It was no wonder Cooper was in such great shape with all the physical effort he put into his job. He’d leaped over fences, danced, rode a horse backwards around the arena, and any number of stunts that required physical control and mental fortitude.
Thankfully, he hadn’t singled her out, knowing her preference to remain far away from the limelight.
He had met her when she arrived and carefully kissed her cheek so he wouldn’t get his makeup all over it. She’d almost forgotten what he looked like with the makeup on, since she hadn’t seen him in person that way since December.
Thoroughly enjoying the evening, the rodeo, and sitting between her family and his, she forgot about career plans, media campaigns, and everything else except how glad she was to be there.
While two guys jumped out of a pickup to load the barrels, Cooper came back out into the arena wearing a wild zebra-striped swallowtail tuxedo jacket with pink sequined trim. Instead of a cowboy hat, he sported a black wig of long, spiky hair.
“What in the world are you doing down there, Cooper?” the announcer asked.
“Getting ready to rumble with the bulls,” he said, raising both fists in the air and bobbing his head as music began booming over the loudspeakers.
Before she knew what was happening, Cooper had everyone in the crowd stomping their feet and singing along to “We Will Rock You.”
While he worked the crowd, the bull riders prepared to ride.
At the end of the song, Cooper disappeared out a side gate and reappeared without the wig and long jacket. He rolled a barrel with Elliott’s Lasso Eight logo emblazoned across it into the arena and set it up near the chutes.
He took off his hat and swept it toward the crowd. “Who’s ready for some bull riding?”
The crowd clapped and cheered, then fast-paced music filled the air as the first rider came out of the chute.
“Look at this cowboy ride!” the announcer said as the rider stayed with the bull through each twist and turn. He went airborne just before the buzzer sounded.
“What a disappointment for this young man. Let’s give him a hand, folks.”
Paige kept one eye on Cooper as he sat on top of the barrel and the other on the bullfighters as they dodged the horns of the bull that wasn’t ready to leave the spotlight. The pickup men finally roped the bull and guided him through the gate.
The following two rides went well, without incident. Although neither bull rider made it the full eight seconds, they came close. Cooper high-fived one of them as he walked by his barrel.
The next rider hung up in his rigging. The bull dragged him around the arena, although he made it the full eight seconds. Paige held a hand to her mouth as the two bullfighters worked to free the cowboy.
Cooper jumped out of his barrel and got in front of the bull, trying to keep him occupied as the bullfighters helped the cowboy to his feet, once his hand was loose. When he was safely out of harm’s way, Cooper raced away from the bull and let the pickup men chase the bovine through the open gate.
“Give a hand to Chase! He’s a great cowboy and deserves a round of applause for that eighty-seven point ride! He’s chasing his way to the finals and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see him do well in December.”
Paige relaxed the teeth she hadn’t realized she’d clenched as Cooper climbed back into his barrel.
As the next bull rider tightened the rope around his hand, Cooper stood on top of his barrel and executed a series of dance steps to the rock music playing on the speakers.
“How does he do that, Nick? Go from putting his life in danger to dancing like the king of the prom?” Paige asked, turning to the older man.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, honey, but he’s sure good at it.”
She had to agree.
The next to the last bull came out of the chute in a blur of fury, tossing snot and twisting left then right before leaping high in the air. The cowboy rode the full eight seconds, but before he could dismount or the pickup men get to him, the bull tossed the rider over his head. The cowboy landed with a thump, the wind knocked out of him as the bull charged his direction. The two bullfighters drew the bull’s attention away from the downed cowboy.
Paige squeezed Randi’s hand as the bull noticed Cooper’s barrel and dropped his head, hitting it with such force, it shot off the ground and bounced before it rolled several feet. The bull knocked it twice more before the pickup men chased the beast out of the arena.
The two bullfighters set the barrel upright and glanced inside it, frantically waving to someone near the chutes.
“Paige!” Randi gasped, pulling her hand away.
Unaware she’d been about to crush her sister’s fingers, Paige held her breath as two members of the medic team ran over to the barrel.
