Free 9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan by Sandy Sullivan Page B

and closed
on its own, earning a frown from him. A chill went through him for a second as
he kept walking toward the house. The ghosts around the place kept th ings lively even though they freaked him out a little
sometimes. The cowboy who tended to hang around the main lodge seemed to be the
most apparent, but there were others. A faint, distant childish giggle caught
his attention for a second before he shook i t off and
kept moving. He had more important things to do than deal with ghosts tonight.
    When he reached the office door, he knocked softly until
his mother spun around in her chair. “Oh my. What the heck happened to you, Jason?”
    “I got in a fight at the b ar
trying to protect Peyton.”
    His mother got up to head for the kitchen with him trailing
behind like a lost little boy. “Let’s get something to put on that eye before
you lose sight in it completely.” They moved through the double doors into the
kitchen w here the long cutting tables sat waiting for
the morning meal. Two big walk-in refrigerator/freezers stood off to the left.
His mother moved inside one and grabbed a plastic bag of peas. Once she had
them wrapped in a cloth, she put it on his eye before sh e leaned back against the counter waiting for him to talk. “So what
happened?”
    “Well, I went to the bar after everything was done on the
ranch today. I wanted to talk to her.”
    “You seem pretty friendly with her the other night.”
    “It’s not a big deal, Mom.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yeah. We’re just having a
good time.”
    “Okay, but I’ve heard that one before from Joel, Jeff, and
most recently Jacob.”
    “I’m not falling into the trap of a relationship. That’s
not what this is about. She doesn’t want anything and neither do I.” He moved the cold sack away from his eye.
    She grinned as she crossed her arms over her chest. “If you say so, Jason.”
    “It’s the truth.”
    “All right, son. I believe you.” She pushed his hand back
so the frozen peas were on his eye again. “You were wat ching her while you were at the bar?”
    “Well yeah, but just in
between pool games with the other guys. Not like I was doing
nothing more than watching her as she slung drinks.” He shook his hand as his
mother glanced at the raw knuckles. “She’s really good, you know?”
    “I imagine so. She does it for a living, right?”
    “Yeah. She works there full
time.”
    “So what happened?”
    “Some guy hit on her when she came around the bar. I
stepped in because he was all over her. The guy rushed me and we went down on
the floo r. He got in a couple of good punches before
Dan broke it up.”
    “What did Peyton say about all this?”
    “She got pissed off at me! I was trying to help her.”
    “I get the feeling she’s a very independent woman, Jason.
She probably thought she could handle the g uy.”
    “That’s what she said!” He threw up his hands. “I’ll never
understand women.”
    His mother laughed. “Maybe you should be having this
conversation with your father.”
    “But how am I supposed to know how to handle her, Mom?”
    “Don’t handle her, Jason. She doesn’t
want you to.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “She wants someone to have a good time with. Nothing serious. Am I right?”
    “Yeah, that’s what she said.”
    “Then be the guy she wants. Don’t force it. If you two are
meant to be, then you will be.”
    “I don’t want a permanent
relationship, Mom. I’m not ready to settle down.”
    “Then don’t worry about what you and Peyton have. If a good
time is all you want, then that’s what you should have, but I think there is a
little more there than either of you want to admit. It’ll happen in time.”
    He sighed as he put the bag on his eye. “This stuff is so
complicated.”
    “Honey, if it wasn’t, everyone would be doing it all the
time.”
    “It was so much easier when I just took my pleasure from
the whole thing and moved on. This stuff abou t giving
a shit is