A Real Cowboy Never Walks Away (Wyoming Rebels Book 4) by Stephanie Rowe

only place I wanted to be tonight was here. I wanted to be in your kitchen, I wanted to help you out, and..." He swore under his breath. "I wanted to be with you. You're the only one who has been real with me, and I needed that tonight."
    She searched his face, saying nothing, but he could feel her wanting to believe him, to understand.
    "Listen." He leaned forward. "I haven't written a new song in over a year. My performances suck. Music used to be my escape, my respite, but it's gone now. It's just...it's just like a brutal treadmill that has no soul anymore." The moment he said it, he realized that he'd finally articulated the problem. "Music has lost its meaning for me," he said. "It used to be what held me together, and now, it just slips through my fingers. Every night I go on stage, and it's a lie. It's like my heart no longer beats...until I walked in here last night. Until I met you. Until I stood there sweating over your grill for four hours." He paused. "Until I kissed you."
    He stopped, unsure if he'd said too much. He hadn't meant to, but once he'd started talking, the words had kept coming. It felt almost like the days when he'd been writing music, when the words had flowed so freely, when the pain had sought release through his words.
    Lissa silently picked up her spoon and scooped up a bite of pie. She ate it, still silent, still watching him. Waiting?
    "What?" he asked. "What else do you want to hear?" He wanted to strip the wariness out of her eyes. "I would never fuck you over," he said. "Ever. I swear it."
    Lissa put her spoon down, the metal clattering on her plate. "Your voice is beautiful," she said finally. "When I heard you singing today, it felt as though you were reaching inside me and touching all the parts of me I've kept shut down for so long."
    He blinked, startled by her change in topic, after he'd basically bared his soul to her. "What?"
    She folded her arms on the table, leaning forward on her elbows. "Last night, when you were sitting at the bar and I was rushing around, every time you thanked me for a glass of water or said anything, I felt like all the chaos disappeared. The world seemed to go still. All I wanted to do was sit down next to you and have you talk to me for the rest of the night. It didn't matter what you said. I just wanted to sit there and feel the way your voice wrapped around me, like a beautiful sunrise. You have a voice that touches souls, Travis, and I'm so sorry you've lost your connection and joy with it."
    Something inside him tightened, and he had to look away for a moment. He'd never heard anyone describe his voice that way, and it hurt. It hurt because he wanted to be that guy, and he knew he wasn't. But he also knew that she'd meant it. Maybe she was the only one on the entire planet who saw him that way, but that didn't change the fact that she had.
    "Travis." She slipped her fingers through his, drawing his attention back to her. "I'm sorry that I judged you today. I just... Sometimes, I feel like I'm running on fumes, and I'm so afraid of making that one mistake that will cause everything to crash down around me. I got scared that I'd made that mistake."
    He turned his hand over, tightening his grip on her hand. "So, basically, we're both completely screwed up. Is that what we're saying?"
    She smiled, a tiny smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I guess so."
    He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "Still soft."
    She looked down at their joined hands. "It feels weird to hold hands."
    "Good weird, or creepy weird?"
    Her smile widened ever so slightly. "A little of both."
    "You want me to let go?"
    "Not really."
    That was enough for him. He took her hand in both of his and turned it over. He began to trace the lines of her hand, noting the calluses on her palm, and the wrinkles from washing dishes. Her hand showed her toughness, but at the same time, it was so petite and delicate. He cupped his hands around hers, dwarfing it between his palms. "I want to kiss