Stay with Me (Cowboys of Crested Butte 4)

“Cream and sugar?”

“Just cream.”

Bree went into the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, got the cream out of the refrigerator, and set it in front of Liv.

“What do you want to talk to me about?”

Liv patted the couch. “Come and sit down with me.”

Bree sat next to her and clutched one of the throw pillows in front of her, like a shield. Liv grabbed it and threw it across the room.

“What are you doing?” Bree gasped.

“We’re going to have a very frank and honest talk, Bree. No hiding, even behind pillows.”

Bree’s cheeks turned pink. She picked up her coffee and took a swig, rather than a sip. “I probably should’ve added some brandy to this,” she muttered.

“Probably.” Liv turned her body so she was facing Bree, and took Bree’s hands in hers.

“Honey,” she began, “you know that I know what you’re going through.”

Bree blinked her eyes, trying not to cry.

“I’m not here to talk to you about Zack; I’m here to talk to you about Jace.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s time you stopped using your dead husband as a shield, just like you were using that pillow, against moving on with your life.”

Bree opened her mouth to argue, but decided to hear Liv out instead.

“You’re so much like your mother,” Liv laughed. “You’ve got it all together. You know the answer before anyone else asks the question. But when it comes to seeing what’s best for yourself, it’s harder to have accurate situational awareness.”

Bree thought Liv sounded like Zack. The next thing she’d say would be that Bree needed to get a vector on things.

“Look at me,” she said to Liv. “How long can this thing with Jace last? Let’s be honest.”

“Why can’t it last?”

Bree looked at the ceiling. “Because we’re so…”

“So…what?”

Bree laughed. “Because I’m me, and he’s…him.”

“You’ve lost me.”

“I’m a buttoned-up intellectual who has had sex with exactly two men in her life. The second of which was only yesterday.”

“And Jace?”

“Jace is a hot cowboy who conveniently falls in love with women who he knows very well aren’t available.” Bree made the sign of quotation marks to emphasize her words.

“You believe it’s intentional?”

“Of course it’s intentional.” She rolled her eyes. “Come on, his radar is uncannily accurate.”

“He’s using you, is that what you’re saying?”