by Em Petrova
When several cheers went up, Maya Ray knew he wasn’t fibbing.
She found him staring at her.
“You look beautiful in that shade of blue. Goes with your eyes.”
His words tugged at her insides, pulling them tight and leaving her with ripples of awareness running through her.
He knew how to treat a lady, she’d give him that.
She did something totally unexpected, shocking Noah if his expression was anything to go by, and herself even more.
She reached out, grabbed his hand and threaded their fingers together.
* * * * *
The big rodeo day, and Maya Ray knew exactly what she was going to wear. Since the day Jake dumped her, she had started planning her outfit for this event.
He always loved her in red—her reason for wearing it to the party that night what felt like months ago. And she adored wearing the rich, bold color too. In addition to bugging Jake, her red top would be eye-catching in the front stands. She definitely wanted him looking her way rather than concentrating on that bronc ride.
Didn’t she?
She held up the top and examined her reflection.
She loved this top, especially with her tightest skinny jeans, boots and a tan hat.
Her gaze slid to the blue top she’d worn the night before to the Wyntons’ crumpled on top of her laundry basket. Noah told her it went with her eyes…that she looked beautiful in it.
Dropping the red, she rummaged in her closet for another top. Dark blue. Deep blue. Baby blue.
A-ha.
She tugged the blouse off the hanger and slipped it on. When she faced the mirror, a smile spread across her face. Perfect blue.
She fluffed her hair, positioned her tan hat on her head and strutted out of the house. The drive to the fairgrounds didn’t take very long, thankfully. At least she didn’t have much time to dwell on why she’d chosen a blue that Noah liked on her.
Her insides wobbled when she walked up to the gates and spotted the man in black leaning there waiting for her. Could Noah get any hotter? Every woman walking in almost tripped on her tongue when she saw the cowboy, but he didn’t look away from her face.
He straightened from the tall wooden post and came toward her. She nudged her hat up to meet his stare.
A flutter rose up from her stomach to her chest and then lodged in her throat even as it headed south to linger between her thighs.
“Hi, Maya Ray.”
“Hi, Noah.”
They smiled at each other.
“I thought you had to be at the back gate,” she said.
“I do. I wanted to make sure I said hi to you before I got trapped working all night.”
Touched in a new way she wanted to explore more when she was alone, she nodded. “I’m glad you did.”
“Walk with me?” He angled his head, and she nodded. They meandered through the thick throngs of people coming to enjoy the professional rodeo stars and cheer on their own hometown amateurs.
She hardly gave a thought to seeing Jake and Shana until they were standing right in front of her and Noah.
“Oh. Hi.”
Shana looked her over. Jake looked her over in a different way. And Noah slipped his arm around her waist and tugged her into his side. She pressed her hip against his and offered a big old grin to their exes.
She couldn’t help but notice the cozy couple didn’t appear as cozy as they were at the beginning of the week. Could trouble already be brewing in paradise?
“Good luck on your ride,” Noah said to Jake.
“Saw your name on the list too. Good luck.”
Noah stretched his finger over her waist, splaying them low, just underneath her bellybutton. She saw Shana track the movement.
“Well, we’ve got places to be. See you around.” Having enough of being faced with their exes, Maya Ray took them away from the situation.
It definitely seemed as if they’d gotten to the couple. So why didn’t she give a damn anymore?
Noah led her toward the gate and then turned to her. “I’ll be here if you want to sneak back and see me.”
She looked up into his eyes. “I just might. Maybe I’ll bring ya a corndog.”
He wagged his brows. “I love a woman who talks food.”
She chuckled. “My seat’s right up front. You’ll see me when you get into the arena.”
“I’ll be lookin’ for you.” His gaze never left her face.
Awkward silence stretched between them. She wanted to kiss him good luck. Was that off-limits? Outside the rules of the deal? Did the deal even matter anymore?
