The Wildest Ride--A Novel

by Marcella Bell

  And AJ was the primary thing standing between her and protecting her home. He was the thing standing between her and victory for cowgirls and Black natives the world over.

  AJ wasn’t her friend, and was most certainly not her lover, and she needed to get that straight. He was her competition, even if that line had blurred once or twice.

  Disgusted with herself, she decided to give up and get out of bed. They had the day off, but it wasn’t like she’d be getting any more sleep and she refused to lie in bed and think about AJ.

  Pulling on a pair of black sweats, she was working on getting a black tank top on when she heard a knock at the door.

  AJ stood on the other side.

  He wore his characteristic white baseball hat, but was missing his usual smile. That he stood on the bottom step put her face-to-face with him.

  His forehead was creased, and her first urge was to reach out and soothe the worry away.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, unable to stop herself from the words even as she held back the touch.

  He held up a red envelope. “You get one of these yet?”

  She shook her head.

  He offered it to her.

  Lil took out the card inside and read.

  The Closed Circuit is no place for city slickers. You’re going to prove it with an old-fashioned cattle drive. In teams of two, contestants will have twenty-four hours to round up, drive, sort, and pen twenty head of cattle. Your stock handling, horsemanship, rope skills, and teamwork will be put to the test. Late returns and missing cattle are automatic disqualifications.

  Her temperature rose as she read.

  They were going to be on teams. Overnight.

  She was going to have to put up with another cowboy, one-on-one, for a full twenty-four hours, on camera. She brought a hand to her face and rubbed it with a groan.

  AJ raised an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth lifting. “You okay there, champ? I was worried for a ‘gym rat’ like myself but figured a real cowpoke like you would think this was a breeze.”

  Lil frowned, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Finally, she just asked, “What?”

  AJ gave her a stern look that reminded her of her granddad and her mouth quirked up unintentionally.

  AJ’s grandpa scowl deepened. “You read the thing?” he asked. “We’re doing a cattle drive. I don’t know how to drive cattle.”

  Lil snorted. “Sure you do. You know how to rope and ride and you’re not scared of cows. You know how to drive cattle.”

  AJ crossed his arms in front of his chest, drawing Lil’s eyes to the tight expanse of navy blue fabric that stretched across his chest.

  Observing her, he said, “Somehow I think there’s a little more to it than that.”

  Lil shook her head laughing. “Not much more, really. It’s easy enough that so-called ‘city slickers’ do it all the time.”

  Some of the tension left AJ’s body, and Lil’s cheeks warmed. Like each of his real smiles, the easing of some of his stress felt like a personal victory.

  “What about the roundup?” he asked.

  “Novices do that part all the time, too. Gran and I looked into turning the ranch into an experience tour after we lost Granddad, and drives are a big part of that. You’ve got more know-how than the requirements we were considering for guests.”

  “You didn’t do it, though?”

  Lil shot him a one-sided grin. “Nope.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  She tilted her head, grin in place. “Greenhorns are irritating.”

  The glint that came to his eye was laced with lazy triumph. “Sorry in advance, then.”

  “What do you mean by that?” she asked.

  AJ stepped back from her door and said, “Flip the card over.”

  She did. The opposite side of the card listed the teams. She read her name and AJ’s listed right next to the number one. Her stomach dropped. It looked like she and AJ were going to spend the night together after all.

  18

  The massive blue truck towed a beat-up white horse trailer through a grassy sea of pasture. Four people were crammed in the cab. Two greenies, Lil, and AJ. AJ sat in the passenger seat. Lil and a greenie sat in the back, the other one drove.

  Behind them, a van filled with the film crew followed.

  There wasn’t a cow in sight, and hadn’t been one for the last twenty minutes.

  The back-seat greenie peppered Lil and AJ with questions.

  “How are you going to go about rounding up the cattle?”

  AJ wore a gray T-shirt, jeans, and his ever-present baseball hat. The only new addition to his look was a pair of reflective aviator sunglasses.

  Lil hoped he’d packed a long-sleeve shirt.

  Gazing silently through the front window, it was obvious AJ was not going to answer the question, but Lil could see he wore a grin through the side view mirror.

  She ground her teeth but smiled at the greenie. He was a skinny blond boy whose tight jeans and big belt buckle spoke of pro rodeo dreams.

  “There’s no real trick to it,” she said more tersely than she should have. “You just look for signs of cows.”

  A blush brought some color to the kid’s face but he braved on. “What signs are those?”

  Lil heard the real question in the kid’s words, and it was AJ’s face that flashed in her mind—not mocking her from the front seat, as he was now, but uncertain, as he’d been at her doorstep.

  The kid wasn’t asking just for the sake of some social media posts. He was asking because he wanted to know.

  Resigned, Lil gave him a real smile, it wasn’t his fault he was irritating.

  His mouth dropped open slightly.

  Making an effort to project more warmth into her voice, she said, “You start with your basic senses. The first one—better than even sight—is smell. Sound is next as listening is better than looking more than half the time. Then, finally, you can turn to sight, but usually if you can see them, you don’t need to be looking for them. If they’re moving fast, even your sense of touch is better than sight. Either way, your greatest ally is the cows themselves. It’s their nature to group up, so usually once you find one, you’re not far from the lot.”

