Читать книгу Brokedown Cowboy - Maisey Yates - Страница 8

CHAPTER THREE

“HEY, LISS,” CONNOR SAID, following her out the door to his house and down the steps of the porch. The poker game was done, and Jack had already gone home, while Kate was in the dining room lingering over the bowl of pizza rolls, and Eli and Sadie were just sort of happily sitting in the same chair.

Liss was ready to go, blaming an early work schedule, but they still had some things to figure out as far as Connor was concerned.

It was dark outside, cold enough that Connor could see his breath as he exhaled, the sharp bite of air in his lungs a signal that fall was fleeting and winter was biting at its ankles.

“We need to talk just a little bit before you go,” he said.

Liss paused and turned on her heel, the gravel crunching beneath her feet. “Do we need to talk tonight?” She sounded tired, and he couldn’t blame her. Had she sounded tired this morning? Had she sounded tired for longer than that? What else hadn’t he noticed?

“It’s not going to be long and involved, I promise. I just want to get a few things straight. You’re not paying me rent.”

“I’m going to have to compensate you somehow.”

“Sure you are. You will bring me food, like you already do, and I will actually give you something in return.”

“Connor, don’t be difficult about this. At least let me go over some of the paperwork for the ranch. Get things organized. And maybe the house, too. If I’m going to be living in it, then I need things at a slightly higher level of cleanliness.”

“Fine. Done.” He ignored the tightening in his stomach. All of these offers of payment sounded very...domestic. Which was fair, he supposed, since they would be sharing the same house.

“Good,” she said, nodding. “I’m glad we could come to an agreement.”

Something about the situation struck him as funny then, loosening the knot in his gut. “I feel like we should shake hands or something.”

“It does feel a little formal, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Better idea.” He reached out and pulled Liss into a hug, not really thinking about it until she was pressed up against him, warm, soft and very feminine. He didn’t hug people often. He didn’t hug people ever, really. Sometimes he hugged Kate, an awkward half hug. And he was more likely to punch Eli in the face than pull him into an embrace.

Very likely for those reasons the contact hit him with the force of a two-by-four. And while he was still reeling from the hit, time seemed to slow, and he became acutely aware of small things he would never normally notice. Of how soft she was, how tiny she was, folded into his arms, and—of course—the press of her breasts against his chest, because he was only human.

Connor breathed in deep, inhaling a hint of wood smoke coming from his own chimney, a bit of sea salt mixed with pine and a floral note he knew was coming from Liss’s hair. The kind of girlie shampoo that had once cluttered up his shower, but had been absent from his house and his senses.

And for some reason, in this strange slow-motion moment it seemed perfectly acceptable for him to run his palm up Liss’s back.

“Connor, you’re kind of squishing my face.”

Liss’s muffled voice broke the moment, time suddenly returning to its normal speed. He laughed, a short, harsh sound that wasn’t really intentional. But apparently, the release was necessary.

He let go of her and took a step backward. “Sorry about your face.”

“Hang on to that, Connor. That could be a really useful insult later.”

“I meant it sincerely. The squishing of your face, not the features of your face. The features of your face are fine.” He had a feeling he wasn’t making any of this better, or less weird.

“Thank you,” she said, her tone letting him know that he definitely seemed weird to her. “I’m going to go home now. If I don’t get my sleep, the numbers will not be effectively crunched tomorrow.”

“That would be a shame.”

“Not really. But I need the paycheck.”

“So when do you want to move, then?”

She kicked her foot across the top of the gravel, the rocks clacking against each other. “I don’t know. I mean, I have time...”

“Well, whatever you want. I’ll even help you move.”

Liss pulled a face. “What exactly has come over you? You’re being all helpful and things.”

“I guess it’s the realization that I haven’t been very helpful at all recently.” They both knew exactly since when.

“I understand. I’m not going to tell you how you should handle all this. It’s not my place.”

“You’re about the only one who thinks that. Eli thinks I need to get over it. Jack thinks I need to get laid.”

Liss cleared her throat loudly. “With that in mind, I will be the one who thinks you just need to do what you can.”

“I can do this,” Connor said. “I can give this to you. So let me.”

She scuffed her toe over the gravel, the rocks clicking together. “I am. We’ll work out the logistics later. Thank you.”

He gave her a halfhearted wave and turned away from her, walking back up the steps before pausing and watching her get into her car. Waiting until it started to go back inside. At least the thing would get her home tonight.

He shut the front door behind him and walked into the dining area, coming face-to-face with three very rapt sets of eyes. “What?” he asked.

“So, Liss is going to move in?” Eli asked.

“Were you not here for the entirety of this?” Connor returned.

“Just confirming.”

“She needs me. She’s a friend.”

“I know,” Eli said.

“Well, you look too interested. There’s nothing to be interested about.”