In the end, she tossed him a wave and walked back through the crowd to find her seat, which not surprisingly, was two away from Shana. She paid no attention to the woman, who only a few days before had made her want to spit nails simply for existing, and devoted her energy to cheering for the amateur events.
When the bronc riders stepped out into the arena, she leaped to her feet, jumping up and down and screaming. Not for Jake. Jake who?
She cheered for Noah.
* * * * *
Noah scanned the stands for Maya Ray’s blue shirt. He spotted Shana and then a couple seats to her right…Maya Ray.
He felt his chest swell. Suddenly, his shirt felt too tight—the buttons about to burst, actually.
Maya Ray was jumping up and down, clapping, hollering and then she stuck two fingers into her mouth and issued a shrill whistle. And she wasn’t looking at Jake the D-bag at the far end of the lineup of amateur riders. She was staring straight at Noah.
Had he ever seen something so damn amazing in his life? Nobody had ever pretended to be so happy to see him.
His gut clenched, and all the air left his lungs. Was she pretending? Hell.
She stopped bouncing long enough to pull her hat off and wave it in the air.
“Meet our amateur competitors tonight, folks! These ten men from right here in Stone Pass will be tryin’ for the big belt buckle and that win. Give them all a round of applause,” the announcer boomed over the loudspeaker.
The crowd cheered louder, and Maya Ray bounced up and down again, jiggling in all the right spots. She placed her hat back on, cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Noah!”
His heart gave a hard thud, but he didn’t have much time to dwell on it, because they all drew numbers to see who would go first.
He held his number up. “That’s me.”
The guy running the show gave a nod. “Hop in the chute, son. Hold onto your ass. Try not to bust out any teeth. Good luck!”
When he settled on the back of the bronc, wrapping his gloved fist tight in the rope and then adjusting it again to make it fit to his liking, he blocked out everything but his ride.
He wasn’t the first Wynton brother to enter the amateur categories. Two years before, Ross had taken on a bull. Managed to stay on for six seconds instead of the necessary eight, but his act had made him a celebrity in Stone Pass, at least with the ladies.
Noah wasn’t in this for the buckle bunnies. He just wanted to prove himself the way his brothers had, and some of his cousins before that. It was tradition.
Squeezing his thighs, he tensed for the horse’s initial jerk forward as he burst out of the chute. When he jolted into the arena, the scent of dirt under hooves clouded the air. He whipped around, clinging to the rope, jerking up and down and riding it out.
Using his abs, he steeled himself, but the next buck of the horse launched him to the side. He almost hit the dirt. All at once, his hearing seemed to return. The crowd went nuts. A horn blared to call the end of his ride.
Noah flipped his leg off the horse and hit the ground running to escape flying hooves. He tore his hat off, held it up and then dropped to one knee to say a quick prayer of thanksgiving that he hadn’t busted his skull or knocked out any teeth.
He’d done the Wynton name proud.
Sending another glance at the crowd, he saw Maya Ray with her hand to her lips. As their gaz
es met, she swept her arm out, releasing her kiss for him to catch.
He never spared a glance at Shana as he caught the invisible kiss and pressed it to his heart. He could see Maya Ray’s grin from all the way over here.
After he stepped into the sidelines with the other riders, he received several words of congrats. Jake didn’t look his direction or acknowledge that he’d done well.
Noah was fine with not winning the buckle, but he sure as hell wanted to beat Jake. Not because of Shana—let him have the high-maintenance, difficult-to-please woman. He wanted to win for Maya Ray.
The second and third riders hit the dirt fast, but both came jogging out of the arena wearing good-natured smiles and a fair share of dust on their clothes. The fourth rider made a solid ride—he might give Noah a run for his money. When Jake’s turn came to ride, Noah leaned over the gate, attention fixed on the man.
He swung his gaze toward Maya Ray. She wasn’t bouncing for the man. She didn’t take off her hat or blow him any kisses.
