One Wild Cowboy by CATHY GILLEN THACKER Page B

way she couldn’t confidein her brothers. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I could date anyone who is as intractable as he is, for very long.” Maybe it would be best to cut her losses while the potential damage to her heart was still small.
    â€œSo it’s not like the two of you are in love or anything?” Kyle teased.
    Emily blushed. “Heavens, no!”
    â€œYou were just kissing him on the green, the other night….”
    â€œYou saw that?”
    â€œEmily, everyone saw that. It looked pretty hot.”
    It had been hot. Their tumble into bed the evening before, hotter still. But sex wasn’t everything. Even between friends. Emily bit her lip. “I’m just not sure we’re compatible in the ways that count.”
    Kyle chuckled. “You mean he’s not makeover material.”
    â€œI haven’t tried to make him over.” Not like she had in the past. She hadn’t gone clothes shopping with him, helped decorate his place or suggested a way to further his career aspirations—like she had with the previous guys she had dated….
    Clearly not seeing the difference in her approach to this male-female relationship, Kyle lifted a skeptical brow. “Well, that’s good. Because unlike your previous boyfriends—who, by the way, were all way too malleable for their own good— Dylan is a man who operates on the strength of his convictions. And I don’t see that changing. Not for you. Not for anyone.”
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    E MILY HAD PROMISED herself she would not get enmeshed in any more dead-end romances. Which left her with only one choice.
    â€œI think we should be friends,” she told Dylan, when she showed up at his ranch that afternoon.
    â€œI thought we already were. Or at least were on the way to becoming good friends.”
    â€œWhat I mean is,” Emily explained, aware her voice sounded a little rusty, and her emotions felt all out of whack, too, “I don’t think we should have sex again.”
    Their glances locked and they shared another moment of tingling awareness. Finally, Dylan said, “It was that bad, hmm?”
    Emily told herself not to read anything into the concern in his eyes. “You know it wasn’t,” she murmured, blushing. The truth was she had climaxed like crazy under his masterful touch. “But sex complicates things. I don’t need additional complications right now. My life is chaotic enough.”
    Dylan rocked back on his heels. He tore off his leather work gloves and braced his hands on his hips. “Okay.”
    Emily tore her gaze from his rock-solid chest and abs. She looked into his eyes, a little surprised he hadn’t argued with her. She cleared her throat. “You’re fine with this?”
    The tension between Dylan’s shoulder blades eased. “You just told me no. I respect that, and I will honor that.” His gaze gentling all the more, he flashed her a crooked smile meant to conciliate. He stepped closer and lifted a hand to her cheek, briefly touching the side of her face. “That doesn’t mean I still don’t want to have sex with you. So,” he said, and slanted her a telling look, “if you change your mind and decide you would like to have sex with me again, it’s up to you to let me know.”
    Emily wasn’t used to guys being this reasonable. Aware her face was still tingling from his brief, sensual touch, she drew a deep breath. “Okay, then.”
    â€œOkay.” Another pause. He scanned her Western-wear-clad form. “Did you want to help with the mustangs?” he asked finally, as cheerful as ever when it came to his work.
    Emily smiled, glad her efforts to redirect their relationship had worked out so well. “I would love to.”
    Dylan turned and headed for the training area. “Salt and Pepper have already been put through paces today.”
    Falling into step beside him, Emily teased,