by Mandy Magro
Now Charlize felt like crying, the genuine kindness in Katherine’s heart making her own heart swell. ‘And you’ve become a friend of mine, too, Kath. Thank you.’
‘That makes me very happy to hear.’ Katherine eyes watered as she clapped her hands together. ‘But before we both end up weeping like a pair of sooky lah-lahs, you better get your butt down to Dallas. Much like his father, the man doesn’t have the gift of patience.’
‘Right, I’m on it.’ Charlize hightailed it out of the bedroom, making sure she’d tucked her iPhone in her pocket—she’d need the voice dictator to record her interview. ‘Catch you later on,’ She called out before sniffing and squaring her shoulders, as if snapping herself back into journalist mode.
‘You sure will. Have a great day, love.’ Katherine called back.
CHAPTER
17
Dallas felt a jolt to his chest—and nether regions—as he watched Charlize step out the back door. She looked damn hot in her countrified outfit, and those cowboy boots made her already long shapely legs even more appealing—lord help him. Quickly regaining self-control, he swallowed down his lustfulness and gave her a wave. ‘Over here.’
She spotted him and waved back, her smile jolting him once again. Bruce sped ahead of her towards Levi, both dogs tumbling over each other gleefully as they met. Dallas chuckled at their antics.
‘Gosh, Dallas, if she wasn’t married I’d be telling you to make a move because that is one stunning woman right there,’ Reg whispered. ‘And she proved last night that she can cook too.’
‘Regardless of her marital status, Gramps, she’s much too hoity-toity for my liking.’
Reg looked a little taken aback. ‘I don’t know about that, Dallas. She may give off a city vibe but she certainly looks the part, and I reckon she’d fit right in round here if given half a chance.’
Dallas folded his arms. ‘Far out, Gramps. You only met the woman a few days ago. What makes you think you know so much about her?’
Reg smiled nostalgically. ‘Because she has the same intensity in her eyes and kindness in her heart that my Nancy did, and that’s not too easy to come across these days.’ Reg turned to face him. ‘Trust me, Dallas, after seventy-two years of life, I’m a pretty good judge of character, and Charlize Dawson is a person worth getting to know.’
Dallas arched a sly brow. ‘Yeah, well, I learnt my lesson with city chicks the hard way. They’re just not cut out for country life.’
‘Now now, I know Anna hurt you, but don’t go tarring everyone with the same brush, because you may end up regretting that at some stage,’ Reg replied just before Charlize appeared at their side, leaving Dallas to chew on his words.
Charlize waggled a finger at both of them. ‘Now, I hope you’re not whispering about me. I don’t want either of you pair making fun of my apparel, okay?’
Reg threw his hands up as though she’d just pointed a gun at him. ‘There’s no fun to be had. It suits you.’
‘Yeah, that’s what Kath said but I’m not a hundred per cent sure whether to believe her, or if she’s just being nice.’ She pushed her hands into her pockets while rocking back and forth on her heels. She grinned at Dallas as though waiting for his approval. ‘Sooooo, I’m taking your suggestion on board and trying to sink my teeth into the country way of life.’
Dallas snapped to attention as he pulled his eyes away from her generous cleavage pushing up out of her shirt. ‘Well, I agree with Gramps, it suits you.’
Way too much …
He shrugged to feign nonchalance. ‘In any case, it’s definitely more appropriate for what we’ll be doing today.’
‘Well yeehaw and cowgirl-up and all that country stuff,’ Charlize replied playfully as she stuck a pose.
Dallas couldn’t help but laugh at her attempt at a southern accent, as well as her knack of making fun of herself. This woman oozed confidence, and he liked it.
‘I know I said it a hundred times last night but dinner was scrumptious, Charlize,’ Reg said in between chuckles. ‘You may find yourself another regular at the dinner table if you keep making meals like that one.’
‘Oh thanks, Reg. I’m chuffed to hear it.’
Dallas nodded and thumbed to the side of him. ‘Yup, once again, I gotta agree with Gramps here. I’ve never had a stir-fry with prawns and lychees before, but damn it was good. I’m already hankering for the leftovers for lunch today.’
