Page 6 of What the Cowboy Wants (The Westons of Montana #3)

W ith her hands on Cooper’s warm chest, Rose was drowning in sensations. How was it possible that in the twenty-eight years she’d been on this earth, she’d never been kissed like this?

Somewhere a little voice was hoarsely screaming, urging her to stop immediately, but it was far away, and she was way too busy enjoying all the different sensations to pay it any heed—Cooper’s stubble beard against her face, his warm hands all over her, his muscled body plastered against hers, his musky scent seeping through every pore.

Angling his head, he deepened the kiss, while urgent, warm hands slipped beneath her top. Skin on skin. Rose struggled to breathe. The little voice finally penetrated her lust-filled mind. What was she doing?

With superhuman effort, she pulled back, her hand on her galloping heart. “That,” she got out panting, “can never happen again.”

Cooper’s eyes were molten blue ink, his breath falling in gasps over his lips. “Why?”

“Because…” she threw her hand in the air. “My life’s a mess, I’m a mess, and you… you… I don’t know what to make of you. You talk to animals, you’ve somehow healed my wound, and you know what I feel. I’m not comfortable with that!”

“Well, damn it, Red, I haven’t been comfortable since you’ve arrived in Marietta.

I don’t sleep, I don’t eat, all I can think about is you.

” Rubbing his face, he sighed. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone.

And that is not a line, damn you,” he growled, stepping back.

“I’m not apologizing for what happened, but if it’s not what you want, fine.

I’m not interested in relationships or marriage and what I feel when I’m with you, is just too intense, too out of control.

As it is, I have a hard time dealing with picking up on the emotions of my closest family and this craziness is just way too much. ”

Well, now she knew. Rose quickly opened the door. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I don’t go around kissing men I don’t know. This was a momentary madness, most probably because of the bump on my head. Good night.”

Cooper raised an eyebrow. “Really? You keep telling yourself that, Red, but what just happened was no damn momentary madness. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll acknowledge both of us wanted this, both of us have been dreaming about this.

We’re both single—at least I am. What we can try is to spend time together until this craziness disappears. ”

A sharp sword pierced her heart, but she snorted.

“Great offer coming from the most sough-after bachelor in Marietta, I’m sure, but no, thank you.

I’ve been someone’s temporary already, although I didn’t know at the time.

At least you’re honest. If I ever decide to try love again, it will be with someone who wants to be with me always, someone who doesn’t see anyone else when he’s with me, someone who loves me, warts and all, someone who gets me. ”

Cooper opened his mouth, then closed it again, and without another word, he walked out of the house.

Rose locked the door behind him but stayed where she was until she heard his truck driving away.

So that was that. She’d kissed Cooper Weston and if she wasn’t mistaken, he’d taken a piece of her heart with him when he’d left. A fling? Really? Should she accept the fact that men saw her only as a temporary distraction but didn’t consider her for a long-term relationship?

Sighing she dropped her head against the door for a moment. Somehow, she’d have to stop thinking and dreaming about the sexy cowboy.

As she turned, she saw Molly watching her with a what-have-you-done-Rose look in her eyes.

Chuckling, she bent down and picked up the dog.

“Don’t give me that look, I’m not the problem, Cooper has been very clear about what he didn’t want.

I’ll take you back to Laura tomorrow, okay?

Thank you for looking after me, but I’m fine now.

I’ll miss you, but it’s time I get back to living my life. ”

Molly did something with her eyes and, stunned, Rose laughed. If it hadn’t sounded so preposterous, she could’ve sworn Molly had just rolled her eyes. Hugging the dog, she walked down the corridor toward her bedroom.

She was going to miss her so much, but it was time to take control of her life again, time to tell her friends what had happened, time to stop licking her wounds.

Since she’d arrived in Marietta, she’d felt so sorry for herself, she’d been hiding away in the house, wallowing in self-pity and if it hadn’t been for the wonderful friends she’d met on that first night she’d arrived in town, who had kept in touch in spite of all her efforts to ignore them, she would probably still be a mess.

At least she wasn’t as stunned as she’d been when she’d gotten in her car all those months ago and drove away from Seattle, from her life, her boyfriend—okay, the man she’d thought was her boyfriend—her thousands of followers, all the advertisers and their constant demands on her time.