  The boy took notes furiously.

  In the front seat, AJ sat straighter, his posture alert. He was listening in, too.

  Good.

  They hadn’t seen any cattle in miles, which meant they’d have to track them down.

  He needed to know as much as, if not more than, the kid beside her.

  The driver stopped the truck in a spot so similar and unremarkable to the rest of the ride that it felt like it couldn’t be anything but random, but then he double-checked the location on his phone, nodded, cranked his door open, and hopped out with a grunt. Behind him, the van also parked.

  The kid scrambled to follow him out of the truck, saying over his shoulder, “That’s enough to get a post out. Thank you, Ms. Sorrow.”

  Lil sighed behind the kid’s back, mentally thanking Gran once again. It would be absolutely futile to tell the kid her last name wasn’t Sorrow, but Island.

  Working together, the greenies unloaded and saddled the horses and packed the saddlebags. It was all Lil could do not to snort. Real cowboys took care of their own gear. But the Closed Circuit was the Closed Circuit: it would prove its contestants had grit its own way.

  In reality, it had to respect union rules. Since the competition was being filmed, all the contestants were considered on-screen talent and had to be treated with kid gloves when it came to things like luggage handling and wet sidewalks.

  In the cab of the truck, Lil asked, “You ready?”

  AJ gave her a nonchalant smile through the rearview mirror and said, “Of course.”

  Lil raised an eyebrow and pres
sed, wanting to push him past his front. “Really?”

  AJ took his sunglasses off to meet her eyes in the mirror, and her heart did a little flip like it always did when their gazes connected. With more seriousness, he said, “We’re about to start, aren’t we?”

  Lil couldn’t help the slight upward quirk of her lips at his response. It was a kind of logic she understood. “You’re right, there, Garza,” she said.

  AJ opened the door and slid out of the truck. Lil followed him out, grateful to stretch her legs.

  Standing by the horses, AJ pulled on a navy-colored Western-style long-sleeve over his T-shirt and started to button it while the older greenie gave them the rundown on their supplies.

  The chatter faded into a quiet buzz in the back of Lil’s mind as she watched the quick work of AJ’s fingers moving up his chest, button by button.

  It was going to be a long twenty-four hours.

  Shading her eyes with her hand, she distracted herself with scanning the horizon around them. The best way out, she thought, was always through, which meant finding the cows and getting them back. Quickly.

  The older greenie handed Lil her horse’s reins and she thanked him. The horse was a blond buckskin that Lil immediately named Becky. Patting her neck in introduction, Lil breathed in deep and pressed her forehead against Becky’s white blaze, the scent and sensation momentarily transporting her back home to Rory and the ranch and Gran, all of whom she missed more and more with each passing day of the tour.

  The old-timer asked them once more, “You guys know the rules?”

  Lil and AJ nodded, though she was sure there was probably a rule in there against stripping your partner with your eyes. The man checked his phone one more time before finishing up with, “Good. This is the spot. The cows aren’t too far from here. Round them up, get them to the corrals, then pen ’em up before time’s up.” He nodded toward the saddlebags. “You’ve got all the supplies you need and then some. Good luck.”

  Both greenies hopped back into the truck. The engine turned over and then they drove off, empty horse trailer rattling as they sped away. The van stayed behind, maintaining a discrete distance from Lil and AJ, as they’d been told to expect.

  Lil and AJ stood next to their horses, watching the truck and trailer disappear.

  Somewhere along the way, AJ had swapped out his baseball cap for his Stetson, and standing there, he was tall and gorgeous and everything a cowboy should be.

  Lil groaned internally.

  With one last pat on Becky’s neck, she said to him, “Well. We better get to it, then.”

  She checked the saddle before mounting. Her granddad had always been fond of saying, Never let another man saddle your horse.

  She noted that AJ did the same and wondered if it was his habit as well or if he’d just noticed her doing it.

  They rode for an hour before they found their first sign of the herd. Sure enough, it happened when they came downwind.

  All twenty cows had stuck relatively close together—hence the pungency. Lil held up a hand, signaling they should stop, and AJ stopped, eyes on the cows.

  Lil spoke low, slow, and evenly. “Remember the basics. Herd animals want a leader. Be that leader and everything else is easy. Stay calm and firm. They’ll respect someone solid and dependable. You don’t need to shove, yell, or make loud noises at them. That scares them and they won’t follow something they’re scared of. That said, don’t be afraid to tell them what to do with your body—repeat yourself if you have to.”

  AJ gave a small nod and she continued in the same even tone, “When you want them to turn, pull wide to the opposite side. Otherwise stick closer in. Don’t move fast and don’t come up on them from directly behind where they can’t see you.”

  “And if something goes wrong?”

  Lil shrugged and grinned. “Depends on what goes wrong.”

  AJ’s eyebrows came together as he scowled at the cows.