Reg jabbed Dallas in the arm. ‘If I get back from the doctor’s before you get back to the homestead I might just beat you to it.’ He gave him a wink.
‘Oi, fair go Gramps.’
‘Wow, thanks guys.’ Charlize smiled. ‘I’ve told Kath to take the night off again if you’re keen to join us for dinner tonight, Reg.’
‘Damn straight I am,’ Reg said with a grin. ‘I love trying new foods. My Nancy was always trying out new recipes on me.’
Dallas captured Charlize’s gaze, something inside him flickering as he noted the intensity in her eyes Gramps had spoken of. ‘So what should we be expecting tonight then?’
‘I’m not too sure yet. Maybe a vegetable lasagne, or maybe a curry with dhal and pappadums and cucumber raita, but hopefully you’ll like whatever it is.’
Dallas had to hold his tongue at the mention of vegetable lasagne. What kind of person ate lasagne without meat in it? And he had no idea what dhal was. It sounded like slang for darling.
‘I’m sure we will savour whatever it is you cook,’ Reg said as he glanced at his watch. ‘Holy moley, I didn’t realise the time. I better get a move on. I need to get changed into my going-to-town clothes before Kath turns up and lectures me for getting sidetracked. I’ll see you both a bit later on.’ And with that he spun around and headed up the garden path.
Charlize gave him a wave. ‘See ya, Reg.’
‘Okay, Gramps, catch you later.’ Dallas whistled to Levi and Bruce, who were still tumbling around the grass like a pair of lawn bowls. ‘Come on you two, we got us some bull riding to do.’
At the mere mention of bulls, Levi’s ears pricked up and he skidded to a stop.
‘So where do I get to ride Robo Bull?’ Charlize said as they wandered away from the homestead and down an earthen track bumping off through some scrub.
‘I’ve got a roundyard set up especially for it down near the dam. It’s about a ten minute walk from here. Or we can take the four-wheeler if you don’t want to walk.’
‘No, I love walking; and it’ll help calm me down a bit. Even though I know it’s not a real bull I’m still nervous.’
Dallas nudged her with his arm. ‘You’ll be right. I’ll make sure you don’t hurt yourself.’
A coy smile curled Charlize’s lips. ‘You’ll be my knight in shining armour and come to my rescue if I’m about to fall off, huh?’
Dallas diverted his gaze to his boots, unable to look at her lips any longer for fear of grabbing her and kissing them, hard. ‘Yeah, I suppose, something like that.’
Picking up a panting Bruce from the ground, Charlize cuddled him to her chest as they continued walking. ‘So tell me, is it just Robo Bull you use for practicing, or do you have other ways of training too?’
Dallas chuckled. ‘Is this just curiosity, or has the interview officially started?’
Charlize offered him a smile. ‘A bit of both.’
‘I s’pose once a journalist, always a journalist, huh?’
‘Yup, pretty much.’
‘Well, I mainly use Robo Bull these days, but there’s also an old style barrel suspended by ropes to the rafters of the shed. My dad and I used to practice on it all the time.’
‘Oh, how exciting. Do we go past there on the way?’
‘Sure do.’
‘Can I take a look?’
Dallas’s heart skidded to a stop with the thought of stepping back in there, but he wasn’t about to say no. ‘Uh, yeah, sure.’ He cleared his throat to try and quell his shaky voice. ‘No probs.’
Charlize must have pick
ed up on his hesitancy. ‘We don’t have to if you’re in a hurry.’
‘It’s on the way.’ He shrugged as he kicked a stone with the toe of his boot. ‘I just don’t go in there much since everything happened.’
‘You mean, since the accident?’
Charlize’s voice was soft and gentle and somehow caressed his aching heart. He smiled sadly. ‘Yeah.’
‘I’m sorry.’ She stopped walking and grabbed hold of his arm. ‘Seriously, we don’t have to stop off there.’
‘Nope, we do. Now is as good a time as any.’ He kept walking, leaving Charlize standing behind him.
‘As long as you’re sure,’ she called after him.
‘Sure I’m sure.’ He waved her onwards. ‘Come on, before I change my mind.’
