Cowboy After Dark by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Author:Vicki Lewis Thompson [Thompson, Vicki Lewis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-06-14T22:00:00+00:00

12

LIAM DIDN’T FEEL particularly noble for accepting Hope’s flattering statement as a reason to continue their affair. But she was right. Good sex was a time-honored stress reducer, and apparently he provided that for her. She wanted him to keep on providing it until they both returned to Cody.

She’d hinted that she was a little envious of Phil and Damon, and as Liam watched the rehearsal, he felt an unwelcome jab of envy, too. They made it look so easy. Yet Liam knew the relationship hadn’t been easy at all. Damon had told him how he’d stubbornly clung to his belief that he was destined to live alone, and he’d almost lost Phil as a result.

People became damaged in so many ways. Liam counted himself lucky that his irresponsible dad had taken off before he was born. Grady’s dad had stayed a little longer, but their mom had kicked him out just in time. If that loser had been allowed to stick around, he and Grady would have been messed up for sure. Instead they’d been protected by their fierce mother, and when she’d been laid up, unable to do the job, Rosie and Herb had stepped in. Hope’s parents might have tried to keep her safe, but they hadn’t counted on a creep like Tom. They also didn’t know what Tom had done to her, and that was a damn shame. She’d denied herself their comfort.

So now her temporary sex partner—he couldn’t consider himself anything more—was the only person who knew what she’d been through. And he wasn’t supposed to talk about it. He wouldn’t, either, first because he’d promised and second because talking about it caused her stress.

But he had a problem, and it wasn’t a small one. He’d watched Grady blossom and knew that a creative person needed a satisfying outlet. His brother craved time alone in his studio, and Liam’s rafting schedule gave Grady that. When Liam arrived home after a week away, Grady was always glowing with a sense of accomplishment and eager to show off his progress. Grady without his sculpting wouldn’t have been the same person.

Hope had abandoned her writing, so where was that bottled up creativity going? She’d mentioned some crafts, but he didn’t get the feeling she was into any of them. He pictured her imaginative urges building like a pressure cooker about to explode, or worse yet, festering and destroying her zest for life. He couldn’t accept that a person who’d worked on a book for years could suddenly shut down the whole operation.

If he’d been a different kind of man, he could have dismissed those worries and simply enjoyed the sex. Chances were good that a fair amount of her frustration would be channeled into getting it on with him. He was willing to relieve her stress, but he wasn’t willing to siphon off her creativity.

He’d read a book that claimed each person contributed a unique gift to the world. His was introducing folks to the Zen of the wilderness.

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