Too Close For Comfort (Sweetrock Cowboy Romance Book 2) (3 page)

But being on the ranch with Cash that morning had changed something inside her. She’d gotten a little glimpse of what it might be like to have someone there. Someone to say good-bye to in the morning. Someone who would be waiting for her at night.

Maybe it was time for her to take the risk and give love a chance. And what better time to start than tonight? The Bull Sheep bar would be full of eligible cowboys—maybe even the one that was right for her.

Turning back to her work, Tessa vowed to stop pushing away every guy that acted interested and give the next guy she was attracted to a chance. That was the only way she’d find someone. After all, as Beulah had said, what was she waiting for?

T
he Bull Sheep Bar
was packed full by the time Tessa arrived. She hovered just inside the doorway to the large room, scanning the boisterous crowd as the buzz of multiple conversations, laughing and clinking glasses filled her ears.

It resembled the inside of an old barn, with rough sawn boards on the walls which were decorated with old leather saddles, lassoes, and pictures of cattle. Pine board tables and chairs that looked like they’d been made from logs were scattered around the edges of the room with a large space for a dance floor in the middle.

Tessa noticed her group of friends sitting at a long table in the back, and she weaved her way through the throng of happy after-work drinkers as she made her way across the concrete floor.

Nick and Sam were seated at one end of the table, his arm draped over the back of her chair. Iris and Donnie were holding hands at the other. Kade and Jackson sat in the middle, wearing plain cotton T-shirts and cowboy hats and laughing as they both took a pull on their beers. Everyone appeared as if they were having a good time with the exception of Melina. The dark-haired beauty leaned in her chair, eyes glassy as if she’d had one shot too many.

Tessa frowned as she watched her tip back a beer, a shot glass full of amber liquid on the table in front of her. Jack Daniels? They’d all been worried about Mel. Raised by her grandparents who’d both since died, her brother was the only family she had, and he’d been away in the military for over a year. Mel was spiraling out of control. But it looked like Kade and Jackson were keeping an eye on her. They sat on either side, shooting glances at the shot glass, joking as if to distract her from drinking it. That’s what Tessa loved about her friends—they all looked out for each other.

“Where’s Cash?” Tessa asked as she slid into a chair beside Sam.

Nick thrust his chin toward the bar. “I found a pretty brunette for him at the bar.”

Tessa looked to see Cash towering over a petite brunette, obviously flirting. He was doing exactly what she should be doing, she thought, as she sized up the guys standing at the bar to see if anyone sparked her interest.

“She is pretty,” Tessa said, and then she noticed Sam’s brows tug together. Did she not like the girl or something?

“Yeah. Cash has been going through a little bit of a dry spell,” Nick said.

“He’s not the only one.” Tessa turned around in her seat, scouring the other end of the room for available cowboys. It looked like her housemate had the right idea, but Tessa wasn’t as brave as Cash. She couldn’t just go up to someone at the bar and start flirting.

As if reading her mind, Mel pushed the shot glass in front of her, a drop of liquid splashing onto the table.

“Have a drink. It will help end your dry spell,” Melina said.

Oh, what the heck. It couldn’t hurt.

Tessa tipped back the shot before she lost her courage. The liquid burned her throat and warmed her belly, then headed straight into her bloodstream.

Cash came back and Sam scooted her chair over, practically knocking Nick out of the way so she could shove an empty chair for Cash between her and Tessa.

Why had she done that?

There was an empty chair at the other end of the table.

Cash looked uncertain about the chair, too, but he just shrugged and sat down. “Hey, Tessa. How was work today?”

“Pretty good.” Tessa’s eyes weren’t on Cash, even though she was answering his question. They were on a dark-haired hunk that was leaning against the bar, looking her way. Tall, black hair and light eyes. Exactly Tessa’s type.

“Hey, where’s the brunette? You didn’t ask her back to the table?” Nick frowned at Cash.

Cash shrugged. “She wasn’t that interesting. Sorry.”

Tessa turned to Cash, the shot Melina had given her amping her self-confidence up a notch. “Not interesting, or did you strike out? Maybe I’ll have better luck. You wanna make a bet?”