Dallas lugged open the heavy shed door, its tired hinges creaking, and was met with the familiar sweet yet musty odour of last year’s hay. He hadn’t had the nerve to step foot in here in months.
He’d spent so much time in here with his dad it was like stepping back into his childhood. Reaching inside, he flicked on the overhead bulb, bathing the shed in warm golden light. The sight of the crumpled Commodore over in the corner was enough to make his heart squeeze tight, but he breathed in deep and tried to blow the pain away as he stepped inside. He wasn’t going to crack up, especially not in front of Charlize.
He was meant to be a tough, fearless bull rider—and that’s the side he was determined to show her. She was not going to get to see his vulnerable side—because nobody other than his mother did. No way did he want Charlize to see him tear up and fall to his knees in anguish. As nice as she seemed, being a journalist he was sure she would grab onto any juicy details and have them headlining the article.
A small gasp escaped Charlize. Dallas followed her gaze and it was where he expected it to be. She turned to him, her eyes filled with compassion. ‘Why didn’t you tell me it was in here? This should have been something you did when you were ready to, not because I wanted to have a look at the bull-riding stuff.’
Dallas shrugged. ‘It’s no biggie. It should have gone to the wreckers, but I couldn’t let the thing go. Dad loved his Commodore.’ He took long determined steps towards the wreck, feigning detachment as much as he was physically able to when on the inside his gut was wrenching and his heart was pounding. Reaching what was left of his dad’s car he placed his hands upon the metal as though it was his father’s lifeless body, thankful his back was to Charlize so she couldn’t see the wetness in his eyes. He quickly blinked it away as he heard her footsteps approaching. Her hand came down upon his shoulder as she edged in close to him, and almost sent him to his knees, but he stood his ground and puffed out his chest.
‘You okay?’ She whispered.
‘Yup, all good.’ Feeling as though he’d composed himself enough, he turned to face her, while giving the metal a rap with his knuckles. ‘I’m going to bring this old girl back to life one of these days.’
‘That would be a nice thing to do,’ she replied, smiling tenderly.
And then she just stood there in silent absorption, allowing him some time, and all when he’d been expecting her to start firing questions about his dad’s accident.
Her empathy struck him like a thunderbolt. Being a journo, and especially one from the city, he’d expected her to be cold and direct and even self-centred—only worried about getting a good story to print—but she was turning out to be the opposite of all those things. In a matter of days she’d made his mum smile more than ever, brought his gramps back to the dinner table and touched a place deep inside of him that no woman had been able to reach since Anna.
Hell, he’d never have walked in here on his own—not yet anyway—so maybe Gramps was right in saying there was something magical about her. Charlize Dawson was turning out to be the breath of fresh air they didn’t know they all needed.
She pointed to the barrel suspended in the air. ‘How old were you when you rode it for the first time?’
She even knew when to distract him, and he appreciated the diversion tactic. ‘When I was four.’
‘Wow, really? No wonder you’re so good at what you do.’
He savoured her compliment. ‘I try my best.’
She walked towards the barrel; her hips sashaying in a way that made him wonder what they’d feel like sashaying on top of him. He couldn’t help but watch how her arse moved with each step, and how her wild curly hair bounced around the arch of her back. Reaching the barrel, she slid her hand along it, then wiped the dust off on her jeans. With inquisitive eyes, she followed the lines of rope, noting all the details of the set up. Then a smile tugged her lips. She turned to him with that glint in her eyes he was becoming somewhat accustomed to. ‘Can I have a go of this before I jump on Robo Bull? Just so I can really get a feel for it for the article?’
He was struck by her gusto. This woman not only had sex appeal, she also had spunk and drive and was willing to try new things—which was very sexy in his eyes. ‘Sure, I don’t see why not.’ He ambled towards her.
She eyed the distance between the barrel and the ground. ‘How in the hell do I get up there?’
‘I’ll help you.’ He placed his hands on her hips and picked her up from the floor. She felt as light as a feather. Her hands briefly came down on his to gain her balance, leaving his skin searing from her touch. Then she reached out and grabbed hold of the rope tied around the barrel to help her manoeuvre on top of it.