Nick leaned forward, as though he willed Cooper to pop up out of the barrel.
“Folks, if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be hit by a car driving about forty-miles an hour, Super Cooper could tell you, ’cause that’s what it’s like to have a bull hit your barrel like that.” The announcer mumbled something the crowd couldn’t hear, like he covered the microphone with his hand, before his booming voice came back loud and clear. “Let’s give our bullfighters a big hand. Thanks to them, these cowboys have a much better chance of walking out of the arena unharmed.”
While the crowd clapped, Paige perched on the edge of her seat, anxious to hear that Cooper was fine. With all the people gathered around the barrel, she couldn’t see if he had finally stood up or not.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take it a moment longer, the men cleared away and she saw Cooper pull himself up on the barrel, sitting on the edge as he waved his hat to the crowd. He had a bandage on his forehead and held an arm to his ribs, like they hurt.
“I think Super Cooper could use a big hand, folks. Let him know how much you appreciate what he did here tonight!” the announcer said.
The crowd whistled, clapped, and cheered. Many stood and waved their hats or hands at Cooper.
He waved one more time then turned his mic back on. “Whew! Who bought me a ticket for the tilt-a-whirl and forgot to let me know to fasten my seat belt?”
The crowd laughed and the announcer chuckled. “Did you know there’s a bull’s-eye on the front of your barrel, Cooper?”
“What?” Cooper hollered, leaning out of the barrel, pretending to examine the front of it. “No wonder he kept hitting it. He wanted his eye back.”
Paige couldn’t even watch the last bull ride, although Nick said something about it being Kash’s tamest bull. Her heartbeat still raced at an accelerated tempo and her breath came in tight, frightened gasps. How would she handle it if Cooper had been seriously injured or worse?
What was she doing getting involved with a cowboy, especially one who served as a target for bulls?
Terrified by what might happen to Cooper, by what he’d willingly allow to happen as he placed himself in harm’s way, she felt besieged with fear. She couldn’t stick around and watch him get killed.
No matter how much she cared about him, how much she loved him, she couldn’t watch him die in the middle of a rodeo arena.
Panicked, she couldn’t wait to leave. The moment the event ended, she stood. Nick gave her a concerned glance while Dave and Randi both stared at her.
“Are you okay, honey?” Nick asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“I’m not feeling very well, Nick. Will you let Cooper know I went home?”
“I can do that, Paige. If you wait a moment, though, I’m sure Cooper will be over to see you. He’ll want to at least walk you out to your car.” Nick glanced into the arena, expecting Cooper to materialize. “I’ll send him a text and let him know you’re ready to go.”
“No, Nick. I know he’s busy. Just tell him I said good bye.” Her voice caught and she impulsively gave the older man a hug. “Thank you for being so kind to me.”
“Well, shoot, honey, that’s been my pleasure.” Nick hugged her bac
k, then turned her loose with a curious, concerned look.
Without giving him time to say anything further, Paige hustled out to the parking lot where Dave had parked his pickup.
Randi grasped her arm and stared at her. “Are you sick, Paige? Your face looks unusually pale and you don’t seem like yourself.”
“I’m not feeling well. Can we please go home?” She waited while Dave helped Randi inside his truck then gave her a hand. “Is there anything we can do for you, Paige?”
“Just take me home.”
As Dave joined the line of vehicles leaving the rodeo grounds, Paige glanced back and saw Cooper run across the parking lot, trying to catch them. Unwilling to talk to him, she turned off her phone and pretended she hadn’t seen him.
Pieces of her heart broke and shattered, leaving her withdrawn and questioning why she’d allowed herself to fall in love with Cooper James.
She’d known all along Cooper was dangerous to her heart. Nothing in the world could fix the damage he’d unknowingly inflicted.
Chapter Twenty
“Oh, what the…!” Cooper swerved and slammed on the brakes, pulling to a stop on the side of the road in Las Vegas.
