by Cat Johnson
That was fine. Better actually. He should ease back in to having a social life slowly. They could enjoy each other for a night or two and then part as friends. No chance of a long-term commitment or the hurt that would come with the end of it. Just two attractive adults having a good time. His scarred heart could certainly handle that. And his dick was apparently on board with the idea as well.
“I get the one in black.” When Jace didn’t respond to his claim on the woman, Tuck glanced at his friend. He found Jace standing openmouthed and staring at him.
Finally, once the look of shock had passed, Jace laughed. “All right. You got it, Tuck. Oh, and there’s a fresh box of condoms in my gear bag. You know, just in case.”
Glancing at her again, he didn’t bother denying his interest. Jace had known him too long for Tuck to try lying to him now. They’d been riding in local rodeos together since they were horny teens on the prowl for any willing female. As concerned about their post-competition activities as they were about the ride. It was no use pretending he wasn’t picturing this woman and him rolling around naked. If she was willing, he sure was.
Tuck nodded. “Good to know. Thanks.”
“Anytime. And about damn time you got back on the horse.”
“Yeah, it is.” Tuck nodded, not even mad at his friend’s comment since it was true.
He leaned back against the rail, glad the women’s seats were at this end of the arena, above the bucking chutes where he and Jace usually hung out before their event. This way he could keep an eye on them. Make sure his blonde didn’t go anywhere before he had a chance to lay the old Jenkins charm on her, if he could remember how after all this time.
“I’m just glad there’s two of them.” Jace let out a snort of a laugh as they stood side-by-side watching the women work their way along the upper tier.
“Why’s that?” Tuck frowned at the odd comment.
Jace shot him a sideways look. “Because when Tucker Jenkins is at the top of his game, no other guy stands a chance against him.”
“The game being women, you mean?” Tuck laughed and shook his head. “I’ve been out of that game for a very long while.” Between the years he’d been married and this past year, when he’d been too hateful to trust himself near any nice women, he was sorely out of practice.
“It’s like a bicycle, I suppose. Just hop back on and ride.” Jace waggled his eyebrows and smirked.
Shaking his head at that immature euphemism, Tuck glanced up and saw the two women had finally found their designated seats. Now their heads were bent close to each other as they talked, glancing in his direction. Oh, yeah. That was a good sign. He might be out of practice, but he knew when he had a woman’s attention, and he sure had hers.
He knew he was staring—his mother would be appalled at his rudeness. And he knew the object of his newly awakened desire knew he was staring at her, but now he’d made his decision, he wasn’t about to pussyfoot around. He’d never been subtle to begin with.
His heart rate picked up speed as adrenaline surged through him. He had a feeling making a play for this woman would be less like riding the bike Jace had compared it to and more like riding a bull—potentially dangerous but exhilarating and, if it worked out, totally worth the risk.
“Their seats suck. They’re way the hell upstairs in the top tier.” Jace was obviously keeping an eye on them as closely as Tuck was.
“You’re right. We should bring them down to the floor.” He hadn’t brought a woman back behind the chutes to watch him compete in a very long time. Hell, lately there hadn’t been any he’d wanted to bring down there with him. This woman, however, made him want to.
Again it seemed Tuck had managed to surprise his friend. Jace’s brows rose high, but he nodded. “Uh, all right. If you want to. Sure. I’m game.”
“Good. Let’s go.” He pushed aside any lingering doubts and strode up the steps, his legs easily spanning two at a time. A few inches shorter, Jace had to scramble to keep up.
Tuck smiled when the blonde’s eyes popped open wide at the sight of him coming toward their section like a bull charging out of the gate. She looked as if she was ready to bolt, but her friend—or sister or whoever she was—was all smiles. That was all the encouragement he needed to not second-guess his course of action. He had her companion’s approval. From past experience, he knew that could be the biggest part of the battle.
He heard the sound of Jace’s boots on the stairs behind him. His backup. His wingman. Hopefully, they both wouldn’t get shot down.