  Afraid he would scare the cows if he kept glaring at them like that, Lil leaned in toward him and whispered, “They can sense your emotions—at least the predatory ones.”

  AJ plastered a terrifying fake smile on his face and asked through clenched teeth, “Better?”

  Lil laughed and the sound whistled across the pasture, alerting the cows. A few mooed their disapproval, but none bolted. That was good—a sign the cows were well trained. Of course, she and AJ would find out for sure soon when they went in closer, but things were off to a good start.

  It was just past one o’clock in the afternoon, which meant that if the cattle were amenable, as they seemed to be, and if she and AJ pushed it, which they could, there was a slim chance they could get the drive done just a few hours past nightfall. No need for any overnighting after all.

  Lil nosed her horse more directly toward the cattle.

  “Since you’re newer at this,” she said, “you take point. Usually that’s a position for the experienced drivers, but I’ll need to watch from the back to troubleshoot. Ride big, steady, and calm and they’ll follow you. I’ll catch any wanderers or stragglers and worry about turning them when the time comes. It’d be better if we had three more of us—that way we could put two up front, two on the sides, and one in back, but we’ll make do...” The last lines she said more to herself than AJ, mentally calculating how fast they could move the herd with what little manpower they had.

  It wouldn’t be a good idea to rush—not underhanded as they were. So they wouldn’t rush.

  Lil looked up at the sky, trying to breathe away the urge to try. The sun was still high, but past its zenith. There was no way they’d cover the full fifteen miles before sunset—which was part of the point of starting so late in the day. It upped the drama to force them to overnight. Making the contestants show off their cowboy camping skills, as well.

  All skills, though, that she and AJ were strong enough in to get away with pushing it a little.

  The cows seemed docile, she was seasoned, and their route was straightforward.

  She turned to AJ. “You know where we’re going?”

  He patted his saddlebag. “Doesn’t matter. They gave us GPS devices, chargers, a map, and a compass.”

  Lil laughed, “Well, get yourself pointed in the right direction and get to it, then.”

  He gave a nod and nosed his horse toward the front of the herd while Lil followed him down the slight hill toward the dip where the cattle grazed.

  Their paths split as they drew nearer to the cows, AJ ambling away confidently, clearly at ease in the saddle, a fact that Lil was relieved to see, since they had hours of riding ahead of them—he needed more than eight seconds of riding in him.

  The thought brought with it a rush of heat to Lil’s cheeks as well as the part of her pressed against the molded leather of her saddle. Shuddering, she gave herself a little shake and stern set down.

  Her raging hormones were a strong reason to rush.

  On that thought, she clicked her tongue and guided her horse to take position at the back left flank of the herd. She would act as their swing rider, flank rider, drag rider, and wrangler all wrapped up in one. There was no time for having wild thoughts in all of that.

  She and her horse kept pace with the cows while she turned on her own GPS.

  To her right, the cows mooed and walked, sometimes breaking out into mini trots to stay together. Everywhere else was blue sky and golden pasture. Behind them, the camera van followed at a respectable distance.

  Ignoring the van, she scanned the horizon.

  Ahead of her, AJ looked as good from the back as he did from the front, utterly commanding in position at the head of the herd. The distance between them was finally enough to give her some breathing room—space for her mind to be full of something other than every detail about him.

  She sucked in a breath of cow-rank air and felt grounded for the first t
ime in days. Maybe she could handle this for twenty-four hours.

  For the first two, the cows cheerfully moved at a steady clip on a relatively straight route.

  AJ rode point, a Western silhouette against the horizon line, his form as timeless as their activity, and she kept an eye on the herd from behind when she wasn’t keeping an eye on him. Watching him from a distance, she could let her heart roll over as much as it wanted to. The landscape was large enough to take on anything she might have rolling around inside, childish and impossible as it might be.

  A different voice inside, an older one, more concerned with anatomy and heat than rodeos and ranches, argued that there was nothing more possible. He wanted her, she wanted him. Simple.

  Only the cows could see her blush, and their thinking was more in line with the second voice. Of course, they didn’t know the mother she had—or that her own face in the mirror was a daily reminder that the road to ruin started with risky dalliances with rodeo cowboys.

  Especially when those cowboys stood between her and saving the only home she’d ever known.

  Heart and loins girded, Lil scanned for AJ’s familiar form. He led with the same ease he’d shown since they’d begun the drive. She could appreciate the competency without turning it into something else.

  And if she slipped up again, all she had to do was think about her mother.

  The GPS said they had to turn south in another two miles, so Lil slowly circled around the back of the herd to come in close on the right flank. She’d push out far to right when it came time to turn, but eased into her new position close in.

  Hints of purple hid amongst the pasture grasses, and Lil felt some of the lightness that always came with being on a drive. She’d been twelve the first time her granddad had taken her along. They never drove their own cattle—they didn’t need to, and didn’t have anywhere to take them to, besides. Her granddad wasn’t interested in public grazing, didn’t trust the government not to be out there sabotaging unwary ranchers, planting fescue and the like, as if there were a mighty conspiracy—never mind the fact that there wasn’t much land in Oklahoma for public grazing to begin with.