may be a little tricky for this guy. He wasn’t exactly in the military.”

“No, but he did say he was seen in military hospitals and the VA. You should be able to get those, right?”

“Babe, I can get my hands on anything. It just may take a minute or two. Hold on.”

She could hear the familiar pecking of keys in the background. Michaels was a super genius. If anyone could hack into medical records without getting caught, it was him. Waiting patiently, she grabbed a bottle of water from the bedside table and swigged half the bottle.

After placing the call on speaker, Cassie got up and moved her way to the bathroom.

She brushed her teeth and put her hair back into a sleek ponytail.

Between Joaquin and the pillow, she looked like a wilder beast. She grabbed her luggage and pulled out a fresh pair of undies, a bra, jeans, and a cute top.

She grabbed her cowboy boots and a pair of socks to complete the outfit.

The night was still young, and she needed to eat dinner. She may as well go out and see what this little town had to offer. She planned to shower after the phone call and then head out on the town.

“Cassie, I’ve got what you need. I’m sending an email now,” Michaels called out to her.

“Oh, my goodness. Michaels, you are a lifesaver. Send me your bill and I got you. Thanks so much for all your help.”

“No problem, Cassie. Let me know if you need anything else.”

She was dying to look at the files, but her stomach was growling.

Cassie jumped into the shower, got all dolled up and headed down to the front desk.

She got a recommendation from the front desk clerk for a bar called the Hen House.

According to the nice lady, the bar served the best burgers in town, this late at night. That’s exactly what the doctor ordered.

Cassie settled into a booth in the corner, where she could watch people without them watching her.

It was a weeknight, and the bar wasn’t overly packed.

She could see this place being overrun with cowboys and their prey on the weekends.

Tonight, she was happy for less traffic.

She pulled out her phone and began reading over the files that Michaels sent her.

The shock of what she found almost brought her to tears.

Her poor cowboy had lost a limb in the attack.

Why the hell didn’t he say something? Obviously, he was fully functioning if he could work as a ranch hand.

Riding horses all day was no joke. Plus, when they were making love, he didn’t miss a beat.

She couldn’t figure out what the issue was.

Well, if Joaquin had an issue with his prosthetic, then she would just have to let him know that she didn’t care. There was nothing about him that she wouldn’t love.