by Joanna Sims
Nick paused by the rental car. “I have some visiting to do with my sisters before I leave. They’re planning another family dinner out at Bent Tree.”
“Uh-huh.” She kept her hands in her back pockets to stop herself from reaching out and straightening the collar of his shirt.
“You aren’t going to still be in town Friday night, will you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ll already be on the road.”
“I was thinking that you could join us Friday if you were still going to be in town.” Nick seemed to be stalling his departure. “Aunt Barb would be happy to have you.”
“I’ll already be gone,” she reiterated. Lingering around, drawing out goodbyes wasn’t in her DNA. She liked to yank that Band-Aid off and get on with it. Life was rolling on whether she dragged her feet or not.
Nick nodded in what she interpreted as acceptance as he opened the driver’s door.
“Are you sure you want me to keep this?” he asked about the cowboy hat he had just taken off his head.
“Davy would be proud for you to have it.”
With that, Nick got into the car and cranked the engine. They said another goodbye and promised to keep in touch through text and social media. She always posted pictures on social media, as did he, so it was a good way to keep in touch.
Dallas watched as Nick Brand drove away; yes, she would see him on social media, but would she ever see him in person again? It was hard to imagine a time when their paths would cross. He had his life in Chicago, and she had her life as a traveling barrel racer. And now that Davy’s affairs were put in order, she could get back to that life.
“Well, Dally,” she scolded herself aloud when she was still looking at the empty road long after Nick’s car had disappeared. “Pick up your lip and get on with it already.”
* * *
Nick had been back in Chicago for a month and he had returned to the blessed routine of his city life. He had gotten a much-needed haircut and a professional shave; he’d managed to scrub the feeling of grit and dirt off his body with the help of his high-tech, state-of-the-art shower with multiple showerheads. His back had finally stopped aching after regular massages and the benefit of his top-of-the-line mattress. The bug bites, the scrapes, the bruises had healed as the weeks passed. The new job was going well—he had always been a staff favorite when he visited his father at the firm—now that he had passed the bar exam, he fit into the conservative, high-priced culture of the firm. It was, indeed, good to be Nick Brand.
There was just one small fly in the ointment: Dallas Dalton.
Damn it if he didn’t genuinely miss that hard-to-figure-out, wild-child cowgirl. He really did. He didn’t miss Lightning Rock and he sure as heck didn’t miss that horrible shack and prison cot, but he did miss Dallas. When he was out on a date with a woman, he caught himself naturally comparing her with Dallas; so far, his dates, as lovely and as elegant, educated and suitable as they were, had not measured up to the cowgirl. There was something that she had on the inside of her—something about her heart, her honesty and her refusal to live life any other way than her way. She had the focus and determination that a lot of men in positions of power would pay big money to learn how to get.
Dallas impressed him. Dallas intrigued him. Dallas made him feel something in his gut that was strange and new. And after a month of texting back and forth, catching up with quickie conversations and stalking her on social media, Nick decided that he had to try to break free of the “friend zone.” He needed to do something big—something that would get Dallas’s attention. From her last text, he knew that she was on her way to Texas after hitting all the pro rodeos in Montana. He booked a flight to Fort Worth; his surprise appearance at her next rodeo would either freak her out and force her to unfriend him on social media or she would be excited to see him and their relationship could have a chance of going to the next level. Although he wasn’t really sure what a next level would look like with Dallas. She was so darn prickly—she had such a tough exterior—what would she do if he tried to lean over and steal a kiss? He really didn’t have an answer to that, and he had to admit that not knowing was part of the fun of hanging out with Dallas Dalton.
* * *
“Nice run, Dally!” one of her fellow barrel racers called out to her as she walked back to where she had parked her trailer.
“I sliced the third on the way out,” Dallas called back. She’d had a hard time getting back into the swing of her life after Lightning Rock. She’d been slow out of the chute and she’d been sloppy around the barrels.
Ever since Lightning Rock, she’d been off her game. She’d been distracted and she was never distracted! Nick was never far from her mind—when she was driving, when she was getting ready to ride—she seemed to always have Nick Brand on the brain. She had worked for years to insulate herself from relationships so she could concentrate on her career without distractions. And then came Nick.
“You’ll get it next round!” The barrel racer called back to her.
Maybe she would; maybe she wouldn’t.
She been chasing the big money and the big endorsements for a lot of years. Perhaps it was time to admit that she needed a different game plan. Now that her sometimes travel partner and full-time rodeo support, Clint, was retiring from the rodeo so he could stay home with his wife and daughter, her old way of hitting rodeos wasn’t going to work. She needed to work smarter, drive fewer miles, save her strength and Blue’s legs. She made some mistakes, but she had finished in the money more often than not. If she got back on her game, she’d still qualify for the National Final Rodeo in Las Vegas.
“I’m always amazed at how aggressive you are out there.” A male voice pulled her out of her own head. “I love to watch you work.”
Nick Brand, dressed in his crisp Chicago casual clothing, was leaning against her busted Bronco waiting for her.