Cash’s brows dipped into a ‘V’. He looked upset. Tessa didn’t understand why since the group often made side bets on all kinds of things. It was all in good fun.

“No. What are you talking about?” Cash said.

Tessa nodded toward the bar where the tall, dark-haired guy was looking back at them. He raised his beer in her direction.

“That’s what I’m talking about.”

The band started playing, and she lost sight of the guy as people stood up to dance. Sam and Nick were on their feet. Sam turned to look back, her gaze darting from Tessa to Cash.

“Come on, you two. Let’s dance.”

Tessa looked uncertainly to Cash. They danced together quite frequently, but now Tessa wondered if she’d been doing that subconsciously so as to send out a signal that she was unavailable. She probably shouldn’t do that anymore. She couldn’t depend on her old friend to make it look like she had a dance partner and scare off anyone else that wanted to dance with her. Anyway, he probably wanted to dance with someone else besides her. Like that brunette.

Had Cash been dancing with her all this time because he knew she was avoiding getting involved with someone? It would be just like him to sacrifice his own needs to help her out.

She shook her head. This time, she had to get out of her comfort zone. If she didn’t, she might never find ‘Mr. Right’.

The crowd parted and tall, dark, and handsome from the bar was standing at the table, looking down at her. He was a lot cuter close-up. The kind of cute that set off warning bells. Derek had been cute like that, too, and look where that had gotten her.

But every guy wasn’t like Derek. She stood up and took his hand, letting him lead her to the dance floor, leaving Cash sitting at the table by himself.

* * *

C
ash’s fist
tightened around his beer bottle as he watched Tessa spin around on the dance floor while the melancholy notes of the sad love song picked at his heart.

That guy was trouble, he could tell. Couldn’t Tessa see that? The guy was a player, not long-term boyfriend material. Not forever material like Cash was.

Even though Tessa didn’t want Cash in that way, he was still her friend, and he still wanted to make sure she didn’t get taken advantage of. He craned his neck to see what was going on out there.

Were they pressed up against each other?

“Wanna dance?” Cash looked up to see the brunette he’d been talking to at the bar. Well, actually she’d been talking to him. He’d just been pretending to listen.

His first instinct was to say no, but then he realized that if he danced, he’d be able to keep a closer eye on Tessa.

He flashed the brunette his most charming smile as he pushed up from the table. “Love to.”

Cash whirled the girl around on the floor, barely paying attention to her. He supposed she was cute enough. Petite with big dark eyes and long straight hair, but compared to Tessa she was a plain Jane.

She was a decent dancer, though, which was good, because he didn’t have any extra bandwidth to try to teach her how to dance. His attention was focused on keeping an eye on Tessa.

His heart turned inside out as he watched Tessa smiling and laughing up at the guy who was snugging her tighter and tighter.

“Ahhh, you’re crushing my hand.”

“What?” Cash looked down at the brunette, her face scrunched up as she looked at their right hands clasped out to the side. In his frustration over Tessa, he’d been squeezing her hand a little too hard. He eased up and twirled her around. “Sorry about that.”

“So do you live around here?” she asked.

“Yep. Born and raised. You just visiting?”

“I’m in town for a...”

Cash’s attention drifted over to Tessa again as the brunette rambled on about some convention she was in town for.

Cash nodded and muttered single syllable words, barely able to keep up his end of the conversation as he jerked them around awkwardly so as to keep Tessa in view.

Tessa’s attention was fully on the tall guy. What was she thinking? This wasn’t the guy for her. He watched the man’s hands tight on her hips, one straying lower and lower as they swayed to the music.

Thank God the slow song was almost over.
Cash knew the band would pick up the pace and launch into something for line dancing. He wouldn’t have to suffer through watching Tessa dance with another guy for much longer...At least not until the next slow song.

The brunette was asking him another question and Cash frowned down at her. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“Oh, nothing.”

Her smile faltered, and he sensed her interest pulling away from him. Obviously, she’d picked up on his not-interested vibe.

Cash felt bad about the way he was neglecting his end of the conversation. Truth be told, he was just using the girl so that he could watch over Tessa. He wasn’t much better than the guy Tessa was dancing with in that regard.

