Fall for Me (Cowboys of Crested Butte 1)

“Nah, you’re not. But here’s the thing, is this about you, Ben? Or is it about me? You’re not used to things being about somebody other than you. You might want to consider that.”

She turned on the heel of her fancy cowboy boots and walked off in the direction of the table. When she got two feet away from him, she turned and looked back over her shoulder. It was the first time he’d ever seen her look back. He got off the bar stool and followed.

Before they got to the table, Ben put his hand on Liv’s waist and she stopped walking.

“This is what I’m talking about. This is my time, Ben. I’ve never had that, never let myself. Before I can give myself to anyone I have to fill myself up. Do you understand?”

He was working on it, he just needed to try a little harder, not for just a day, but every day.

Liv almost wished she’d left yesterday. She wouldn’t have to say goodbye to Ben now if she had.

She had the trailer hooked up to the truck and was ready to get on the road. She decided to go home for a couple days, regroup, and then get herself back out there. It was a seven-hour drive, but instead of driving, she wanted to sleep. Thank goodness she’d have Renie with her to keep her awake.

Ben insisted she let him load the last of her stuff into the back of her truck while she said goodbye to everybody else.

“Ready?”

That wasn’t what she expected. She’d expected at least a little drama from him. If she was learning anything, it was he was unpredictable.

He walked to her passenger door and held it open, as if he expected something from her.

“What?”

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I guess I am. Does Renie want to drive?”

“I’m gonna drive the first leg so you can rest.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll drive for a couple hours, or I can drive the whole way if you want me to.”

“Who’s driving your truck?”

“Bill.”

“Ben—” She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. “Oh, hell with it. Never mind. Let’s go. Where is Renie,

anyway?”

“She’s riding with Billy. We’re caravanning, baby. At least until Walsenburg. This’ll be fun.”

It occurred to Liv that perhaps she had as many control issues as Ben. After all, she was furious that all of this had been decided without a single one of them asking her opinion.

“Hard, isn’t it?”

“What?” she barked at him.

“Lettin’ go.”

“Shut up.”

Ben put his arm around her waist and swung her up into the truck. “Use the time to figure out which events you’re gonna enter between now and Las Vegas.”

“As if I had a prayer of making it this year. Get real.”

“Gotta dream, baby.”