“What on God’s green earth are you doin’ in Texas?” Dallas’s heart gave a little jump at the sight of the man who had dominated her thoughts. He was the last person she’d expect to find at a rodeo in Fort Worth. But he was the person she had wanted to see the most.
“You’re in Texas.” He replied with that smile she had missed.
Nick looked at her like he always did—open, friendly, interested. He liked her. It never occurred to her that he liked her enough to come find her in a less-than-glamorous town in Texas.
She opened the door to the storage area of her trailer with her heavy saddle balanced on her hip and Blue’s bridle hung over her shoulder. Silently, with her mind whirling with questions, she put up her tack. Once she was done, and it only took a moment, she stopped right in front of her surprise visitor.
“Hi.” Nick looked down at her with a smile that reached those spectacular blue eyes of his. Undoubtedly, those bright Brand-blue eyes were the feature that hooked her.
“Hi there.” He looked happy to see her and she felt happy to see him.
Nick had gotten to her—he really had—and that didn’t happen very often for her. She’d spent her life with rodeo men, cowboys, and bull riders and ranchers. She was friends with these men; she loved their spirit and their toughness. But she had always wanted different for herself. She didn’t want to marry a cowboy. If she married at all, she wanted to marry someone who could show her new slices of life. That desire was the thing that made it easy for her to stay focused on her first love: barrel racing.
“Where’s Blue?”
“I got him bedded down for the day—we get assigned stalls when we punch in.”
Nick crossed his arms loosely in front of his body as he said, “You know, I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to be looking for, but I know you’re running against the clock.” He sounded impressed. “You were fast.”
“I was fast,” Dallas agreed with an irritated tone in her voice. “
But I sliced the third barrel and took myself right out of the money.”
“You looked like a million bucks to my eyes,” Nick said with a nonchalant shrug. When she thanked him for the compliment, it was genuine. It was nice to have an outsider appreciate the whole picture instead of nitpicking her performance to death like she would. That little clip of the third barrel would keep her up half the night wondering how she could have avoided it; it wasn’t Blue’s fault—he was such a good, hardworking mount. It was her mistake, her misjudgment.
Dallas took a break from the conversation to get her gear set up for the next day of competition; once she was satisfied that she hadn’t missed anything, she left the tiny mobile tack room.
“I’m glad to see you.” She hooked her thumb on her pocket.
“I’m glad to see you too.”
“I’m just surprised to see you here, is all.” She said the statement like a question.
“I just wanted to see you.” That was his simple answer to the hesitation in her voice. “That’s all there is to it. I wanted to see you.”
“You flew to Texas,” Dallas pointed out.
“That’s true.”
“You must’ve wanted to see me pretty bad.”
Nick laughed. “That’s also true.”
“How long were you plannin’ on stayin’?”
She’d never had anyone go this out of their way for her—not even Clint. It made her feel special—and nervous all at the same time.
“Just overnight. I fly out tomorrow.” Nick was back to leaning against her trailer.
Looking into his handsome face made her stomach flip-flop. Nick Brand hadn’t flown all the way to Texas to get her into bed. She had a pit in her stomach that told her that Nick might want something much more intimate than just plain sex. And this inkling made her more nervous, and more skittish, than any regular ol’ sexual pass ever would.
“I was hoping...” Nick sought out her eyes as he continued “...that you would have dinner with me tonight.”
She was so disarmed by his simple invitation, wrapped up in an incredible surprise visit at her rodeo.
“All right,” Dallas said with a nod.
“All right?” He repeated her response as a question as if he didn’t believe her the first time.
This small sliver of insecurity in a man who always seemed to be perfectly secure made her smile at him. “I’d like to. Yes.”
The idea of sharing a meal with Nick instead of spending the night alone, mentally rewinding and reviewing her mistakes in her head, sounded like the best alternative option she’d had in a long, long while.
“We could eat here, if you have the kind of stomach that can handle greasier-the-better rodeo food.”
“I have a room at the Omni downtown.” Nick pushed away from the trailer and took a step toward her. “Their steak house is supposed to be one of the best in Fort Worth. How does that sound?”
A thick, juicy steak or the stale ham sandwich she had leftover from lunch? “Like a good idea.”
* * *
She had agreed to meet him at the hotel for an early dinner. He waited for her at the entrance of the hotel—he had offered to go back to the rodeo and pick her up, but in typical Dallas fashion, she insisted on driving herself. Dallas’s beat-up Bronco, in serious need of a tune-up and a new muffler, did not fit with the swanky downtown Omni. When he saw the Bronco pull up to the front of his hotel, it struck him how far apart their worlds really were. This was the first time he’d seen Dallas outside her surroundings; this was the first time she was seeing Nick in what was more his natural environment. There were a couple of very lengthy seconds when he wondered if this spontaneous trip to Fort Worth, and this dinner invitation, was a terrible idea.
But then he saw her walking toward him, her dark hair, long and wispy and blowing around her shoulders. She was wearing dark jeans and a silky Western-style long-sleeve shirt with a pair of dressy cowgirl boots. He saw her and the doubt evaporated into the balmy night air.
