Cowboy Ever After

Chapter 13

A few minutes later, she found herself walking through the front door of the Mehlerhaus Bakery. What she wanted more than anything in that moment was to drown her sorrows in chocolate.

"Hey, Gretchen," Keri Teague said as she looked up from where she was decorating a five-tier wedding cake. Of course she was working on the epitome of romance right when Gretchen was cursing the very idea. Keri set aside the decorating bag filled with pale pink icing. "What can I get for you?"

Gretchen dragged her gaze away from the cake and looked at the display case in front of her. "I'll take a brownie. No, make it two." So what if each of them was the size of her palm.

After paying for her brownies, she took them to one of the small tables next to the front window. She stared out at Main Street as she nibbled on brownie number one. When she finished it, she pulled her small sketchpad from her purse and started doodling.

She didn't realize how long she'd been drawing until she looked up to find she'd consumed the second brownie and Matt was walking through the doorway of the bakery. Without thinking, she shut the sketchpad. The only people she'd ever told about the dream her sketches represented had told her how stupid that dream was, and she didn't think she could handle it if Matt did the same.

"What are you doing here?" She sounded cool and distant even to her own ears.

Matt slid into the chair opposite her. "I was worried about you when I didn't see you at the rodeo. But when I saw you were fine just now...I'm not sure why I stopped since it's obvious you're not interested."

Before she could even think, she reached out and placed her hand atop his. When it hit her what she'd done, she tried to pull away. But Matt was too quick, capturing her hand with his. She took a deep breath and inhaled the scents of leather and horse, and they caused her pulse to quicken.

"Why didn't you come tonight?"

She let out her breath slowly, deciding to be honest with him. "I actually was there for a few minutes, but you...appeared to be busy."

He opened his mouth to reply, but he must have seen the truth in her eyes because his grip on her hand tightened slightly.

"You're talking about the women?"

"Yes, and you don't have to explain. I know enough to realize that someone like you probably has lots of female fans."

"Fans are one thing. Buckle bunnies are another. I hope you believe me when I say that I don't want anything to do with them. Lots of the guys eat that kind of stuff up, but I honestly won't miss it when I retire."

"Matt—"

"It's true. I don't like people who try to get close to someone just so they feel important by association." He gave her a look so earnest that she believed him, which surprised her.

She lowered her gaze, not having the first clue what to say in response.

Matt pointed toward her sketchpad. "What were you doing when I came in?"

Her immediate instinct was to bury the sketchpad in her purse, but she must be a glutton for punishment because instead she removed her hand. "Just some doodling."

"Can I see?"

She hesitated, wondering why she so wanted this man she barely knew to see her work, to finally have someone tell her it was good. The raw fear that he would react the same way her mother and Adam had made her want to snatch up the sketchpad and run out the door, and keep running until she was far away from Matt Evans and the incredible pull she felt toward him against all common sense.

With her heart beating so hard she feared it would damage itself, she nudged the sketchpad toward him the smallest bit. It was enough for him to pull it the rest of the way and start flipping slowly through the pages. The more pages he examined, the more anxious she became.

"It's nothing really. Like I said, just doodling and snippets of ideas."

When he didn't immediately respond, she thought her heart might break.