Page 20 of The Cowboy Who Stayed

…which is exactly why somebody needs to make sense of how I keep chasing after Vivica Murphy. My boots grow a mind of their own and take me straight toward her every time.

It doesn’t matter that she turns me down for dinner again. It still feels like an accomplishment.

Her eyes burn into my back as I walk out of the stables and leave her stunned into silence. She can’t believe how forward I’ve been.

Truth is, I can’t believe it either.

It seems I have no control—or sense—as far as Silver Creek’s new veterinarian’s concerned.

The afternoon sun hits my face as I step out of the stables. I squint against it and head back toward the paddock where I was working earlier.

The smart thing would be to let it go. Accept the one night for what it was and move on the way I’ve always moved on.

Everything in life is temporary.

People, places, plans—it’s all got an expiration date.

Learned that from an early age thanks to my parents. It was one of my first life lessons. They’d blow into town like bad weather then disappear again before the dust settled.

Grandma Jo was the only constant, and even she couldn’t fix the part of me that learned early on not to count on anybody.

The Air Force was supposed to be different. TACP was supposed to be a lifelong career. I was supposed to do at least twenty years, then eventually retire once I was older.

The plan fell apart after a bad landing and three herniated discs damaged me for good.

If my military career—the one thing that was finally supposed to be long-lasting—came to an abrupt end, why the hell should I care if Vivica Murphy gives me a second chance?

Relationships are even more fleeting than your standard career.

She’s not going to stick around. Nobody does. Even if she did, what am I offering?

A busted spine and a job herding cattle and a life I’m trying to figure out at twenty-six years old.

She’s a grown woman with a career and all the freedom anybody could ever want.

Still doesn’t make it easy moving on from her.

Vivica Murphy intrigues me more than anybody I’ve met in years. From how she carries herself to how she seems to value the simple pleasures in life, like music.

One night, and I can’t get enough of the woman.

I’d like to know more about her, even if that means just as friends. Even if⁠—

My back seizes without warning.

The spasm locks through my lower spine in a vice-like grip. The pain that accompanies it burns white-hot, coming on so strong it damn near sends me stumbling into the dirt.

I catch myself on a wooden fence beam, fingers clamping down on the rough wood.

Gritting my teeth and forcing air through my nose, I will my body to cooperate.

Not here. Not now.

Get it together.

“How’d I know I’d find you near the horse stables?” comes Joaquin’s deep-bellied laugh. He rounds the corner wearing a wide grin, his man bun slicked in sweat. “Back from flirting with the pretty veterinarian already? That’s a new record, even for⁠—”

He stops when he gets a look at my face.