Free Kissed by a Cowboy by Lacy Williams

bills out the wazoo.
    Later that night, when Haley joined him and
Justin and Livy at the rodeo arena one town over, those thoughts
kept him company. He couldn't get past them even though to make
polite conversation.
    She noticed. Of course.
    Sitting next to him on the crowded bleachers,
she bumped his knee with hers, smiling sideways at him. Livy was on
her other side, and Justin took up another seat past her. Maddox
had been shocked when his brother had asked to ride along. He
hadn't wanted to get off the farm at all, and now he wanted to
attend a rodeo?
    But Maddox had helped him load his crutches
into the truck without a word.
    "Did you ever want to do rodeo as a child?"
Haley asked.
    "For a few weeks," he admitted. He squinted
down at the action in the fenced-off, dirt-packed arena. A bell
rang and a horse took off from the starting gate at one side, its
rider clinging to the reins and urging it on as it raced around
three barrels in a triangle, then back out the gate where it had
started.
    "What happened?" Haley asked after the barrel
rider had finished her loop.
    "Took a ride on a sheep. Fell off, and
decided football was safer."
    "That's my brilliant brother," Justin put in
from Livy's other side.
    Maddox let Justin take the conversational
reins, talking about their childhood and Katie riding barrels.
    Until Haley bumped him again. "Wanna take a
walk? I'll buy you a pretzel."
    He considered her. She was wearing a cute
pair of jeans, boots, and a black Stetson he'd never seen before.
It made her look right at home in this crowd. "This is my date. I'm
buying."
    She met his gaze squarely. "I'm glad you
remembered," she teased softly.
    She was right. He'd let his worry about the
medical bills take over his thoughts.
    But it was also his life. He had to support
his family. He refused to do what his dad had done and give up.
    She followed him down the
bleachers, and when he started off to the food trucks, she slid
easily under his arm. Her boots put the top of her head level with
his chin, and she felt right there. Again.
    One of Justin's friends called out to Maddox,
and he waved, a flop of his hand on her shoulder.
    "Wanna tell me what's wrong?" They stood in
line behind a few people with the same idea about the pretzels, and
she looked up at him with slightly raised brows, waiting for an
answer.
    "Nothing for you to worry about," he said.
"You've got enough going on with your aunt." And being broke wasn't
exactly something he wanted to own up to. He had a little
pride.
    "That's true." Her chin lifted toward him.
"But I can still listen."
    He shook his head slightly. Not tonight. His
problems were still too raw.
    She looked off into the distance. "Once I get
back to Oklahoma City, maybe you could drive down for a
visit..."
    Haley continued to speak, but he heard very
little. He'd known she would be leaving, knew this was only
temporary, but how could she speak of it so casually? Her words,
the very thought of her leaving, felt like a punch in the gut.
    #
    It had taken
Haley so long to build up the courage to ask him to visit her in
the city, and then...nothing. No answer. No response
whatsoever.
    She'd thought...
    She'd hoped his kisses meant something. That
his arm around her shoulder, the way he'd comforted her the other
night, meant his feelings were growing. Growing to match what hers
already were.
    And here they were, on a
date. A date he'd requested. Not a let's go
as friends thing, but a real,
honest-to-goodness date. And yet...
    Had she been kidding herself?
    Was he just enjoying a summer romance? Was he
being a courteous cowboy, or simply returning her kindness to
Livy?
    They inched forward in the pretzel line. She
took a deep breath, steeling her courage, and looked up at him. He
met her gaze, his eyes dark beneath the brim of his hat. He didn't
smile, but the corners of his eyes crinkled.
    And she knew.
    He cared about her.
    But something held him back.
    The gal behind the counter cleared her
throat, and Maddox