Page 37 of Slow Hands Cowboy

“You’re going to tell your family, aren’t you?”

“I have to tell my family, because they wouldn’t believe anything else.”

“They wouldn’t believe that you’d hook up with me?”

“Oh, they’d believe that. They wouldn’t believe the part where we’re in a relationship. They know how I feel about you.” He turned away from her and started to head toward his truck. “You can stay in here for now. I’ll be in touch about where you can move. Then we’ll figure something out for more permanent placement as this all goes on. We need to go out on a date tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at seven.” He didn’t wait for her to respond, instead, he got into his truck and slammed the door shut, starting the engine with the push-button starter and backing out, keeping one eye on her and one on the backup camera. She looked a little bit shell-shocked, but she would also be fine.

And that was the sweet spot for Walker.

He wasn’t using this opportunity to get revenge on her or grind her into the dust. No. He wasn’t that guy.

But he didn’t exactly want her to be comfortable either.

He wanted Addison, that much was true.

But it was tempered with that hatred that he had carried ever since high school.

One thing was certain, it was going to be an interesting science experiment.

Which chemical reaction would win out in the end?

Only time would tell.

Chapter Eight

Addison had a date with Walker Grayson, and that meant that she had some damage control to do with Anna, Lydia, Denisha and her father.

Her mom had already gone back to California, and some of that was probably because Addison hadn’t done much to stay in touch with her after the wedding, she could accept that her mom was probably responding to Addison’s unwillingness to engage in deep conversation with her, but it still hurt her feelings. Because the situation with her mother always would.

But it meant that she didn’t have to worry about what she told her at the moment.

You don’t think that when you have to give interviews, when you’re out there lying, that your mom should know the truth?

She felt weird and conflicted about it, but she also had to be careful about who she told the truth to, because she and Walker didn’t need rumors. Not that her mother would gossip about her, but she lived in a whole other state, spreading the truth down south felt like a risky endeavor, and one that Addison didn’t really want to engage in.

She had no idea where Alan was. Maybe he was at their house. Eventually, she was going to have to go and get her things. She had clothing packed for a cruise, she didn’t have enough clothes to continue staying at the Painted Ridge Resort in perpetuity.

But she felt like she could probably lay low for another week, and that was about it. Her employees at the boutique had offered to continue to cover for her, and that was very kind of them.

Meanwhile, she had a management team for her vacation rental, and maybe in the longer term, she would need to stop taking reservations for that house and move into it herself.

Yes, that was a decent backup plan.

She could put a stop date on reservations, and then eventually she would be able to move into her house, once she was ready to get everything from the house that she and Alan shared.

The idea of dismantling her life on that level made her want to scream, but she didn’t have a choice. She hadn’t been given one.

She had nothing but rubble to sort through, and she was doing it in the best way possible, even if it did include a giant lie.

She ignored the vague spark between her thighs, and in her belly as she thought about her exchange with Walker yesterday.

It had haunted her last night.

Begging.

In his bed.

She knew he hadn’t been serious, saying all that to her, saying that he would show her that passionate sex right then if she would ask for it.