He glanced down at the girl realizing he should have been paying more attention to her. She was cute. Perky. Any other time Cash would’ve been all over that, but now he realized he couldn’t even remember the girl’s name.

The old Cash would never have forgotten a pretty girl’s name.
He
would have that girl’s phone number already and a date lined up.

But the old Cash was gone. And now, the new Cash was in deep, deep trouble.

C
ash hardly slept
a wink that night tossing and turning knowing that Tessa would be lying there in bed on the other side of the house.

Or was she?

They hadn’t driven to the bar together and had left separately. Cash had driven the drunken brunette home. He didn’t stay with her, though it wasn’t for lack of trying on her part. He simply wasn’t interested. When he’d left, Tessa had been with Sam and Nick, the tall guy nowhere in sight. Or so he’d thought.

He’d come home and fallen asleep before Tessa had gotten home. If Tessa had even come home.

Had she gone home with that cowboy who was trying to grab her ass?

Cash bolted out of bed and sprinted for the window. Relief flooded over him when he saw her pickup truck parked in the driveway. Of course, she was here. Tessa wasn’t the kind of girl that went home with a guy the first night.

Cash scrubbed his hand through his hair, threw on jeans and a light flannel shirt then started toward the kitchen. It was early morning, and they both needed breakfast before work. And one thing that Cash loved to do to distract himself from his own thoughts was to cook.

He found some eggs and bacon in the fridge, pancake mix in the cabinet. He pulled down a big mixing bowl, got Tessa’s mom’s heavy cast iron pan out and got to cooking. Soon the smell of the buttery sweet pancakes and the sizzle of bacon filled the air.

“Whoa. Pancakes?”

Tessa stood in the opening to the kitchen. Her hair was mussed from sleeping. Her face was clean of makeup, giving her a natural and innocent look that squeezed Cash’s heart and threatened to steal all the words from his mouth. She wore a fuzzy pink nightgown that covered her from neck to ankle, but that didn’t stop him from wondering what she had on underneath.

“I figured you’d be hungry after last night,” he managed.

She came into the kitchen, reaching past him for a piece of bacon that he’d piled on a plate. Too close for comfort, her robe brushed against his arm as she picked out a crispy piece.

“Tell you the truth, I am a little queasy. I shouldn’t have had those shots Melina gave me.” She inspected the piece of bacon and then nibbled on the corner.

“No kidding. She’s getting a little out of control. I was hoping she would tone down the drinking, but...” Cash was grateful for the distracting conversation. He was worried about Melina. They all were. He’d had to load her into a cab and then deliver her car to her the next day more times than he cared to remember, lately.

“Hopefully, she’ll come around soon. You need help?” She stood next to him, bending over slightly to look into the pan where a pancake was just starting to bubble at the edges. Her robe gaped open in the front and Cash caught a glimpse of a creamy white breast that shot electricity straight to his groin. He jerked his eyes away and stepped back.

“No! I mean, it’s almost done. Go sit down.” He turned her around and pushed her out of the kitchen.

She came around the other side of the counter and hopped onto a stool at the breakfast bar. Cash glanced over, grateful she’d snugged the robe tighter, and now the counter was in between them. He didn’t know how long he could have stood next to her in the kitchen like that without grabbing her and kissing her.

Jesus.

Maybe this thing wasn’t going to work out. He might have to move to a hotel. Or another state. Or maybe even another planet. Because if he kept having thoughts like
that
about her, he wouldn’t last the rest of the week without doing something he might regret later.

* * *

T
essa swirled
the chunk of pancake through the puddle of maple syrup, letting it absorb the thick amber liquid like a sponge. The top of the piece was frosted with enough butter to clog the entire town of Sweetrock’s arteries, and when the inside was saturated she brought it to her lips, feeling an instant sugar rush.

“Mmmmm. This is delicious.” She pointed her empty fork at Cash. “You’re going to make someone a good husband someday.”