Up close, she was damn attractive. He’d learned the hard way that wasn’t always the case, but this timeless distance only improved the view. She somehow managed to look sophisticated and naïve at the same time. Her wide eyes, full of surprise and a little bit of terror, were as blue as the cold brook running through the woods behind the house where he’d grown up. Her hair was as golden as a hay field . . . and just the fact he was thinking corny romantic stuff like this made Tuck want to turn around, run back down those stairs, and do something safe—like hop back on Son of a Gun.
He gave himself a pep talk as the distance between them shortened to mere yards now. This was just some innocent flirting. Okay, maybe not so innocent if the night turned out the way he hoped, but it certainly wasn’t serious. He wasn’t going to bring this girl home for dinner with his mamma. Hell, he probably wasn’t going to get to do anything with her at all, because judging by the expression on her face, she’d rather crawl under the seats and hide than talk to him.
Too late now. He’d reached the point of no return as he stopped next to her.
“Hi. I’m Tucker Jenkins and this here is my buddy Jace Mills.” Tuck hooked a thumb at his friend on the step below him and forged boldly ahead. “We couldn’t help noticing you’re pretty far away from the action in these seats. We were wondering if you’d like to come down below where we hang out and watch from there.”
“We’d love to.” The other blonde smiled and stood so fast, it earned her a shocked look from the woman who had Tuck’s pulse racing. She continued, “I’m Emma, by the way, and this is my sister Becca.”
Sisters. Yup. He’d thought so. Strange though, as much as they resembled each other, it was only one sister—Becca—who kept his attention stuck like glue.
“Wait. Are we allowed down there?” Becca looked even more uncertain as her glance shot between her sister and him, but despite her doubtful tone, Tuck had to admit her voice sounded as sweet to him as an angel’s.
“Sure.” He nodded. “As long as you’re with us, you are.”
“See. It’s fine. Don’t worry.” Emma pulled Becca out of her seat, so now they were all standing on the stairs as a stream of people trying to get to their own seats pushed past.
Tuck couldn’t care less if he was in the way. All of his attention was on the woman in front of him. He could see the dynamic between the sisters already. Emma was the adventurous one trying to push Becca out of her comfort zone, while Becca, the rule follower, was obviously the more conservative of the two, the worrier. Strange she was the one who made his heart race. In the past he would have gone for the other type. Maybe time and events had mellowed him. Or maybe there was something to all this chemistry stuff.
“Very nice to meet both of you ladies.” Jace extended his arm and pumped each woman’s hand in turn.
Thank God at least Jace was keeping up the niceties while Tuck was deep in his own head trying to figure out how to warm Becca toward him. Maybe some good old-fashioned small talk would help. Hell, it was worth a try.
“So, first time at a rodeo?” He directed the question directly to Becca, hoping she wouldn’t be able to avoid answering.
“Yes.” Her flushed face broke into a small, tentative smile aimed in his direction. “How could you tell?”
Tuck returned the smile. It wasn’t at all hard to do. “Your boots look too good for you to have stomped around places like this very often.”
“That’s very observant
of you.” Her gaze dropped to his own well-worn boots and traveled back up as Becca did some observing of her own.
His knees nearly buckled from the intensity of her stare. He raised a brow at her perusal. She caught the move and yanked her gaze away as her cheeks turned a deeper shade of crimson.
“Well, I try.” Tuck also had to try to mentally talk down the arousal her little head-to-toe inspection of him had caused.
Damn did she look attractive when she got all embarrassed. That didn’t help the situation in his jeans, either. He didn’t come across many women who blushed. He was finding he liked it. A lot.
He pulled himself out of the pool of her eyes enough to notice both his friend and her sister had become very quiet. He glanced at them and yup, just as expected, the two were watching them like proud parents at their kid’s first school dance. As if this weren’t hard enough already, the dead last thing he needed was Jace playing matchmaker.
