Cowboy Ever After

Chapter 19

"You won't miss rodeo?"

Matt ran his fingers down her arm then captured her hand. "I only did it to tick off my parents. They still can't believe I went into something so beneath me."

Gretchen's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "I don't understand."

He shifted his gaze down the quaint street. "My parents are wealthy, really wealthy, and I was supposed to follow in my father's footsteps at his investment firm, wearing suits and ties every day, kissing other rich dudes' butts, marrying the right kind of girl and having perfect kids. It was so damned stifling that I took the first opportunity I got to do something totally different that would tick them off." He shrugged. "Turned out I was good at it."

He looked up at Gretchen and noticed that she looked pale. "Are you okay?"

Instead of answering, she stepped away and slowly walked toward her car, where she set the vase of flowers on the hood before turning back toward him.

"You know why the florist couldn't find my address?" She took a deep breath and pointed toward her car. "Because this is my address."

At first he didn't understand, but then he remembered how she'd never invited him to her place. The fact that she was homeless punched him in the gut and caused his heart to ache.

"I need to know," she said. "Am I just another way for you to stick it to your rich parents?"

Her question shocked him, making him wonder what he'd done to make her doubt him. But then he remembered how she'd thought she'd known Adam only to have him betray her.

He didn't approach her, needing her to focus on his words and the truth behind them. "Being with you has been the best thing that's happened to me in a long time, probably ever. It's the first time I've done something when I haven't thought of my parents even once. Since I walked into the café and saw you, all I've been able to think about is you."

"That's not true. You've thought about buying a home."

"Here, in Blue Falls, because of you." He did close the distance between them then and caressed her cheek. "I swear to you, I'll never betray you. And if I ever cross paths with Adam, he's going to wish he'd moved to the other side of the world and stayed there. I will support your writing and your art, whatever you want to do."

She held his gaze as if trying to judge the truth of his words. "What if I wanted to own a bookstore?"

He grazed her bottom lip with his thumb. "Whatever you want. I believe in you."

"Why? You barely know me."

"Because despite that, I'm falling in love with you."

Gretchen gasped, but he didn't give her time to doubt him. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she melted into him.

After some unknown amount of time, she pulled back a little bit. "If I'm going to go after my dreams, I need for you to do the same."

He grinned. "I am."

She smiled and fiddled with the top button of his shirt. "That's not what I mean."

"I don't know what my dream is. I've spent so much time doing things to irritate my parents that I haven't thought about what I really want from my life."

"It's rodeo."

He shook his head. "I'm done riding."

"But you won't be happy if you don't stay in that business somehow."

"What makes you say that?"

"I saw you ride. You might have started out riding to spite your parents, but somewhere along the way you started to love it. I could see that all the way from where I was sitting when you rode."

To his complete surprise, he realized she was right. And he wondered if it would have ever dawned on him were it not for the smart, beautiful, kind woman in his arms.

He was wrong when he'd told her he was falling in love with her. He was already there.