Playing With Fire (Tangled in Texas, #2)(41)

“Well, I…” I closed my eyes, not knowing how to tell her what Cowboy already knew. And it didn’t help that it mortified me.

“Are you okay, Anna?”

“I…um, have this thing…about fire.” I lowered my gaze and cringed. “It scares me.”

“No shit?” Emily said, pausing to contemplate what I told her. “Did Bobbie Jo tell you about last summer when Jake hid me here to keep the mob from finding me?”

I nodded, hoping she wouldn’t be upset with Bobbie Jo for sharing that bit of personal information with me.

“Well, even though Hank taught me to shoot a gun, I still hate the sound of gunfire. It makes me nervous.”

“That’s understandable after what you went through.”

“Well, you must’ve had a bad experience yourself,” Emily said.

I nodded, but didn’t bother to elaborate.

“Don’t worry about it. I know how hard it is to get over something like that. It takes time.”

Bobbie Jo walked over, having left Austin in Ox’s capable hands. “Lord have mercy. Did you see what Cowboy was doing to my child’s head a minute ago?”

“If he does that to Lily, I’m going to sic Jake on him,” Emily said, shaking her head with blatant disapproval. “She can’t even hold her head up on her own yet like Austin can.”

Maybe it was because he’d helped me only moments before, but I felt the need to defend Cowboy, even if I did agree that he was bouncing the baby around a little too much. “I think it’s sweet the way Cowboy is with both of the children.”

“Did I hear my name?” Cowboy hollered from across the yard. I glanced in his direction and he smiled wickedly at me. “Hey there, beautiful. Long time, no see.”

Heat flashed through my entire body, but settled in my cheeks. No one had ever called me that before. Not that it meant much, though, since he called Bobbie Jo the same thing that first night I’d seen him in the library. And probably every other girl he ever crossed paths with.

“God, Cowboy. Do you always have to hit on all of our friends?” Bobbie Jo rolled her eyes. “Ignore him, Anna. He’ll eventually give up.”

“What are you ladies talking about over there?” Cowboy asked.

Emily grinned. “Menstruation.”

A horrified expression crossed his face, then he turned his attention back to the other men, making the three of us laugh.

“Works every time,” Emily said.

“Poor guy’s going to get a complex if you keep doing that to him,” Bobbie Jo told her, still giggling.

“Serves him right,” Emily said, shrugging it off. “We’re never going to have other females to hang out with if he keeps sleeping with all of them and running them off.” She smiled at me. “And I like this one.”

All of them? Blushing, I somehow managed to smile back, though I couldn’t look either of them directly in the eyes. “I, um… Thanks, I like you, too.”

Both girls just stared at me, blinking, until Emily said, “Oh God! Not you, too? Holy hell. Can’t that man keep his dick in his pants for more than two minutes?”

I shook my head, denying the charges. “No, he didn’t… I mean, we didn’t… Oh God.” Embarrassed, I pressed my fist to my lips to stop them from flapping.

Emily huddled closer. “Okay, missy, we want the goods on you and Cowboy.”

“No, we don’t,” Bobbie Jo quickly clarified.

“Okay, she doesn’t. But I do. All the juicy, luscious details about you and the hunky fireman.”

I dropped my hand and shook my head. “There’s nothing to tell, really. He came by my house last Sunday and he sort of…kissed me.” I quickly followed with, “But I haven’t seen him since. Not until today, that is.”

“What? That’s such a jerk move,” Bobbie Jo said. “I should give him a piece of my mind for acting like Jeremy.”

“Oh, no. Please don’t say anything.” My eyes pleaded with her. “I just want to forget the whole thing.”

“Why?”

“Because it was a mistake,” I told her. “One that I won’t be repeating.”

“I’m sorry, Anna. He’s acting like an ass. And I hate to say I told you so, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you. He’s a great guy most of the time, but men like Cowboy and Jeremy are womanizers. Too hot-blooded to commit to a real relationship. It’s that stupid love ’em and leave ’em attitude of theirs.”

“It’s okay,” I said with a shrug. I felt stupid that I even thought for one second Cowboy had been serious about being interested in me. “It’s not like I was expecting anything from him. And to be honest, I’m sure he looks at it the same way I do. We don’t have a thing in common. He’s probably forgotten all about it already,” I said, though Cowboy’s words in the barn still ran through my mind.

Bobbie Jo turned to Emily. “How did you know something happened between them, anyway? You have ESP or something?”

“Beats the shit out of me,” she said with a shrug. “Anna looked guilty so I took a wild guess. After all, it is Cowboy we’re talking about.”