Yeah, and the job search wasn’t going so well. Employers wanted full-time employees. Not older college students with nearly a year left of school and a kid back at home.
“I just want to get done with school as soon as possible.”
“You’re not going to speed it up any. Slow down a little and enjoy yourself.”
With someone like Bren. He didn’t say the words, but she knew he was thinking them. First time her brother had tried to play matchmaker, but she was pretty sure that’s what he was doing now.
“I’m not interested in dating anyone right now.”
“I like him. From all I heard, he’s a good man.”
She nodded after taking another swallow. “He’s got good friends, I’ll say that much for him. Trent Anderson was the nicest guy I’ve ever met. His wife was sweet, too.”
“So. Go out on a date with him. Valentine’s Day is coming up.”
She set her finished glass down by the sink. “I’m not dating anyone, big bro.” She went up to him and kissed his cheek. “But thanks for thinking of me.” She turned him toward the door. “Now leave me alone. I have a paper I need to finish.”
“And you say I always work.”
“Must run in the family.”
He took the hint, though, and when the door closed, she rested her head against it. Valentine’s Day. Hah. She didn’t need to be wined and dined by anyone. She was fine all on her own.
Oh, yeah? asked a little voice.
Yeah, she told that voice back. And she almost believed herself.
* * *
IT WAS DAYS like the one that dawned that next Saturday that gave Southern California such a great reputation when it came to weather—clear and sunny and just a touch cool, which meant that by this afternoon it’d be the perfect temperature. The only fly in her ointment? Having to watch Kyle ride...and other things.
“You ready?”
Jax would be driving them all to the rodeo. That was probably a good thing since it was a couple hours away. Lauren didn’t like the thought of having to pull over so she could throw up. Much easier just to carry a bag in her purse and let someone else do the driving.
“As I’ll ever be.”
For some reason she was more nervous today than the first time Kyle had climbed aboard a steer. It must have been the professional bull riders she’d watched. There’d been more than a few close calls that night...
Including your kiss.
...and it’d meant coming face to face with the dangers of riding a wild animal for “fun.”
Fun. More like insanity.
“Let’s go!”
Kyle was his usual exuberant self. Today he wore a cowboy hat that looked five sizes too big but that he’d refused to take off ever since Bren had given it to him. He’d had two lessons this week. One on horseback and one with the other kids. She hadn’t been there for either. She’d had classes both days, and so Jax had taken over. She’d hated to miss Kyle’s lesson, but on the other hand, it’d been great to steer clear of Bren. Being near him was just too damn disturbing.
You won’t be able to avoid him today, taunted the little voice in her head that she’d begun to hate.
No. She wouldn’t. But she’d have her brother and Kyle there. And Trent and Alana. And the Reynoldses, she’d been told by Kyle. They were their neighbors to the south and mutual friends of her brother and Bren.
They all piled into Jax’s brand new F-350—a truck that Lauren planned to buy for herself...one day. If she didn’t get distracted from her studies. Or let a man get in the way of her goals.
“I wonder if the steer will be big today.”
Lauren’s stomach tumbled end over end. She didn’t want to think about that.
“Bren said it doesn’t matter what size the steers are. What matters is the size of my heart.”
Hopefully no wild animal would step on that heart. And hurt her baby. And destroy her life, because she didn’t want to think about a world without Kyle in it.
Dear Lord, how would she get through this day?
Jax seemed to sense her anxiety. He shot her a reassuring grin and she wondered why it was the men in her life craved adventure so much. Was that where Kyle got it from? Had Paul passed on his love of an adrenaline rush?
“He’ll be fine, Lolo.”
Her gaze jerked to his own. Lolo. She hadn’t heard the nickname in years. Before he’d rushed off to join the military, he’d called her that all the time. And then he’d left her and things had never been the same.
“I’m counting on it,” she answered softly.
The rodeo grounds looked as crowded as a truck stop. One of the things that always surprised her was the number of expensive horse trailers on the grounds. The professional cowboys had nothing on their junior competition, or at least the parents of the steer wrestlers and ropers and barrel racers. Thank goodness Kyle didn’t want to do that. She’d never be able to afford a trailer on her own.
“I’ll go get my number.”
“Kyle—” But her son was already jumping out of the truck.
“Let him go,” Jax said, watching him run away, the door of the truck still open. “He’ll be fine.”
He would be. She’d learned rodeo was like a huge family. Bren seemed to know everyone in the industry and Kyle said he’d introduced him to a bunch of people. She knew he’d be okay. It was just strange to have him run off and do stuff without her.
Better get used to that.
In this case, she knew the little voice was right. Eight more years was all she’d have him for, because she knew her son wouldn’t be the type to live at home forever. He had too many things he wanted to do in life, and the determination and focus to do them.
“You ready for this?”
The voice was Bren’s and she didn’t need to turn around to know that he would be every bit as disturbing in the flesh as he had been in her dreams.