Flabbergasted, he rolled down his rental truck’s window and gaped at a billboard the size of a trailer on a semi-truck that greeted every visitor driving north toward The Strip.
A back view of him, from the pockets of his jeans on up to the top of his black Stetson, filled the entire left side of the billboard. His head was turned to the side, hat pulled down, offering a view of the cleft in his chin and the hint of a flirty smile. The dark-washed jeans and dark burgundy shirt he wore stood out against the snowy pasture with horses someone had Photoshopped into the background. In his hand, he held a strand of bright red jingle bells, hanging on jute string.
Cooper read the bold text printed in a western font on the right side of the billboard. “Guaranteed to Jingle Your Bells.” Below it was the Lasso Eight logo and the website name, along with a yellow starburst with text that directed shoppers to look for the booth at the Cowboy Christmas show.
Several more cars honked as he stared at his image, feeling an odd mixture of embarrassment, excitement, and doubt. No one would know it was him unless they’d spent a lot of time looking at his rear, like Paige.
Thoughts of the woman sent acute pain stabbing through the region where his heart used to reside.
Since she’d left him, left the possibilities of what they could have together, he hadn’t spoken to her. She’d had the secretary at Conner Creative call him with any details that couldn’t be shared through email or text messages. Other than a schedule of events they wanted him to appear at in Las Vegas, a contract that said Elliott would sue him if he didn’t show up at the designated events, another hefty check for those appearances, and details with all his expense-paid travel arrangements for the trip, he hadn’t heard from anyone at the company for weeks.
When Paige had bolted from the rodeo, she’d destroyed his dreams while breaking his heart. He’d been so certain, so utterly convinced, she loved him as much as he loved her, that he’d not given a thought to the possibility that she’d get scared and run.
He’d tried for a week to get her to talk to him. Through evasive tactics the military might want to consider for covert missions, she managed to thwart every attempt. Finally, she called and told him in a detached, impersonal tone that it had been fun while it lasted, but she still planned to move to Los Angeles and there wasn’t any room in her career plans for a serious relationship in the foreseeable future.
Cooper didn’t believe that excuse for a minute.
According to what his grandfather and Paige’s sister had shared, she’d nearly gone into shock when he got hurt at the rodeo.
The bull knocking his barrel around like a pinball in an old arcade game wasn’t something he particularly liked, but it happened from time to time. A little scratch on his head, bruised ribs, and a few minutes of dizziness was all in a day’s work. Everyone walked away from that day’s rodeo and that was what counted.
However, it seemed Paige turned as pale as a pair of new tube socks when the medics had staunched the bleeding and bandaged the cut on his head. From that moment on, she’d changed. Up until then, she’d enjoyed the rodeo. Cooper had seen her excitedly talking to Randi and Dave, and smiling with genuine affection at his grandfather.
She’d laughed at all of his jokes and cheered with the crowd at the rodeo. He knew she had, because he couldn’t keep from glancing her direction every few moments, admiring the sunlight gleaming on her golden head and the warm glow of her rosy skin. She’d looked so pretty in a peach-colored blouse with her jeans and boots. Paige represented everything he’d never known he wanted in a woman.
And she’d been all his.
Or so he thought.
He wondered how she’d handle being around him for nearly two weeks during the finals rodeo. In addition to Lasso Eight having a booth at the biggest cowboy vendor show in town, Paige had somehow arranged for the clothing line to be the featured brand during a fashion show at a big fundraising luncheon where more than a thousand women would watch him stroll down the runway in Elliott’s western styles for men.
Elliott had insisted Paige be present for it all. Cooper didn’t think advertising executives were typically quite as hands-on as Paige had been with this campaign, but it was most likely what made her so successful and popular with her clients.
Indeed, Paige had been very hands on and lips on with him during those amazing summer nights of the photo shoot that ended all too soon.
What was he doing mooning over a girl who’d been nothing but trouble to him? She’d jumped to wrong conclusions about him with Elliott’s nasty assistant. They’d just gotten that whole mess behind them when she freaked out at the rodeo and used the excuse of her career to keep distance between them.
