Taming a Texas Rascal (Bad Boy Ranch #6) - Katie Lane Page 0,56

in Dallas without a ride back to Simple.

After pulling on her boots, she headed for the door. “Text me when you’re ready to leave.”

“Wait, Maisy,” he finally said. But the words came too late.

She didn’t know how she made it to her room. Her legs were shaking as badly as a newborn foal’s. As she walked, she tried to tell herself she had gotten exactly what she wanted. One night with Sawyer. But with each step she took, she realized that she had never just wanted one night.

She wanted a million nights.

Unfortunately, that fantasy wasn’t ever going to come true.

When she got inside her room, she called the one woman who would completely understand what she had done.

“Oh, Mama,” she said as she let her tears fall. “I didn’t learn a thing from you and Daddy. I fell in love with a cowboy who can never love me back.”

Chapter Seventeen

“I thought I was screwed up before.” Sawyer ran a hand over his face. “But now I’m way past screwed up. My emotions are all over the place. Okay, I take that back. My emotions aren’t all over the place. They’re pretty much in one place. Maisy.” Angel stopped eating his morning oats and looked at Sawyer as if he knew who he was talking about.

“Yeah, the cute little cowgirl who seems to have us both wrapped around her little finger.” Sawyer leaned his head back on the wall of the stall and closed his eyes. “Believe me, I feel the same way whenever I hear her name. And when I see her, my heart does this thing in my chest and I feel like my day has just gotten a whole lot better.” He lifted his head. “That sounds like love, right? But the thing is, I thought I was in love before and it turned out that wasn’t the case. And believe me, I don’t want to make the same mistake again. Yeah, this feels different. It feels way different from how I felt with Lauren. But what if it’s not love? What if all my emotions just have to do with Maisy possibly being pregnant with my baby? The last thing I want to do is hurt Maisy. And Lincoln would pretty much kill me if I did. So that’s why I’ve been keeping my distance from her the last few days. After our night together in Dallas, I needed time to think. But all the thinking has only made me more confused. And what if Maisy isn’t that into me? After our night together, she got up and left as if what had happened wasn’t a big deal. On the ride home, she turned up the radio and sang like she didn’t have a care in the world while I was one huge bundle of confused emotions.”

“Damn.” He covered his face with his hand. “I am one screwed-up dude. Especially since I’m sitting here talking to a horse.” He got up from the turned-over feed bucket and picked it up. On his way out of the stall, he gave Angel a good pat on the withers. The horse didn’t flinch, which made him happy. Or as happy as a screwed-up guy could be. “Thanks for listening, buddy, but I wish you’d talk to me the way you talk to Maisy.”

He let himself out of the stall, and then stopped short when he saw Chester sitting on a bale of hay. Not nearly far enough away from the stalls that he hadn’t heard every single word Sawyer said.

“Is there a reason you didn’t tell me you were in the barn?” Sawyer asked.

Chester shrugged. “I didn’t want to interrupt your morning therapy session.”

Sawyer rolled his eyes and hooked the bucket on a nail. “Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. So did that horse help you get things figured out?”

“No.” He sat down on a hay bale across from Chester. “And I’m sure you’re chomping at the bit to take a shot.”

Chester shook his head. “You’ll have to talk to Lucas about love. The one time I fell in love, I struck out. After that, I pretty much guarded my heart from the kind of love that makes your heart thump fast and you feel like your day got a whole lot better.”

“So you think it’s love?”

“Sounds a little like it. What makes it different from the first time?”

It took him a moment to find the words. “Maisy and I are good friends. Which is why I’m not sure if what I’m feeling