“I don’t think she’s ever going to be ready.”
Jax came around the front of his truck, hand outstretched. Bren shook it and clapped him on the back in the way that men did. She didn’t want to notice how handsome Bren looked in his pressed blue jeans and white button-down shirt topped off by a black hat. When their gazes connected, his eyes sparked in the same way as her body did when she felt that gaze meet her own.
She was kidding herself.
All week long she’d told herself that the spark she felt was just her imagination. That the brief kiss they’d shared was nothing more than the kiss of strangers. Now she knew how badly she’d lied to herself.
“Hello.”
It was all she could think of to say, all her sluggish mind could come up with because, gosh darn it all, she’d become completely tongue-tied.
“You okay?” he asked, concern in his kind eyes.
“She’s trying not to hyperventilate,” her brother said.
That was so close to the truth that she had to look away. “Just stressed out.”
“Where’s Kyle?”
“Off getting his number,” Jax answered for her. “Ran off like a bat out of hell the moment we parked.”
“He probably can’t wait to see who he’s drawn.”
She hadn’t even thought about that, but Bren was probably right. Kyle had spent hours on the internet this week looking up which steers had gotten what score on what day. She’d had no idea such stats were online, but Bren must have told him about them. He’d been hoping all week for a steer named Exterminator, an animal known for its wild bucking and crazy spins. Lauren had prayed all week he’d get a different steer, perhaps one named Easy Rider.
“I’m kind of curious, too,” Bren admitted. “Let’s go see.”
“What about Alana and Trent?” she asked. “Are they meeting us here?”
They all followed Bren toward the announcer’s stand. A few people nodded at Bren when they caught sight of him walking with her. One of the old cowboys even tipped his hat and said, “Sheriff,” the gesture so old-fashioned it might have made her smile if she weren’t so on edge. Clearly the old guy was someone who lived in Via Del Caballo and knew who he was.
The Norco rodeo grounds were surrounded by barren hills dotted with shrubs and oaks. Trucks and trailers were scattered here and there, all of them vying for coveted shade. Metal pipe panels served as the bucking chutes, the arena made of the same metal bars. The smell of animals—horses and steers and sheep—filled the air. There’d be mutton busting first, she’d been told, tiny little kids clinging to the backs of shaved animals. Kyle wouldn’t ride until the very end, which meant she had at least two hours of anxiety attacks ahead of her.
“I got him! I got him!”
Kyle ran up to them, face red from either exertion or excitement, because she didn’t need to know who he meant by him.
Damn.
“You got Exterminator?” Bren asked.
“I sure did.”
He looked almost as proud as if he’d already ridden the darn thing.
“Good for you.”
Let’s hope it was good for him, said The Voice, because it would really suck to make a trip to the hospital on such a nice day.
“I’m going to run back to the truck and get my stuff.”
Because it made perfect sense to prepare equipment hours before the need for it, but she understood his reasons. Bren had explained it was the routine. Rubbing rosin on a bull rope was like someone meditating before a ride. It gave a person time to prepare the mind. Bren, the Zen Master.
“You want to go find seats?” Jax glanced toward the grandstands. “Might want to grab some shade while we can.”
“Sure,” Bren said.
Lauren looked in Kyle’s direction. She wanted to follow him. To see if he needed help.
To hover.
It was the hardest thing she’d had to master in recent weeks—the ability to let her kid go. She couldn’t change who he was, but she could change the way she thought. At least today she wasn’t thinking about Bren’s kiss every five seconds. That was a plus.
“You okay?” said the man in question.
“Fine.”
Jax had walked off. She saw him glance back, but rather than wait for them, he kept on going. Traitor.
“You don’t look fine.”
She lifted her chin. “I’m just tired.” No sleep the night before a rodeo would do that to a person.
He took a step toward her. She had to tell herself not to move.
“Try not to stress.”
She almost laughed. “Is that what you used to tell yourself?”
He took another step. They were inches away now, so close she could feel him next to her, his presence like an invisible force field that she could sense.
“It’s what I tell myself every day.” He had a dimple. Just on the left side of his mouth. It came into play when he smiled. “Believe me. These days it’s more dangerous to do my job than it is to climb on a bull.”
Yes, she admitted, inhaling the tangy scent that was him. It was dangerous. Yet he did it. Just like Paul had gone out and done his job. But he was not like Paul, because she could never remember her husband staring down at her in the way that Bren did now.
“He’ll be okay,” he said softly and then, horrors upon horrors, he cupped the sides of her face, caressing her cheeks lightly with the soft pads of his thumbs, his face lowering, and she thought he would kiss her. Goodness, she admitted to herself that she hoped he would kiss her, because she needed his comforting touch and the sweetness in his eyes like she needed air to breathe and food to survive. “I promise.”
And then he let her go and she felt like a balloon whose strings had been cut; she wanted to take flight or maybe sink to the ground.
