Free Crazy for Cowboy by Roxy Boroughs

presence at her side again, blocking her escape. “Yeah, that’s what you keep saying. But you never say why. Hasn’t it occurred to you that all your problems with men stem from your father?”
    Emily sighed. “You’ve been watching Doctor Phil again.”
    “You don’t have to be a psychologist to see what is so obvious.”
    She knew she wasn’t going to like the answer, but Emily felt compelled to ask the question, anyway. “And what is that?
    “Dating cowboys isn’t your problem. It’s what those cowboys represent.”
    “What they represent?” Emily hadn’t realized just how loud she’d spoken until a Canada goose waddled up and hissed at her. Don’t get mad at me, she felt like saying to the bird, it’s the woman beside me who’s causing the problem. And that woman kept right on talking.
    “You keep going out with men that are like your father. Men who run off and leave you.”
    “That’s nonsense. I date cowboys, or at least, I dated them in the past,” Emily corrected herself, “because those were the men I met. That’s it.”
    Her final statement, as blunt as it was, had served the purpose. It got Jackie to hold her tongue. For a while. When Jackie spoke again, her voice was hushed, her tone apologetic.
    “Still, it wouldn’t hurt to talk to your mother. Aren’t you the least bit curious about your dad?”
    Emily reduced her stride, pulled over to the grass and stopped. “Of course I am. But the few times I’ve asked her about him, she closed down.”
    “Maybe you need to build up to it more.”
    “No, Jackie. You weren’t there. You didn’t see her face.” But Emily had. The look of hurt and embarrassment was embedded in her memory. “Anytime I get close to the topic, she turns away and starts puttering in the kitchen. It’s become this big issue that we can’t talk about.”
    Jackie looped her arm around Emily's shoulders. “Oh, Em, I’m sorry. The two of you were always so close. You used to talk about everything.”
    “Yeah.” Emily blinked to ward off the tears that threatened to surface.
    “Hey, you can still talk to me,” Jackie whispered, giving her a squeeze.
    She squeezed back. “Thanks, Jacks.”
    It would have been a perfect Hallmark ending, if Jackie hadn’t started to sing You've Got a Friend. The country twang her friend added to the vocals certainly didn’t help the rendition. It was so corny it was funny, and Emily’s tears of sadness turned into tears of laughter as she joined in.
    * * *
    “On top of ol’ Smokey...”
    Brandon sat astride his faithful horse, belting out the familiar song. He was starting to feel like a real cowboy. What did it matter that Smokey was the animal that all the children rode? Who cared that Sam had described the noble steed as a mere pet? To Brandon, he was the greatest thing since the invention of the combustion engine.
    He admitted the day might have something to do with his exceptionally good mood. It was Friday, the day he was going to take Emily on a real date.
    If she showed up.
    She hadn’t exactly said yes, the last time he saw her. But then she hadn’t exactly said no, either. He’d stopped her before she could say much of anything, with a kiss that he’d felt right down to the heels of his cowboy boots.
    He’d been in plays where he’d had to kiss his leading lady with passionate abandonment, and never felt so much as a twinge below his belt line. With Emily, everything was different. He responded to her with the intensity of a stallion during mating season. She felt so right in his arms, the way her breasts caressed his chest, the way her hips moved against his. Kissing her was the most erotic experience he’d ever had, and he’d been fully clothed at the time.
    Ever since that lip-locking session in the pond, he’d been rehearsing his confession. In spite of the advice both Sam and his sister had given him, Brandon knew he had to tell Emily the truth. He couldn’t pretend to be Houston Saveloy