Nick offered her his arm. “I have to say, you look mighty pretty tonight, Ms. Dalton.”
“You look like you did the first day I met you.”
Nick felt like a proud man escorting Dallas into the Omni—as was always the case with the cowgirl, men noticed her. She had a confidence in her walk, and an independence in her eyes, that was just as appealing as a pair of super long legs, blond hair and cleavage.
Dallas looked everywhere while they walked together through the lobby to Bob’s Steak House. Nick’s reservations were confirmed by the hostess and they were escorted to their table.
“This is some swanky motel.” Dallas sat down across the table from him.
“It’s nice,” Nick agreed. It was far from the most elegant hotel he’d stayed in, but his suite was roomy and the office space was separate from the bedroom in case he needed to work.
Water was poured and menus were delivered.
“Would you like me to order wine?” Nick asked, realizing that he didn’t even know if Dallas drank alcohol. He’d never seen her indulge.
“I’d really like a beer,” she said. “Something on tap.”
Nick put the wine list away in favor of ordering them both a beer on tap. They placed their orders, both opting to go with a porterhouse steak, and then Nick offered his beer glass up for a toast. “Here’s to...”
“Qualifying for the NFR.” Dallas finished the toast as his pause had encouraged.
“I don’t know what that is, but I’ll toast to it.” Nick tapped his glass to hers and then took a healthy drink of his beer. It was cold and hit the spot. A beer, as it turned out, was a better idea than wine.
“The National Finals Rodeo—it’s the mack daddy of all rodeos. Big money, endorsements. That’s what everyone’s after whether they’re willin’ to admit it out loud or not.”
Nick liked to hear Dallas talk about her passion; the more she talked about barrel racing, the more he got to catch glimpses of that sweet, fleeting smile of hers. Whenever she was done talking about one aspect of her sport, he asked her another question just to keep her from winding down.
After their plates were cleared away, Dallas said, “All I’ve done is talk about me and my stuff the whole time.”
“I’m not complaining.” Nick drank some water. “I like to listen to you talk.”
Dallas looked away from him as if his comment had made her feel self-conscious. Then she looked back at him. “It’s been real tough bein’ out here on the road without Clint.”
Nick knew that Clint was married to his sister; he also knew that Clint and Dallas had never been more than friends. And yet it still bothered him to hear how much Dallas missed having Clint on the rodeo circuit with her. Maybe it was because he knew how much Dallas trusted Clint and he wanted her to trust him that way.
“I really wanted to talk to him tonight—tell him about what happened out there today. He could always get me out of my own head, you know? But he’s married. He’s got a baby. I can’t call him every time I have a bad day.”
Dallas looked at him directly in his eyes—completely unguarded for a moment or two as she continued, “I really needed someone to talk to tonight, Nick.”
After dinner, Nick walked Dallas back to her Bronco. They both needed to get back to their separate lives the next day.
“Thank you for joining me for dinner,” Nick said as they reached her vehicle.
“I want to thank you.” Dallas smiled up at him in the moonlight. “I’m stuffed to the gills. I’m all talked out. I think I’m gonna sleep just like a baby.”
“I’m glad.”
They stared at each other for several silent seconds before Dallas reached to open the driver’s door.
“Dallas?”
“Hmm?”
As the cowgirl
turned back toward him, Nick put his hands on either side of her face and gave the cowgirl a very gentle, totally unassuming, yet firm enough to be memorable, lover’s first kiss.
Chapter Seven
Dallas had to admit that, after Nick’s visit, she was in a considerably better mood. The loneliness void she had been feeling for her friend Clint had been filled, at least in part, by Nick’s visit. To have someone fly in to town to surprise her, just because he wanted to see her, was an amazing thing. It truly was. And she was flattered. Flattered by the thought behind the visit; flattered that someone like Nick—handsome, educated, well bred, well traveled—had seen something interesting in her. Interesting enough to hop on a plane and come to Fort Worth.
She wasn’t one to have a crush; maybe some things that happened early on in her life had blocked her from developing crushes. Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, once the curtain was pulled back, she’d never again believe that the wizard was “great and wonderful.”
It was rare that she let herself count on someone in her life—she learned much too young to be self-sufficient. At Lightning Rock, she had started to count on Nick. Not for anything tangible—not for anything material—she had begun to count on his nature. He was good-natured. He wasn’t prone to temper flare-ups. Nick was goal oriented, supportive, considerate and kind. These were rare qualities miraculously bundled into one man. And he was not a cowboy. He was “other than” the men she was surrounded by day in and day out. Did she see herself with Nick Brand as a long-term gig? She wasn’t all that certain she saw herself with anyone in that capacity. But, she had to admit that she was smitten with Nick. It was just a fact. She had pressed the wildflowers he had given her back at Lightning Rock into the pages of one of her prized equine medicine books; she looked at that dried little bundle of Sweet William wildflowers often. And the kiss. That sweet, gentle, “let’s take it one step at a time, I’m not going to push you,” first kiss had been perfect. For her.