Cash snorted and turned back around to the stove to flip the next pancake

“What?” Clearly Cash didn’t see himself as husband material. Sure, he liked to play the field, but everyone wanted to settle down eventually. She supposed even Cash would want to do that someday. “You might not be ready to settle down now, but you have all the makings of a good husband. You’re trustworthy. Loyal. Hard working. And you can cook. And you’re no slouch in the looks department, either.”

Tessa cocked her head and studied him. He was still facing away, and she noticed how broad his shoulders were as they tapered to his thin waist. She’d never thought of Cash
that
way, but now that she was looking, she had to admit his ass looked pretty nice in those jeans.

Something inside her heart slid in a strange and unsettling way. She’d always thought of Cash as the little boy she’d known from as far back as she could remember. Like a brother. She’d never thought of him as a man before. Ironically, Cash had all the things that she was looking for in a man. The thought raised her spirits because if Cash possessed those qualities, then there was hope that some other guys had them, too. She just needed to find one of those other guys.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.” Cash loaded a stack of pancakes onto his plate and came around to join her at the breakfast bar.

“No? Seems to me like Nick is already conspiring against you on that.”

Cash shot her a look. “Really?”

“Yeah. Hasn’t he been trying to fix you up with that brunette? What’s the deal with her, anyway? You didn’t like her?”

Cash got busy cutting his pancakes and drowning them in syrup. “Not my type.”

He shoveled the forkful into his mouth and chewed, then looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “What about you? Did you have fun last night?”

Tessa’s mind drifted back to the night before. The cowboy—John, his name was—had been devastatingly attractive. He should have been setting off all those feelings inside her, but he hadn’t. She’d felt a little flutter, a slight rush, but nothing like she’d felt with Derek. Worry gnawed at her.
What if she never felt that way with anyone again?

Maybe it was too early, and she was expecting too much. She’d only just met the guy. It took longer to develop those kinds of feelings.

“It was okay. I met a cute guy...” She shrugged and let her voice drift off.

“Oh, that guy you were dancing with?”

Cash’s voice had a hard edge to it, and she shot him a sideways look. “Yeah. Why? Do you know him?”

Cash shoved the last bite of pancake in his mouth and got up, taking the empty dishes into the kitchen. “No. I just...I don’t know, he seemed kind of like a charmer. A smooth talker.”

“You mean like you?” Tessa teased.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tessa shrugged. “Nothing. Just that I know you charm the ladies and you’re a good guy underneath, so maybe I should give this guy a chance.”

Cash turned around and their eyes locked. Something flickered deep inside Cash’s baby-blues that fluttered Tessa’s heart. Was he trying to warn her about the guy? Did he know something about him?

But then it was gone, as if she’d only imagined it.

Cash smiled and said, “Maybe you should. Are you looking for a relationship now?”

“I think it might be time. You know I haven’t dated anyone seriously since Derek. I need to get over him and move on. I’ve seen how happy Nick and Sam are and maybe I want that, too.”

She hopped up from her chair, feeling uncomfortable with the conversation. She’d never talked to Cash about Derek. She’d only told a few people the full story. That was something you did with your
girl
friends, and even though she and Cash had been able to talk about anything before, they hadn’t been quite as close when the breakup had happened because she’d been away at college. After she’d returned home, she hadn’t wanted to talk about it. She was embarrassed because of the way she’d been taken in.

But somehow, now she felt closer than ever to Cash. Probably because the closeness of living in the same house brought back memories of how they’d been as kids. Inseparable. They’d spent all their time together back then. As adults, they didn’t spend as much time together. Now, with them living in the same house, she had the urge to open up and share all her problems. But she was sure Cash had enough problems of his own. He didn’t need to listen to hers.

“Anyway, I gotta run to work. What are you doing for supper tonight?” Tessa figured if they were living on the ranch together they might as well eat together.

“Supper?”

“Yeah. You know, the meal that you eat at the end of the day.”

“Oh. Um…”

Shoot, he probably had plans with the brunette. Nothing like trying to monopolize the guy’s time.
“Oh. If you have plans, I can fend for myself or eat out with—“

“Nope. No plans. In fact, I’ve been dying to try out that grill your dad has out on the back deck.” Cash gestured out the window. “I’ll pick up the steaks if you pick up the beer.”