Page 5 of My Cowboy Boss (Lucky River Cowboys #2)

Arizona

I unlock the apartment door and I’m inside at record speed. Our elderly neighbor Donna whispers, “She’s sleeping well.”

I know my smile is bright and I say all the right things, but I don’t remember a word of it. Once Donna is gone, I lock up and walk over to the sofa to check on Aspen for myself.

An oscillating fan stirs the warm air in the room. The air conditioner has always struggled to keep the apartment cool.

My sister is lying on her side, the hand that’s not injured curled beneath her head the way she’s slept since she was a kid. And it hits me square in the heart how she was barely older than a kid herself before she gave up all her dreams at the time to raise me.

A sitcom we’ve both seen a dozen times and love is still playing on the TV and I sit in the worn armchair next to the sofa.

Aspen and I have had some of our best conversations among the fictional neighbors and laugh track. I tell her, “Just between you and me, your boss is the hottest guy I’ve ever met. He said he’d give me a ride and he meant a ride home, but I was thinking of a completely different kind of ride.”

And he kissed me nearly senseless. A kiss, though perfect as it was, can’t be repeated.

I glance over at my sister’s peaceful face. Slumber has tucked away the care and concerns she deals with for a little while and I’m thankful for that.

“That kiss can never happen again. He thinks I’m you.

” And I feel guilt all the way down to my bones.

“And because you’re so brilliant,” I whisper during a commercial break touting the joy of a coffee brand.

“You’re one of the smartest people I know and, there’s no way I can ever truly fill your shoes. I feel like such a fraud.”

Panda meows softly in agreement and I absently pet her head before I lean over to straighten the throw blanket covering Aspen.

“And you’re sweet and giving,” I continue. “You were the rock and the anchor when there was nothing steady in my life.” And now that I’m pretending to be you in this job you desperately want, what if because I’m attracted to your boss, I derail this whole thing?

And attraction is a mild word for what I feel when I’m around him. I sizzle when he’s near. I think about what Flint said.

I heard the it’s-all-good fakeness in his voice when he said he had a painful childhood.

Spoken so offhand like it was no big deal.

But pain is like an iceberg. You see the tip of it and think you’re okay but it’s the huge part hidden deep down that hits months or years later that wrecks you when you least expect it.

That’s why I didn’t say anything other than telling him it must have been hard on him. After my parents died, we were nearly drowned in platitudes. People mean well but sometimes say brainless stuff when you’re hurting.

And I didn’t want to do that to Flint.

The sitcom ends with laughter, and the end credits roll. I rise to shut off the TV.

Normally, Panda sleeps in my bed curled up against me but right now she’s snuggled at my sister’s feet. Everything I love most in the world is here in front of me and I want to protect them both. I want them to live happy lives. I can’t screw up this job.

“Goodnight,” I whisper to both of them and head to bed.

The night is far too short, and the morning greets me with fragments of a dream I can’t quite latch onto.

After I rise and get ready for work, I head into the living room to find Donna there at the kitchen table. There’s a mug of coffee in front of her and a box of donuts between them.

“Sleep okay?” I ask Aspen.

“I did after Donna convinced me to take the pain medicine the doctor prescribed, and it knocked me out.” Aspen cuts a donut in half and the gooey filling oozes out. She licks her finger.

Not wanting to take strong medicine is a throwback from when she was younger. She would say she needed to keep a clear head for my sake.

“The car broke down at the ranch,” I tell her stifling a yawn as I turn to Donna. “Would it be possible for me to borrow yours?”

“Sure, honey.” Donna hands me her keys. “Ignore all the sex toys in the backseat.”

I pause as I search for a pair of my sister’s heels and Donna laughs. “That got your attention. I bet you’re wide awake now.”

I laugh and open the door, coming face to face with Flint.

My stomach drops. He’s here. Whywhywhy? Did he discover the truth?

I quickly dart into the hallway which forces him to step back and I pull the apartment door closed behind me. If he was the one who looked at the resume and he hears my sister’s name today, then he’ll know the wrong person has been working at the ranch.

And I know he won’t be happy about that at all.

Flint

Arizona is acting skittish, and it’s clearly fear I detect on her face.

She takes a nervous glance over her shoulder at the door and I know my instincts were right.

She’s hiding something. That fucking sucks because I spent the entire damn night thinking about that kiss.

Almost convincing myself that I was wrong about her.

I jerk my chin toward her place. “Everything okay?”