Now settled, she looked down at him. ‘What do I do now?’
‘Just try and keep your balance centred, and hold on tight.’
‘Right, gotcha.’ She reached in her pocket and pulled out her iPhone. Selecting the voice dictation app she clicked it open. ‘I’d like to ask you a few questions while we’re at it, if you don’t mind.’
‘Yup, cool with me.’
‘Great.’ She smiled as she handed him the iPhone. ‘Just press the start button and we’ll be off and racing.’
Dallas checked it out, and nodded. ‘Righto, just hang five though, and let me shove this rubber mattress underneath in case you fall off.’ Positioning the safety mat so it was directly beneath her, Dallas went back and stood in front of her, his hands at the ready on the pull ropes.
‘Can you please be nice to me and not rock it too hard at first?’
‘That all depends on your line of questioning.’ Smirking, Dallas grabbed hold of the ropes and gave them a light tug.
‘Hey!’ Charlize gasped as she latched onto the hand rope tighter. ‘You’re evil.’ She grinned. ‘Gotta be on my toes around you, haven’t I?’
Dallas grinned. ‘I won’t argue with that.’
‘Have you pressed record?’
‘Yup.’ Dallas began to rock her very lightly. ‘Chest out.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Chest out—it’ll give you more balance.’
Charlize eyed him suspiciously. ‘Are you pulling my leg?’
Dallas grinned. ‘Never. And make sure there’s no daylight between your knees and the barrel. That’ll help you hang on better.’
Charlize did as she was told. ‘So, first things first, what makes you want to participate in a sport that could possibly kill you?’
‘Because I love it.’
‘Oh come on, there’s got to be a bit more to it than that.’
‘Well, my dad did it, so I guess it’s in my blood. It’s what defines me and makes me who I am. And no matter how many hard knocks I get I ain’t stopping until I become Australian champion.’
‘How many rodeos have you performed in to get where you are now?’
Dallas shrugged. ‘Shit, dunno, hundreds. I was about fifteen when I entered my first.’
‘Do you make a good living out of it?’
‘It depends on whether I win or lose, really. Sometimes it’s good, other times it costs me more to compete than what I win, by the time I pay for all the travel costs. So all in all, it’s not a great income.’
Charlize
eyes him quizzically. ‘What would it mean to you to win the Championship?’
‘Everything. It’s my dream, but not only that, the endorsements and sponsorships, along with the prize money, would change our lives here at Rollingstone Ridge.’
‘Did your dad come and watch you compete much?’
‘Yeah, he was my biggest fan. Whenever he was home he was either shouting from the grandstands or back behind the chutes helping out.’ He half laughed. ‘Or nagging at me to practice … He was so proud I was following in his footsteps.’
‘You two were really close, by the sounds of it.’
‘We had our moments, like any father and son, but yeah, we were super close. I miss the old bugger like crazy.’
‘I’m so sorry for your loss, Dallas, I really am. I couldn’t imagine the pain of losing my dad.’
‘It’s pretty tough, but you just gotta keep on living, no matter how hard that is.’
‘The world keeps on turning, huh?’ Charlize said tenderly. ‘How do you feel about following in your father’s footsteps? Does his reputation overshadow you? Make you strive harder?’
Dallas shrugged and was quiet for a few moments. ‘I haven’t really ever thought about it that way. I never chose to ride bulls because my dad did; it was just in me to do it. I s’pose I’m proud of his achievements, and proud to be following the same path he did. I don’t feel overshadowed at all.’
Charlize smiled. ‘That’s good.’
Dallas watched as Charlize moved her hips in union with the barrel. It looked a little like she was having sex. He tried to put the notion out of his head.
‘So what’s it like being on the back of a buck-wild bull hell-bent on tossing you off?’
Dallas smiled. ‘Well, when you’re riding on something ten times your size and yet you’re in control, it’s the greatest feeling in the world. And the buzz you get from the crowd is addictive.’
Charlize arched a sly brow. ‘Do you think that makes you a control freak? Or more of an adrenaline junkie?’
‘Probably a bit of both, I’d reckon.’