Her future was still very unclear. At this point she wasn’t certain about much, but what she did know was that she was never going back to the life she’d left behind.

She’d been a damn good interior designer.

That was what she was going to do again.

Making people happy and creating beautiful spaces where people felt welcome and safe had always given her such a thrill.

For a while, she’d forgotten her purpose—or rather, her purpose had been so skewed, she couldn’t even see it.

And maybe, when she kept busy, she could put Cooper Weston out of her mind.

Taking out her phone, she inhaled deeply.

She also knew it was time to tell her friends how she’d ended up in Marietta.

The stories about her flying around town were becoming more ridiculous by the day.

While working in the yarn shop, she’d heard the different variations of why she was in Marietta from various members of the town’s gossip mill.

Now she finally had a plan for her future, she wanted to tell her friends what had brought her here. Tuesday was too far away, fingers crossed they could all see her after work on Friday.

*

Thursday lunchtime, Cooper was still at the table having lunch when Willow strolled in. The whole family usually have their meals in Hayden’s home.

“Late again? You’ll have to talk to Hunter at some point,” Becket said with a chuckle.

Cooper swallowed his smile. Willow only showed up for meals lately, if she showed up at all, after Hunter Grant had left the table.

The tall cowboy had joined the Weston Ranch when Becket had stepped away from the day-to-day work on the ranch.

Hunter had also moved into one of the houses on the ranch, a fact that irritated Willow no end.

Maybe because he’d moved into their brother, Walker’s, house.

Or rather, the house that Walker had lived in before that fateful night they’d lost him.

“I still don’t understand why you’ve hired him.” Willow was clearly irritated. “There are so many other people you could’ve asked to join the team on the ranch. It’s bad enough that he works here, but why does he have to live on the ranch and eat with us?”

Hayden who was still sitting at the table, grinned.

“You know why.” He turned to Cooper. “Coop, I’m glad you’re also here.

I’ve been thinking. I’m very pleased to have Hunter Grant work for us.

It’s great having an extra set of hands, but we know he has a ranch in Colorado and at some point he’ll want to go back.

I don’t know when, but we need more help, even now.

I have also been considering buying more land.

That got me thinking—shouldn’t we talk to our cousins Dylan and Carson?

The Grayson Ranch and this one used to be one ranch before Dad and Uncle Grayson got into a fight.

I’m hoping our cousins would be open to discuss managing both ranches as one again.

Both Dad and Uncle Grayson are buried and hopefully, so is the reason why they were so angry they never spoke to each other again.

They are Westons, they are family, and the fact that we have no contact, has been bothering me for a while now. ”

Cooper stared at his older brother. This explained Hayden’s preoccupation over the last few days.

“I like the idea,” Becket, Cooper’s second oldest brother said.

“Have you spoken to Mom? She never talks about Uncle Grayson or his family, and as far as I know, she’s never mentioned what their fight was about.

She only told us once about the family feud when we asked why we don’t see our cousins. ”

Hayden nodded. “No, but I will talk to her. I wanted to ask you all about it first.”

“I don’t have a problem,” Cooper said.

“Neither do I,” said Becket. “I’ve often spoken to them during the years I was still footloose before I had a wife.” Grinning, he touched Ellie’s hand. “They also had no idea why the brothers weren’t talking to each other. I like both of them. Willow?”

“Interesting,” Willow said. “I have no problem either, but you should talk to Mom. She might know something we don’t. I also can’t remember Mom or Dad ever talking about it.”

Hayden moved to get up. “Okay, great. I’ll talk to Mom.”

Ellie, Becket’s wife of only a few months, leaned forward. “Willow, you’ve been so busy, I’m so glad you’re here today. You look gorgeous as always. I’m so sorry I missed Rose yesterday, but it was my turn in the yarn shop. Did you two have a nice time?”

“We did, thanks, but she had an accident as she left. Hasn’t Coop told you about it?”

“Oh no!” Ellie exclaimed, turning toward Cooper. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

Willow’s eyes met his. She grinned. “Yes, Cooper, why haven’t you said anything?”

Cooper quickly dropped his eyes. As he very well knew, his sister saw way too much. “She swerved for a stray animal in the road and her car ended up in a ditch. We had dinner, I took her home.”