Read Online A Cowboy in Disguise by Victoria Ashe - Free Book Online Page B

than a relationship.”
    “I’m just saying I obviously don’t know you well enough yet to have earned your trust, but I can’t figure out why you didn’t just tell me about Duncan right from the moment we met him here at the hotel. I’m not some dumb cowboy who deserves to be treated with deception.”
    Even before he finished his last sentence, he wondered if his words were meant for Alexandra, or if they were something he should have said to Mackenzie a long time ago. Scott cringed inside. This was not the untrustworthy Mackenzie he was talking to.
    “I’m private that way,” she said. “That much you should know by now. And I imagine you understand it.”
    He saw her recognition of the look his eyes as he recalled a memory of hurt and betrayal. She’d probably seen that same look staring back at her from her mirror.
    “I’m sorry, Alex.”
    “We’re both really tired, Scott. I didn’t mean to keep anything from you. I just think we’ve been through a lot the past few days. If I’d been more professional around you in the cabin, you wouldn’t feel so strongly about what happened at dinner tonight. See, this is exactly one of the reasons office romances never work. Hey, what happened to ‘I’ve got your back, Alex,’ huh? Let’s just stick to that.”
    She smiled soothingly at him, but he paid her little attention.
    Scott turned and started to leave the room. “I’ve still got your back, Alex. I could have pounded Phelps into the ground for a second there. We may not know each other well enough yet, but I already can’t stand the thought of him hurting you.”
    His voice was softer than he would have liked, and yet he didn’t turn back to look at her again before he walked away. He didn’t know which was worse, the thought of her relationship with Duncan, or the fear that she might not give him the chance to build a relationship of his own with her.
    Scott left early the next morning on a flight bound for his home office in Chicago. He needed a couple days to sort things out in his head, and handling some tasks at work seemed a good excuse.
    Two years in a relationship with Mackenzie had eroded his trust in love more than he’d imagined. There were no similarities at all between the two women, though. His judgment was clear enough to see that, his pain long enough gone. Mackenzie had stopped at nothing to promote her own financial interests, even playing with his heart and threatening his family in Montana. How would he ever get closer to Alexandra? He was afraid his reaction to Duncan had simply pointed out all of the complications of an office romance to her, and she was finished with him before they’d even started.
    •
    Alexandra was relieved she’d be taking her return flight to Seattle alone. Just when she started to feel something for him, he’d stepped all over that budding emotion by showing her exactly why personal attachments had no place in the office. Things could get too intense, too fast.
    She cursed herself for her unprofessional behavior in the mountain cabin. The heated towels—whatever had possessed her to go along with something so stupid? She’d told herself all along to listen to her head and never her heart, and here was proof of why. No, there was no way she was going to look at Scott Falconer with anything other than professional interest again. The risk was far too great.
    “Who am I kidding?” she whispered aloud to herself. “I’m still absolutely crazy about the big jerk.” She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. “I might be in trouble here.”
    When Alexandra walked into the building, Sarah followed her down the hall to her office like a lost puppy. “Well, well?” She almost jumped up and down with excitement. “You have to tell me the details. What happened in Colorado? Are they from Scott Falconer?”
    “Nothing productive happened. And are what from him?” Alexandra was still somewhat irritated with her assistant for all the false rumors