Sadie’s expression turned placating, which only irritated him more. “Of course not.” She reached into her offensive orange bowl and started digging around for candy. “It is very nice that you’re doing this for her.”

“You all have the wrong end of the stick,” he said, pointing at the group. “You would not be reacting like this if I offered Jack a place to stay. And if Jack needed me, I would have him stay here, too. And he’s a way bigger pain in the ass than Liss.”

“True,” Kate said. “On all counts.”

“See? Katie agrees with me.”

“Not,” Kate said, her tone filled with warning, “if you keep calling me Katie.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Whatever you say, Katie.”

It was Kate’s turn to reach into the bowl. She pulled out a couple of M&Ms and hurled a couple at his head. “Serves you right,” she said when one clocked him in the temple.

“Oh, no,” he said, in mock terror. “You threw candy at me.”

“Beaver candy,” Sadie said.

“Okay, ladies, let’s get out of Connor’s hair,” Eli said, showing an uncharacteristic amount of sensitivity. Eli usually thought nothing of running roughshod over him. Mainly because Eli always seemed to think he knew how other people should live their lives, and Connor was no exception to that.

Eli lifted Sadie from his lap and stood, raising his arms behind his head and stretching. “I need to sleep,” he said. “With the election so close now, I’m not doing very much of that.”

“But you’re going to win,” Sadie said, her tone confident.

“You are,” Kate agreed.

Both women looked at Connor. “You are,” he said, and he wasn’t just saying that to stroke his brother’s ego. He was the best choice for the county; there was no question about that.

Eli was a professional at sacrifice. He had sacrificed for Kate when he’d been a teenager. Had sacrificed his safety when he’d agreed to wear the uniform. And Connor knew, and never took for granted, the fact that Eli had sacrificed by being the one to come and tell him about Jessie’s accident. Connor knew that no one in the department would have ever asked it of him. But Connor also knew that Eli would have never given the responsibility to anyone else.

For those reasons, and for so many more, Connor knew his brother was the man Logan County needed as its sheriff.

“Well, I appreciate the votes of confidence. Just make sure they’re also physical votes on election day.”

“Are you kidding? I’m going to go stand by the ballot drop boxes with my shirt off and my chest painted,” Connor said. “A big painting of your face.”

“I will arrest you. And I’m not joking,” Eli said, lacing his fingers through Sadie’s and heading toward the door.

Kate stood up and followed after them, offering him a goodbye wave.

“Goodbye, Connor,” Sadie said as they headed out, shutting the door behind them.

And he was left alone again, by himself and in his big empty house.

But that was about to change.

Disquiet lodged itself in his gut. He’d had quite enough change over the past few years, and this was more of it.

But he wouldn’t be alone. He was really fucking tired of being alone.

But he was alone now so he took another beer out of the ice bucket. A couple more drinks would help drown out the silence. Would help him fall asleep.

And there was no one here to tell him no.

* * *

“I THINK I SOLVED my rental problem,” Liss said, sliding a paper clip onto a stack of papers and looking up at Jeanette, her coworker, who sat at the desk opposite her.

“You found someone to rent to you?” Jeanette asked, licking an envelope and smoothing it closed.

“Not exactly. But Connor has a lot of empty rooms, and he’s agreed to let me stay with him until I can find a place.”

Jeanette arched a dark brow and looked to the left to make sure no one else was lingering nearby. Maria and Sandra were the only others in the office today, but the older women didn’t necessarily enjoy listening to her and Jeanette gossip. “Is this fine-ass Connor? The one with the bulging forearms and very delicious tattoo? Your friend? The one who’s been by to pick you up from work a few times?”

Jeanette had been in town for only a couple of years, so she didn’t know everyone’s life or life story in as much detail as most of the locals did.

Liss cleared her throat. “Yes, that Connor.”

“Get it, girl.”

Liss’s face burned, and she knew full well that she was blushing. “There will be no getting of it. He’s just helping me out. And he really is just a friend.”

Jeanette frowned. “Sorry. I did not imagine for one second that you were really only just friends with a man who looked like that. I just thought you were slow on the rebound after that jerk left.” Jeanette never remembered Marshall’s name, or at least, she pretended she didn’t remember his name. Because Jeanette was a goddess like that.

“It’s not like that with us. I was really good friends with his wife. Him, too. But Jessie and I were friends for...years and...well, that would be weird. And you know. Too much baggage.”

It was a refrain she had repeated to herself often.

“Yeah, that makes sense. That’s a lot of history.”

“A book full of it. That’s the problem with small towns,” Liss said, sighing heavily. “There’s history everywhere. That is perhaps why I’ve been single for so long.” Except she knew it wasn’t just that.

“Thankfully, I came with a man in tow.” Jeanette and her husband, Tom, had been married for five years, and Tom had come to Copper Ridge to work as a fisherman.