“Yes,” she says on a rushed breath. She fidgets, tugging on the end of her shirt. The skirt she’s wearing with it defines her curves like it’s outlining them for a presentation. In the strappy sandals she’s wearing, her toenails are painted red, matching the bright lipstick on her lips.

I make myself look away and hand over her car keys.

“You said you’d look at my car tomorrow…which is today…It’s so early…”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I say gruffly. My brain kept recalling your face and your body and then my throbbing cock wouldn’t let me rest.

“Oh…um…then I’ll give you a ride to the ranch. One second while I get my—”

“There’s no need. Wilder followed me here. I’ll ride back with him.” And it’s a damn good idea if I do that because suspicion or not, I don’t need to be alone with you right now . “But we’ll tail you to make sure the car’s okay.”

Of course it’s okay. I’m not worried about that.

I’m worried about her and I don’t know why I feel the need to watch after her.

“We’ll wait in the parking lot.” I turn and head back outside.

I should have asked her what she was covering up.

And I’m kicking my own ass and calling myself soft for not doing that.

I get in Wilder’s truck and thumb my Stetson back.

“Well don’t you just look like a ray of sunshine,” he says, his lips quirking in amusement.

I grunt at him.

Arizona rushes outside and waves toward the truck before disappearing into her car. A few minutes later, she backs from the parking spot, and we pull out behind her.

“You look at her differently than how you look at anyone else. I think you have a thing for her,” my brother says.

I whip my head around to stare at him, sputtering, “A thing for her?”

“I think you want her.”

I blow out my breath on a huff. “Bullshit.”

Wilder rolls his window down and whistles for a few seconds. “Really? I’m surprised that you don’t. She’s a pretty woman.”

“Yeah, so?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I did, that her outfit…wow. She looks good.”

Irritation courses through me. “If you don’t want to have to sip your meals through a straw, you’ll shut the fuck up.”

Wilder looks at me with a wide grin, clearly delighted and I realized that I stepped right into his trap.

I’m out of sorts now and every little thing that happens for the rest of the morning pisses me off.

I don’t want to think about Arizona. And her lush body. Her delectable lips… dammit!

I hit my thumb with a hammer and step backward into a pile of cow shit. Then I cuss a blue streak. When it’s finally time for lunch, I’m debating on whether or not I should show up because I don’t know how I can be in the same room with Arizona right now.

I’m relieved when Wilder informs me that she went to run an errand and won’t be back until after the meal. Maybe I’ll get a few minutes of peace with her out of the house. I won’t see her. Or catch her scent…

I pull a chair up to the table and I’m reaching for a biscuit when Jonas says, “So you have a thing for the new girl.”

Wilder holds his hands up in surrender. “I only said one comment.”

“To who?” I bite down on the bread. It tastes like a dust bunny. I chew and swallow anyway.

“He told Jude and then Jude told Marshall—”

“So basically everyone,” I cut him off.

“Yeah.” Jonas grins.

“We have a bet going about you and the new hire,” Marshall adds his fucking two cents worth.

I grip my fork, my knuckles going white. “What kind of bet?”

“That you’re going to be a married man before the year is out.”

“And give Mom those grandkids she wants,” Jonas says.

“It’s not like that. I don’t trust her. She’s not who you think she is,” I explain.

“I don’t know. I think Aspen’s pretty nice. She was the few times I’ve talked to her,” Marshall says.

“Aspen? You mean Arizona,” I correct.

Wilder frowns and looks at Jonas. “Wait a second…”

Jonas scratches his head and looks around the table. “Does anyone remember what was on her resume? Maybe I looked at it wrong.”

Wilder frowns then says. “I thought her name was Aspen too and when I heard her go by Arizona, I assumed that maybe she was using her middle name.”

My heart thuds painfully. I make myself sit still and I have to fight to keep anger from showing on my face, but I can’t keep it out of my voice. “You thought? You assumed?” I don’t know who I’m mad at. Him or myself.

Wilder’s brows raise. “What the hell does it matter if she’s using a middle name?”

“If that’s her name. But if she lied about that…” Jonas doesn’t finish what he was going to say.

“And he likes her…” Marshall adds.

“Well, shit,” Wilder says.

I stand and push away from the table. I don’t want her to have lied to me about anything. I don’t want the worry clawing in my stomach to tear through me. I don’t want to be right that she’s up to no good.

Enough. I stride out of the house. One way or another, I’m getting the truth.