He turned and followed her brother, leaving her there. Alone.
“Oh, my.”
It was all she could think to say.
Chapter Ten
He’d almost kissed her.
There in front of God and what felt like half the citizens of Norco.
So? he told himself. He was a grown man. What did it matter if he dated someone younger than he was? Who would care? Well, aside from a few locals who’d made the trek to Norco.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Jax said as they took their seats on aluminum bleachers. “You can teach me about what these kids are doing.” And then his gaze slid past him and he must have realized his sister hadn’t followed. “Where’s Lauren?”
“I think she went to help Kyle.”
He’d spooked her. He’d seen it in her eyes.
“She’s not taking this whole steer-riding thing well.”
They’d talked during Kyle’s lessons. He liked Lauren’s brother. A lot. They were cut from the same cloth. They both cared about community and service and helping others, and he had a feeling whatever happened, they would end up good friends.
“It just takes time,” Bren said, trying to spot her back behind the rodeo chutes. He’d seen her heading back toward Kyle, had known she needed to collect herself, and so he’d let her go.
“You mind me asking something?”
Bren tipped his hat back a bit as he turned toward Lauren’s brother. “What?”
“Why the hell haven’t you asked her out?”
He rocked back. “Excuse me?”
“Kyle told me you kissed her.”
Okay, so that was a line of questioning he didn’t expect. “Just at the bull riding. It was one of those kissing cams.”
“My nephew said it lasted longer than everyone else.”
He glanced down at his boots. At his hands. At his lap. Why did he suddenly feel about seven years old? He couldn’t even tell the man it had been a mistake, because it hadn’t been one. He’d been thinking about that kiss all week.
“So what is it?”
He took a deep breath. “She’s too young for me.”
Jax’s eyes widened for just a moment before he smiled and shook his head. “No, she’s not.”
He met the man’s gaze. “I’m an elected official. And even though she’s twelve years younger, she looks about twenty years younger, and I could just see the raised eyebrows—”
“So what?”
“The last thing I need is a bunch of tongues wagging.”
“I could see that being a concern, yes, but you like her,” he pronounced. “She likes you. Take her on a date.”
It sounded like more of an order than a suggestion. His eyes focused on one of the rodeo officials out in the arena. He appeared to be checking the ground and for a moment he wished he was back to riding bulls again. Life had seemed so much simpler back then.
Should he do it? Should he take the plunge? In their small, ultraconservative town, some people wouldn’t like it. But maybe Jax was right. Maybe there was something else holding him back. He’d never let anything get in the way of something he wanted before.
“Take her on a date.”
“She’s having dinner with me tonight.”
“She’s going to a barbecue at your place. Not the same thing. Ask her out. On a proper date. Then see what happens.”
He stared at the man. “You mind telling me why you want me to date your sister so much?”
Jax’s eyes flicked to the action in the arena. It looked like they were about to start the rodeo, and judging by the number of people beginning to line up by the in-gate, every kid in Norco must have been there to ride.
“I want her happy,” he said simply.
* * *
“HE’S HERE,” KYLE SAID, the excitement in his voice on level with someone who’d just won the lottery. “I see him. Right there.”
Kyle pointed toward the edge of the parking area and sure enough, in walked Trent Anderson and his wife, Alana.
“I’m going to go to them.”
“Kyle,” she called after him. “Just wait.”
But he was off.
“You’ve been hiding from me.”
She resisted the urge to duck behind the big rig she’d been standing next to—a cattle truck—one with aluminum sides that reflected the sun into her eyes.
“I thought I would stay here.” She grabbed her hair and pulled it over one shoulder, wishing for about the tenth time she’d braided it and put it into pigtails. It was hot standing by that truck. “In case Kyle needed me.”
“I thought you’d want to sit up in the grandstands with us.”
“I do.” She forced a smile. “When it’s Kyle’s turn to ride, I duly promise to join you and my brother up there.” She glanced after Kyle. “Don’t you want to greet your friend?”
“And steal Kyle’s thunder?” He had followed her glance, smiling at the sight of Kyle waving his arms frantically toward one of his new friends. It was clear Trent was recognized instantly because the kid’s mouth dropped open and then he rushed forward. Soon Trent had a crowd around him, Alana looking beyond the excited faces and catching them staring at her. She smiled and waved.
“I should go over there,” she said.
“Wait.” Bren caught her by the hand.
“What.” She stared at their hands.
“Your brother thinks I should take you out.”
“Excuse me?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Do you want to maybe go out? On a date. You know. Dinner. Maybe a movie.”
A date? When was the last time... Had she ever been asked out on a...
“Do you?” he asked.
Alana walked toward her. Kyle and Trent still held court. She used her new friend as an excuse to step back and say, “Can I get back to you on that?”
And she all but ran away. She’d just been asked out.
Her Cowboy Lawman Page 9