Life was too short to be so wrapped up in a woman who was that… that… Cooper couldn’t think of a good word for her. Not when he kept picturing how she looked at the rodeo. Or the evening they’d sat in the cherry tree.
Shaking his head to clear his mind, he rolled up the window and pulled back onto the road.
When Elliott insisted his secretary would take care of all Cooper’s travel arrangements, he had no idea what to expect. Rather than drive to Las Vegas, Cooper had flown, first class, then made his way to the car rental counter at the airport.
Although he’d expected to find a small economy car awaiting him, he was thrilled to discover Lasso Eight had paid for him to drive a brand new, extended cab pickup. He’d whistled as he slid onto the leather seat and gripped the leather-covered steering wheel. No expense had been spared in having the pickup outfitted with all the latest bells and whistles. When it came time to return the truck and fly home, he might regret having to give it up.
Despite his pleasure in the pickup, he anticipated this trip to Las Vegas being anything but fun. He had no idea where or when advertisements for Lasso Eight would pop up. No one had given him a detailed list of what to expect.
Driving down the heart of The Strip, Cooper’s jaw dropped open as he watched a video of him bucking a hay bale on a large overhead screen.
The video started with a close-up shot of the back of his boots. As he walked away, the camera panned wider until a back view showed him setting the bale of hay on an old hay wagon Gramps had unearthed from the machine shed. Again, his face remained hidden by his hat, but there was a slight view of the cleft in his chin and a hint of a smile. Somehow, they’d turned the ground white in the video and made it look as though snow gently fell.
Cooper thought the bright blue shirt he wore made a nice contrast to the flaking red paint on the hay wagon. At the end of the video, words rolled onto the screen. “Do You See What I See?” Then the Lasso Eight logo appeared followed with their website and an invitation to visit the booth at the vendor show.
It was clever to tie phrases from holiday songs into Lasso Eight’s adve
rtising. Cooper had a good idea that was all Paige. Elliott didn’t seem like the type to get nostalgic about the Christmas season.
He noticed dozens of women staring at the giant video screen, pointing at his backside and smiling. Flattered while simultaneously mortified, he decided it was going to be a very long eleven days.
When traffic began moving again, he turned at the next corner and pulled into the parking lot of his hotel. Since he didn’t have to be anywhere until the following morning, he checked into his room then sent a text to his friends to see where they were hanging out. He left with plans of forgetting all about Paige, at least for the evening.
Hours later, Cooper returned to his room, disgruntled and out of sorts. Everywhere he went, he encountered billboards, videos, banners, and signs with his backside plastered all over them. Shaun and some of his other friends had teased him so mercilessly he had to leave before he lost his temper.
If he heard one more joke about him “shakin’ his thang” all over town, he might just pop someone in the nose.
He settled onto the couch and flipped on the television, not yet tired enough to sleep. Before he could start channel surfing, his phone rang and he hurried to answer it.
“Hey, Gramps! What’s going on?”
His grandfather’s chuckles made Cooper smile. “Gramps? What’s so funny?”
“You,” Nick said, laughing into the phone. “Irma and I were sitting here watching one of those crime scene shows. When the commercials started playing, there you were.”
“What?” Cooper fairly shouted. “What do you mean, there I was?”
“On TV, Coop! There was a Lasso Eight commercial with you bucking a hay bale in the snow. How do you suppose they got snow in there?” Nick asked, then chuckled again. “If you make it home without having a herd of women chasing after you, I’ll eat my hat.”
“Make sure you’ve got plenty of ketchup and salt on hand, then, because that wool will be pretty tasteless otherwise,” Cooper said, scowling as he flipped through the TV channels. He stopped when he caught the tail end of his tail end on the same commercial he’d seen earlier, the one his grandfather had just described. The words “Do You See What I See?” made him grimace.
Barreling Through Christmas: (Sweet Western Holiday Romance) (Rodeo Romance Book 4) Page 21