When I pull up to Cooper’s place, he’s standing on the porch dressed and a tired look on his face.
He smiles as I climb the stairs and pulls me into his arms. Pressing a kiss on my temple.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
He sighs heavily. “I’m fine, but being a cowboy is a 24/7 kind of job.”
I rest my cheek on his chest and breathe him in.
“Come on,” he says, taking my hand.
The house is quiet, but it’s also one in the morning. “I’ll hopefully be back before Naomi gets up. She’ll remember you. It’s all hands on deck, otherwise I’d have my aunt or June come. They have to help.”
“Okay, does she like anything specific for breakfast?” I ask him, looking around the house. It’s cozy, a little messy, and I can see touches of Cooper and Naomi everywhere. It looks like a home full of happiness.
Cooper smiles and kisses me, and I wince, realizing I didn’t bother brushing my teeth. I literally ran out the door.
“I like these,” he says, toying with the edge of my pajama shorts. “Makes me wonder what else you’ve got going on under here.” He slips his hands under my hoodie.
“Don’t you have cows to go wrangle?”
He groans and presses his forehead to mine.
“I hope to be back before breakfast is a thing, but I’ve got some cereal you can give her. She’s not super picky.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
With my hand still in his, he takes me into his room. The covers are thrown back on his side, and the lamp sitting on the nightstand illuminates the room with a soft glow.
“Sleep in my bed. If she wakes up, she’ll come in here and probably be startled, but I doubt she will. She sleeps like the dead.”
“What do I tell her if she does?” I ask him.
“She’ll know who you are, but just call me and I’ll talk to her.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you so much. I’ve gotta go. Go back to sleep,” he says, and kisses me again.
I watch him leave, closing his bedroom door behind him. A minute later his booted feet fall silent, and I hear the faint click of the front door.
Very much awake, I look around his room and smile to myself. He’s messy, but clean.
I drop my purse on the floor and my phone on the table.
Realizing I need to pee, I open the door and look for the bathroom, realizing it’s right next door to his room.
I do my business and go back to Cooper’s room. It smells like him. Lately, when I’m next to him, I find myself memorizing his scent. It makes my body bubble.
Slipping under the covers, I snuggle into his side and take a deep breath of his pillow.
It doesn’t take long, and I slip into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 33
Cooper
Ittookusnearlyall night to get our largest herd back from a fence break and into another pasture in the dark. Luckily, it hadn’t been long, and they didn’t get far, but exhausted is not a large enough word to describe the soreness of my back or my shoulders from roping over and over again. Many cattle ended up getting themselves stuck in little patches of woods. The dogs helped, but with hundreds of cattle, there’s only so much each of us can do.
