A Real Cowboy Never Walks Away (Wyoming Rebels Book 4) by Stephanie Rowe Read Free Book Online Page B

feel of their bodies against each other, and the magic of their connection. It felt like hours, but was maybe only minutes, before they both stepped back, moving at the same time, as if they both knew that the time had come.
    He met her gaze briefly, but he had no words as he shrugged on his jacket. She didn't say anything either. He took her hand, and together they walked back through the kitchen to the front of the café. He unlocked the door, then turned toward her. "I wish you a lifetime of moments like this," he said softly, brushing his lips over hers for one final kiss.
    "You too."
    He knew there was no chance of that, but he didn't argue. He wasn't going to have a lifetime of these moments. He was going to have this one moment, and it would have to last him a lifetime. "Take care, sweetheart."
    He brushed his finger along her jaw, searching her eyes. So much weariness. So much pain. So much regret. But there was something else there now, too. A tiny spark that hadn't been there at the start of the night.
    Maybe he'd helped her the way she'd helped him.
    He hoped he had. If he could have made a difference to her, it made all the shit he'd endured worth it.
    "You, too."
    He pulled open the door and walked out. "Lock it behind me."
    "Of course." She paused for a moment, her brown eyes glistening. "Travis?"
    He turned back toward her. "Yeah."
    "The townspeople, the ones who don't see your value, are wrong. Don't let them win."
    Something turned over inside him at her words, something soft, something he hadn't let himself feel in years...maybe ever. "Thanks."
    She nodded, then stepped back. The door shut slowly, giving him time to leap forward and grab it before it closed.
    He didn't.
    It clicked shut, and he turned away.
    It was still raining as he walked back to his truck, but he didn't care. All he could think about was the night. Her smile. Her laugh. The kiss. The dog.
    Everything.
    He knew he wasn't going to sleep tonight, but instead of it being because he was haunted by nightmares, it was going to be because he wanted to replay every last moment.
    Again, and again, and again.

Chapter 6
    T he euphoria of her evening with Travis lasted until halfway through the next morning's rush.
    By the time lunch rush was over, Lissa was so tired she could barely think straight, and she knew she'd made a mistake hanging out with him. She'd lost at least an hour of sleep, and maybe two, because she'd fallen under his spell, leaving her to function on exactly forty-five minutes of sleep. Without Katie around to help, she should have been in bed ten minutes after she'd closed the door behind the last customer, grabbing whatever sleep she could.
    Instead, she'd lounged over pie, she'd lost herself in a hug that had lasted forever, and she'd let the man suck on her nipple until she'd had an orgasm.
    Embarrassment flooded her at the memory.
    What in heaven's name had she been thinking? Seriously. She'd practically begged him for a hug, and then made out with him like a wanton hussy. He was a stranger that she'd picked up in her café. Yes, granted, he was Chase's brother, so she knew he wasn't a serial killer, but still .
    Everything about the night had been out of character for her, and yet she'd done it anyway, and she would have done a whole lot more if he hadn't had the willpower to drag himself out of there. And quite frankly, she knew she'd make the same choices again, if she had the chance.
    Heat flushed her cheeks, and the potato she was peeling slipped out of her hands. Would she really have slept with him if he'd tried? She might have. Oh, God. Was she that desperate for kindness and connection?
    Yes, apparently she was.
    Crud.
    She had to do better than this. She had to stay focused. She had to give her daughter the chance she'd never had, which meant not sleeping around just because she was desperately lonely and her soul was crying out for companionship. Those were no excuses for getting involved with a man. See what a man