Page 30 of Last Chance Cowboy
Everything just felt a little bit crowded after that. And that was his cue to leave. He was never one to linger.
He slipped away while everybody else was chatting, and was around the side of the house and nearly to his truck when he heard gravel shifting behind him. He turned around and saw Cara.
“What are you doing?”
“I just wanted to thank you,” she said, looking up at him with sincere eyes. “For everything. Again. You’ve been really kind to me.”
“I’m glad you didn’t die.”
The words came out gruffer than he’d meant them to, but it was true. He was glad that she was still here. He was glad that it wasn’t the kind of tragedy that was sudden and relentless, and that couldn’t be negotiated with.
He would rather give somebody his ribeye any day of the week than have them be six feet under.
He would rather she be here on crutches and need a little bit of help than not be here.
That was maybe a bit overdramatic considering the situation, but he knew better than anybody that what started as a normal day could end in tragedy.
He hadn’t had anybody to take care of in a long time. And while he still wanted to keep a distance between the two of them, he appreciated that he was able to do something for her.
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Other than continuing to bring the baked goods? No.”
But something grabbed hold of him low and tight. Something that he wanted to ignore, feral and masculine, growling inside of him.
There was something that he wanted from her.
But he didn’t want to want that.
First of all, because he wanted to be able to keep his distance, and second of all because… he’d like to be decent.
He’d like to be doing this for her just because she had been through something terrible, and not because he wanted to taste her skin.
He shouldn’t be obsessed with her.
“And follow through with that survival training.”
“You really think I need that?”
“You live here. You need to stay safe.”
He could channel that desire into the need to protect her, and dammit, that was what he was going to do.
“Okay. Well… I’ll see you. Once I’m off my crutches, we’ll get all that wilderness stuff together.”
“Sounds good.”
She turned away from him and went back toward the party.
For a long moment, Zane just stood there, alone.
Chapter Seven
Cara was back at the bakery, on two feet, and feeling tender, but good, a week later.
She was still wearing a wrap to make sure that she didn’t undermine any of the healing that she had done, but she was feeling much better and much more herself.
It was a good day to be off crutches, and Cara was feeling fantastic. She wasn’t back to feeling like she could race around at full speed, but she was feeling all right.
