Marry Me for Real, Cowboy - Valerie Comer Page 0,30

be one of those evenings. She wanted him to, desperately, which made it a bad idea.

Probably her desperation had showed in the way she kissed him, and now he was taking a step back. To him, it was all a show. She kept forgetting that, especially when he looked at her with such tenderness. The cowboy should be in some Hollywood movie with that level of fakery. He’d be the swoony heartthrob of every girl in America.

“You okay?” Adam still stood on the walkway, hands shoved deep in his jeans pockets.

Riley managed a chuckle, hearing her words to him from a few minutes ago echo back at her. “Peachy.”

His eyebrows rose, barely visible in the glow of the amber lightbulb beside her door. “I was wondering...” His words hung in the air for a long second.

It’s a game, Riley. She lifted her chin. “Don’t overtax your brain, cowboy. You might need those half dozen braincells someday.”

Adam’s mouth quirked into a lopsided grin. “Half dozen? You’re being generous after all my concussions.”

Whew, she’d dissipated the mood. Maybe now she could breathe. “Concussions, huh? That would explain a lot.”

He looked away then back at her, his jaw ticking. “I should go. We’ve got a long day tomorrow. There might even be snow in the high country. Rain at best.”

“Guess I’m on stall duty again.”

“Want to ride out with me? I can ask Declan.”

“Then who’ll shovel manure?”

“Ryder. Or maybe it’s time the girls learned. They obviously need something to occupy their minds besides wondering how kissing works.”

Good thing it was dark out and she stood with her back to the light, because her cheeks heated again at the memory. “They’ve asked me stuff like that several times before.”

Adam tipped his hat back. “They have?”

“Yeah, sometimes they hang around and watch me work and pester me with questions.” Riley hesitated. “They seem a bit obsessed with kissing.”

“Think I should talk to my mom about it?”

“They don’t really listen to her.”

“They don’t listen to Declan, either.” Adam shook his head. “I could try telling them it’s not appropriate.”

Riley scoffed. “That will go over well. They’ll just take their questions to the internet. They may have already.” She could just envision the search terms: what does it feel like to kiss? Or, what do tongues do when you’re kissing?

Yeah. There was no way she was interfering, one way or another.

“I like kissing you, Riley,” he said softly.

“Easier to convince your family, then.” Except she shouldn’t say things like that out loud, outside, even though no one seemed to be around.

“There’s more to it.”

She needed out of here. “You keep telling yourself that. I need my beauty sleep so I can look my best for the shovel and wheelbarrow in the morning.” She faked a yawn. “Good night, cowboy.”

“Good night, honey.”

Riley closed the door against his quiet endearment then leaned her head back against the wood panels. What had happened to the loud, confident cowboy she had no trouble resisting? Okay, that was a lie. He was irresistible in any guise, but this tender side had nearly undone her tonight. She’d have gone anywhere with him in those brief moments in the office before his little sisters had so effectively doused them both with figurative ice water. Riley, at least. It seemed like Adam was still under the spell.

That’s all it was. He’d read something in that email that had made him sad and vulnerable. She’d come along and held him. Comforted him. Sometimes human contact from someone who loved — er, cared about — a person made all the difference. Riley wasn’t going to read anything into it. She was too smart to be taken in.

Raul had faked some good vulnerability a few weeks ago, too, pretending she hadn’t caught him kissing Maggie Sanderson. It wasn’t like Riley thought, he’d insisted. Maggie had flung herself at him and kissed him, and he’d been taken aback. Didn’t know how to get out of it quickly enough.

Raul lied. Riley had watched for over a minute before shoving his shoulder and breaking them up. He’d definitely been giving as well as he’d received. She hadn’t even needed to see the flash of guilt in his eyes or notice that Maggie had slipped away leaving him to face the music on his own.

Guilty.

Plain and simple.

What did Riley and Maggie have in common? Fathers who had a lot of political influence. Raul was covering all his bases. Literally.

Adam was a whole lot sweeter than Raul from everything she’d experienced with both