He glanced at Shana. Neither did she, but unsurprising. None of the best things in Stone Pass seemed to impress her or interest her in any way.
Jake shot out of the chute, his horse already in a spin. He clung to the bronc, somehow managing to keep his seat. Then the bronco whipped the other direction. Jake tipped hard, managed to remain on the horse that time. But the next, he wasn’t so lucky. He started to slip, his boot reaching toward the ground.
The horn blared to end the ride. Had he done as well as Noah? Pressing his lips into a firm line, he thought back on his own ride to compare. Since he wasn’t a judge, he couldn’t guess the outcome.
After every amateur took his chance with the broncs, the guys were all called out into the arena again. Loud applause thundered across the stands for them. He suddenly didn’t care as much about winning for the Wynton name—in his heart, he rode for Maya Ray. If he won, it’d be for her.
There were a lot of things he wanted to say to her and had held back. It was too soon. Their pact needed to be dissolved first. And he’d spent more than a few days confused as hell about his own feelings.
Not anymore. He knew without a doubt he was over Shana. He didn’t give a cow’s behind about making her jealous. The woman who held all his interest at the moment wore a blue top that made her eyes glow like a deep afternoon Montana sky and could fish with the best of them. She was also cute as hell when packing away a catfish dinner, and the sexiest while coming on his fingers under a display of fireworks.
“The scores are in,” the announcer said into the mic as he paced in front of the line of riders. Stone Pass didn’t boast a big electronic scoreboard, so he recited the numbers while young kids ran around carrying number boards. They organized themselves into each score’s order, and the crowd got as much of a kick out of the children’s antics as they did reading the scores.
“And top score is contestant number one, Noah Wynton!”
Pride socked him in the chest, and the shouts of the crowd brought a wide grin to his face. But when he strutted past Jake, he tossed the guy a smug look.
“That was for Maya Ray,” he said to him.
“Noahhhh!” The feminine yell brought his head up. His gaze landed on the stands where Maya Ray had been sitting, but she was no longer in her seat—she clambered out and ran toward the fence separating them.
He grabbed the buckle from the judge. “Thank you.” He didn’t wait to have his photo taken and jogged across the arena to Maya Ray.
She placed the toes of her boots in the spaces of the chain-link fence, her smile all for him as he closed the gap separating them. When he stepped up to her, he found her face on the same level as his.
“I’m so proud of you!” Her eyes glittered.
“I did it for you.” He kissed her through the chain-link, and the crowd exploded at the romantic display.
He pulled back, dropped her a wink and then jogged back to the podium. Tonight they’d be celebrating, and he didn’t only mean his family’s annual party following rodeo night. Something about the expression on Maya Ray’s face made him think more might be blooming between them. He wasn’t only imagining it.
* * * * *
Noah folded his arms across his chest and nodded to the two men approaching the gate he guarded.
“You wanna buy tickets, you go around to the front entrance,” he called out to them.
“Don’t wanna watch the rodeo.” The bigger of the two sauntered up to the gate. He stood a half a head taller than Noah, but Noah carried all his weight in the right places to add the ability to wrestle a man to the ground and gain the advantage.
“Then go on home.” He leveled his stare at one and then the other.
The sidekick wavered a bit on his feet, as if he’d had one too many.
“Take your drunk buddy here on home and tuck him into bed, why don’t ya? This gate isn’t for the public.”
“It’s for the rodeo stars. Those bigwig assholes who travel around sleeping with other men’s wives.” The taller of the pair reached behind his back and pulled out a gun.
Noah had a second to react and draw the taser. He hoped to hell it’d be enough even as he vaulted over the gate and aimed the electric current at the man.
He swung a fist at the same time, attempting to knock the weapon from the guy’s hand. Pain and numbness bolted through his arm and shoulder—he’d underestimated the man’s strength and size, but that didn’t mean he would ever be bested.
“East gate! Armed attacker!” he shouted into the communication device he wore that was synced to his brothers’ and a couple of their friends’ acting as security tonight.