“It was a better plan than mine. Which was to grow up here, never leave and ensure every man in my age group knew me far too well to see me as anything other than a friend. I’m thinking Copper Ridge could almost single-handedly cause a boom in the mail-order-husband market. Maybe I could get myself a nice biddable Russian groom. One who would chop wood and open jars for me.”

“Let me know how that works out. I might sign up.” Jeanette winked and pushed a stack of papers beneath a hole punch, pressing it down firmly. “Not that I need another husband. It would just be nice to have someone around the house to do hard labor when Tom is out on the boat.”

“I could really start something here. A nice little secondary career.” Liss stuck the papers she was holding into a file. “Of course, I think living with Connor is going to be my secondary career.”

“If it’s rent-free...”

“It is.”

“And comes with a very handsome roommate,” Jeanette said, smiling.

“Yes. A cranky, high-maintenance, handsome roommate.”

“That’s what they call a fixer-upper.”

“I think when I put out my ad for my mail-order husband, I’m going to request a man who’s turnkey.”

Jeanette laughed. “Good luck with that. They all come with baggage. Even the good ones.” She pushed a couple buttons on her computer then paused. “Actually, especially the good ones. It’s the ones who have been through a lot and come out the other side that are really worth it in the end.”

Liss let Jeanette’s words hang there for a moment, willing them to just roll off, hoping they wouldn’t sink in. Because she didn’t need to harbor any more false hope where Connor was concerned.

Finally, she responded. “Great. I’ll let you know when he comes out the other side. Although, it still won’t be like that.”

“Whatever you say, Liss. Whatever you say.”

Liss’s cell phone vibrated against the surface of her desk. Her landlord’s number flashed over the screen and she frowned, answering the phone as quickly as possible. “Sorry,” she said to Jeanette, grabbing the phone and picking it up, answering quickly. “Hello?”

“Hi, Liss?” Marjorie asked, before plowing into the rest of her sentence. “Our buyer is very motivated to move. In fact, they really need a place to stay, so if we can’t clear out the house fast enough for them, they might look somewhere else. They’re able to pay cash, so they’re very mobile, and this is moving very quickly. I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but if you are able to move out as quickly as possible, I would really appreciate it. I know what your rights are legally, but I thought I would just talk to you personally.”

Of course, because this was Copper Ridge, and your landlord was never just your landlord; they became your friend, too. So when they overasked of you, it was impossible to say no. That was the economy of a small town. Everyone knew they could borrow help if need be, and interest was paid in small favors and homemade pies.

But then, her landlord had not become a good enough friend to refuse to ask something like this of Liss. Of course, she also knew Marjorie would never push or throw her out on the street or anything.

“It just so happens that I lined up a place to stay last night. And I can move in whenever.” She thought of Connor and his house, and her stomach did something weird. Kind of a twist and turn at the same time.

Marjorie breathed out an audible sigh of relief right into Liss’s ear. “If you could start moving out this weekend, it would be really helpful. I just don’t want the sale to fall through. Norm and I are much better off in Arizona, and the sooner we can cut ties with everything here, the better. It isn’t that I don’t love the town, but my joints don’t love the damp.”

“I understand.” Even though she didn’t, really.

“Thank you, Liss. You’ve been a great tenant.” Most especially since Marshall had moved out, but Liss didn’t say it. “Most especially since that boyfriend of yours moved out.” Oh, so Marjorie was going to go ahead and say it. “I hate to lose you, but I’m just too old to be managing properties and going back and forth between places. And if we have to hire a company...”

Liss let her mind wander. She’d heard Marjorie’s hand-wringing on the subject already. She was agreeing to move out; she didn’t know why she needed to subject herself to her landlord’s woes. Which was potentially a little bit unsympathetic, but she was the one who was being massively inconvenienced, so maybe not.

“Okay, sweetie, I’ve got to go,” Marjorie said.

“Okay, talk to you later.” Liss hung up and set her phone on the table. She looked up at Jeanette. “Is it okay if I make one more personal call?”

Jeanette waved a hand. “I’m not the warden. Do your business.”

Liss picked her phone up and dialed Connor’s cell phone number. He still had a flip phone, and half the time it didn’t ring, but it was still worth a try, because she knew he was out in the field right now, rather than at home.

Much to her very pleasant surprise, Connor answered on the second ring. “Liss?”

“Hi, Connor. I just wanted to say...I guess I’m moving in this weekend.”

“I guess I’ll be at your house early Saturday with a truck.” He sounded a little bit dazed, and she couldn’t blame him. She felt a little bit dazed.

“I’ll be waiting. With groceries. As per the agreement.”

“All right, then, Saturday.”

“Saturday,” she repeated, before hanging the phone up.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. It wasn’t a deal at all.

Maybe if she repeated that to herself a few more times she would start to believe it.