Free Cowboy Love on Hold [Love: The Cowboy Way 1] by Luxie Ryder Page B

just that, but it would have to wait. He was leaving town in a few hours. The decision wasn’t his, but he didn’t want to try and explain that to Wade any sooner than he had to. Facing Kimber was going to be hard enough, especially when he wouldn’t be able to tell them what was really going on. “I don’t suppose she’ll take no for an answer, huh?”
    Wade reached down to offer Brandon his hand, and tugged him to the edge of the bed. “Has she ever?”
    When Wade wandered into the bathroom, Brandon threw on his clothes and stepped into his boots. Checking to make sure Wade was still busy, he reached into the bedside drawer and took out a handgun. Ensuring that the clip was full and the safety was off, he slipped it down inside his sock and went to meet Wade out in the hall.

Chapter 9

    “What do you mean you’re leaving?”
    Brandon stared back at her, unfazed by her anger. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the dining room wall. “I have to go. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”
    “That’s not fair, Brandon. I thought we sorted this out?” Wade banged the table with his fist, jangling the cutlery on it and making the vase full of flowers in the center tremble. Kimber put her hand on his forearm, trying to remind him to keep his head. He shook her off and got to his feet. “Are you leaving because you’re still having doubts about our relationship?”
    “What? No!”
    Kimber got up and stood beside Wade, the pair of them trapping Brandon in the doorway to the kitchen. “Then why are you going?”
    Brandon turned away. “I have my reasons. Isn’t that enough?”
    She grabbed his arm and dragged on it until he came around to face her. “It’s nowhere near good enough. Why on earth would you do this to us?” She felt her lip quivering and closed her eyes against the tears, angry that she couldn’t handle the thought of him leaving again without getting as emotional as she had the last time. “Are you really gonna do this to me again?”
    Brandon tried to brush the tears from her cheek and sighed when she shrugged him off. “I’m not running away again, I just won’t be around for a while. That’s really all I can tell you. The less you two know, the safer you are.”
    Wade stepped in front of her, blocking Brandon from view. “If you think you are just gonna say something like that and then stroll out of here without telling me what is going on, you can forget it. There is no way in hell you are gonna put Kimber in harm’s way and then refuse to tell me what I need to do to protect her.”
    “I shouldn’t have said that. I made it sound worse than it is. The danger is mine, not yours. Besides, I’m not leaving for good, just until this little problem I have is sorted out.”
    Kimber moved to stand beside them, tired of being left out of a conversation that involved her, too. “Will you please stop talking about me like I’m not here? I don’t need either of you to protect me. I can look after myself.” Brandon and Wade ignored her, too involved in staring each other down to care what she had to say. “Fine, I don’t need you to listen to me anyway!”
    She shoved Wade out of the way and went back to the table, grabbing at the cutlery and making as much noise with it as she could. Kimber marched past them and dumped it in the kitchen sink, even though it was still clean, and went back to get the rest of the stuff she’d set the table with. If they thought she was cooking for them now, they were crazier than she’d given them credit for. She stacked the plates and dumped them in the kitchen, then reached down into a cupboard for a cloth and a bottle of spray cleaner.
    Kimber went back to the table to wipe it over, but changed her mind and slammed the cleaning stuff down on the surface. She looked their way for the first time in five minutes to find Brandon watching her silently, his hands braced behind him on the windowsill and Wade leaning with his back against