Though if Becca’s sister were half as nosy about her love life as Jace was about his, at least he and Becca would have something in common. An alliance to build upon. That was good. He’d gladly take that common ground while he regained his footing in the treacherous dating waters. Then hopefully later tonight he’d need the supply of what was in Jace’s gear bag.
Tuck turned his attention back to Becca. “How about we get you downstairs and settled? The opening will be starting soon.”
Becca hesitated. She glanced at her sister and then looked back at Tuck. Finally, she nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” He grinned and grabbed her hand. At that, both her eyes and her sister’s opened a little wider.
City girls sure were easy to rattle if a little hand-holding shocked them. He decided he liked that, but he couldn’t even begin to imagine how she was going to react later if and when he dropped his jeans and introduced her to Tuck Junior.
He laced his fingers with hers and held tight, having no intention of letting go as he led her and the others down the stairs. One quick glance over his shoulder told him Becca’s sister was following with a smile on her face. And behind her, with his attention glued to Emma’s butt while he walked and wore a smile of his own, was Jace.
Quite the mix of characters they had here. If nothing else, it was sure going to be one hell of an interesting evening.
Chapter Four
As they descended the stairs, Becca struggled to match the long stride of the cowboy at whom her sister had practically thrown her. Tucker—even his name sounded cowboy, which fit in perfectly with the rest of him. From the hat to the boots and all the many parts in between.
Glancing around, she found herself amid a sea of cowboy hats. She was definitely in Oklahoma. A stranger in a strange land. Speaking of strange, she was feeling more than strange to have her hand captured in his much larger, work-roughened one.
He led them to the lower level where he nodded to a man wearing a T-shirt marked SECURITY. That single nod was all it took to gain all four of them access to what looked like a restricted area. It relieved the suspicious New Yorker in her. He must at least be familiar to the security personnel and not some kidnapper who came in off the street. That was something anyway. Of course Emma wasn’t one bit concerned. The free spirit who was her sister would likely get them both killed one day.
Becca scowled at the thought as they wound their way down another flight of stairs toward an area that bustled with rodeo competitors and staff, and she felt even more out of place.
The definite scent of manure assaulted her nose. A glance to the right had her tripping over her own feet as the source of that particular odor was revealed—a dozen or so bulls. Really big bulls with long horns, and nothing keeping them contained except for some pretty flimsy-looking metal railings. At least they looked flimsy to her as one bull rammed the boundaries of the pen and the whole thing shifted a good six inches.
Torn between which she should be more worried about, the animals ready to stampede or the cowboy still clasping her hand in his iron grip, she glanced behind her. Emma was still there, looking triumphant. Perhaps Emma should spend less time gloating over Becca’s current situation with Tucker and pay more attention to the other cowboy. The one bringing up the rear . . . and concentrating solely on Emma’s butt.
Becca glanced down again at their intertwined fingers. Her bastard ex-boyfriend Jerry hadn’t been a hand-holder. Not in the beginning of their relationship, and definitely not near the end. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this man who’d plucked her out of her seat to bring her to his domain. Kind of like a Neanderthal dragging his chosen mate by her hair back to his cave.
Part of her railed against the whole concept. While other parts of her, parts lower, were all aflutter. She’d never dated a really manly man. She’d been with other English students while she was in college, but if their hands got dirty it was because they were erasing the chalkboard or dusting the lesser used books on the shelves in the campus library. Then came Jerry who pushed papers for a living at his job in sales. Not one of the men in her past had ever made her feel quite so . . . dominated.
Just the word had her womanly muscles clenching as Tucker stopped walking and turned to her, his eyes focused solely on hers. “This good? You’ll be able to see the bucking chutes from here.”
She eyed the immediate area, feeling every inch of her New York roots and like she didn’t belong anywhere near this wild place filled with men and beasts. “Wow. This is really close.”