The drunk buddy made a lunge at him, tripped and ended up wrapped around Noah’s shins. He lowered the taser and struck him in the flank. The man released him and curled up like a beetle, twitching and screaming.
Not sparing a second’s thought to him, Noah swung at the tall man again. His fist connected with his jaw, rocking him. While he was still rattled, Noah delivered a sharp blow to his throat, but the weapon was still in play, and he needed to get control of it.
Launching himself at the man, he struck him in the chest, sending him careening backward. Noah used his weight to pin his legs in an old high school wrestling move while they battled for the weapon.
“Jesus!” Ross’s voice clipped in his ear, and a second later, his brother ran out of the darkness. He jerked back his leg and kicked the man’s arm with his steel-toed boots, probably breaking bones as he sent the weapon skidding across the ground.
Boone rushed forward to pick it up, while Josiah, Silas and their other friend Mathias Trace quickly ended the altercation with their ropin’ skills born from years of ranching to hogtie the man who’d been tasered, and then bound the tall dude’s wrists and ankles.
“You can get up, Noah.” Ross gained his feet and placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder.
“Son of a bitch.” He rolled to his feet and stood glaring at the man. “I ought to taser you in the balls.” He launched a glob of spit on him instead.
“Boone, take him away,” Ross ordered.
His brother grabbed Noah’s shoulder and propelled him away from the scene. Josiah held out a bottle of water, and Noah shook his head. Panting hard from exertion and adrenaline, he locked his hands on his hips and worked to gain his breath and not stomp over there and beat that man senseless.
“What the hell happened?” Josiah asked.
“They approached the gate. One was clearly drunk. The other spouted something about rodeo guys sleeping with other men’s wives and then pulled his weapon.”
“You couldn’t get a chance to tase him?” Boone questioned.
He stared at his brother. “Think I would have ended up sprawled on top of him if I could? I needed to get the weapon out of his hand.”
“Damn, that sounds too close for comfort.” Josiah swiped his hand over his face, and Boone doffed his hat.
When he shot a look across the grounds to where the othe
r guys stood over the two men, he saw Ross on his phone, probably calling the cops.
“Hell,” Noah ground out. Then he realized the rodeo’s closing ceremonies would take place in a few minutes. “We need to get these assholes out of here before people start going home.”
Ross lowered his hand from his ear. “Troopers on their way.”
The next half hour sped by as the troopers arrived and bundled the big men into the back of their cars. “I’d like to see all you boys down at the barracks as soon as you can get away from your duties here,” one trooper told them.
After the men were taken, Noah looked to his friends and family. “Guess you’d better get back to your posts and relieve the others. I got this for the rest of the night.”
“You sure, man?” Ross cocked a brow.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He realized he didn’t want Maya Ray coming back here to meet up with him. He withdrew his phone and texted her, telling her to go on home and he’d come for her as soon as he was finished.
Seeing her reply that she would sent relief skittering through him. The last thing he wanted was her getting involved in the crap that had gone down here tonight.
Two hours later, the groundskeepers closed and locked the gates after everybody left. The rodeo stars were already loaded and pulled out on their way to the next venue. And Noah and the rest of Ross’s security detail headed down to the state police barracks to give their side of the story.
When they walked out to the parking lot, Ross called, “Hold up, guys. I wanna talk to you.”
Noah turned and walked back over to meet his brother. After he had all their attention, Ross fell silent. Noah wondered what was coming next but knew better than to pressure his brother for an answer. Ross always took time to gather his thoughts before speaking.
“Okay, I’ve been sitting on this idea forever now, and it’s time to put it in place,” he finally said.
They all looked at him. “Put what in place?” Noah asked following another beat of silence.
“A security company.” He looked to Silas and Landon. “We’ve discussed this before.”
They both nodded.
“It’s time. All over the state, there are places like this that hire security companies, and they’re made up of untrained people,” Ross went on.