To her right was one cowboy bent over strapping on a pair of leather chaps. Next to him, another one wrapped surgical tape around his own wrist. Meanwhile another guy pulled on a vest covered in sponsor logos, making her feel even more out of place and like she was intruding on their private space. Kind of like a female sports reporter who’d stepped into a testosterone-laden locker room full of jocks in nothing but towels.
At least these cowboys weren’t naked, just making some final preparations, and they didn’t seem to care she was there. They were right out in view of the rest of the public, who were kept on the next level by the guard their little foursome had swooped right past thanks to Tucker’s lead.
She yanked her gaze away from the various vignettes and spotted the other demographic of people. Scattered around the male competitors were girls. She definitely wouldn’t call them women. Nope. They were girls. Young, bouncy, eager-looking girls who seemed much closer to her students’ ages than her own.
“That’s the whole idea, sweetheart. To enjoy rodeo properly, you gotta be close enough to see the snot fly.” Tucker grinned, his blue eyes crinkling in the corners as he did. He dropped his hold on her hand and moved to stand slightly behind her and to the side.
The snot comment had her laughing, until she felt the weight of his right arm drape casually around her shoulder. “You’re right. This is much closer than our seats. We’ll definitely be able to see the snot from here.” She swallowed hard.
Again, he took her by surprise. Had Jerry ever put his arm around her shoulders? Probably not. Jerry was only a few inches taller than she was. It would have been a stretch for him. But Tucker was so tall, he could easily see the arena over her head. Even so, he stayed turned toward her, his gaze remaining only on her.
How was he so focused on her and only her when the girls surrounding them could easily make up a cheerleading squad? All right, the sweetheart comment had made her feel a bit better about being old enough to chaperone the group of girls hanging out among the cowboys, but the whole thing was still perplexing. Particularly how that intense stare of his remained trained on her rather than moving on to the perky young thing whose top didn’t cover her belly button or hide the outline of her nipples.
It was a mystery to Becca.
As a bull rammed the railed enclosure one more time, she jumped and wondered if maybe they were standing a little too close. Bull snot was one thing. Horns and hooves were quite another. She’d seen videos of the running of the bulls in Pamplona. It wasn’t something she wanted to par
ticipate in, there in Spain or here in Oklahoma. Yet somehow she trusted Tucker. Even without really knowing him, she had a feeling he’d save her if a crazed bull should barrel through that fence and charge her. But they should really invest in some stronger fencing, in her opinion. She eyed the enclosure one more time.
“Uh, he’s not going to break out of there, is he?” Her voice sounded a bit squeakier than she would have liked. Squeaky was not sexy. Though being trampled and covered in snot wouldn’t be so good, either.
“Nah. He’s just flexing his muscles a bit. He’s fine.” As he swiveled his head to look toward the bull still making the disturbance, she allowed herself to look closer at the cowboy who was so calm about the commotion.
He was probably close to thirty. Older than the barely twenty-something females hanging out nearby, but not too old he couldn’t take advantage of them if he really wanted to. Certainly not too old to be hanging out with them rather than her.
Maybe he had a daughter of his own. That could be one explanation for what was keeping him from partaking of the bimbo buffet within reach. She did the math in her head. Tuck could have a twelve-year-old if he’d started young.
Kids usually came with a wife. That thought raised a whole new and very troubling concern. As he gripped the metal rail, she glanced at his left hand—no wedding ring. Not even a white stripe of skin where one had been recently. Phew. She breathed a sigh of relief and tried to calm her racing heart.
Maybe for tonight she should stop over-thinking things, or at least stop analyzing everything quite so much. Though old habits were hard to break.
How nice would it be to not think for a little while and just be? Emma seemed to be able to live in the moment with no problem, but Becca wasn’t sure she’d ever done that before. Maybe tonight was the time to give it a try.
“Thank you.” She glanced up at Tucker.
“For what?” He glanced down and his eyes met hers. Again the intensity of his gaze unnerved her, and she broke eye contact first, looking around them.