by Cat Johnson
It wasn’t until the loud collective gasp from the crowd that Annie’s attention centered back on the arena. By the time she located him, Chase was scrambling for the rails. The bull, hot on his heels, had his head lowered and his deadly looking horns aimed directly for Chase’s butt. The rider leapt and flipped over the top rail and into the safety of an empty chute just in time.
Annie forced herself to watch the replay on the big screen so she could see what she’d missed, but even staying focused for the seven point four seconds the ride had lasted was nearly impossible. Her mind was spinning, wondering what Luke and Mustang had been discussing.
She watched the video replay on the big screen. It showed what she’d missed, Chase slipping off the side of the bull and losing his rope. Only then did Annie allow herself a glance in Luke’s direction, and found he’d looked up at the exact same time. Their gazes met. He smiled and she blushed. Then he was off to get on his own bull while Annie tried to catch her breath.
Mustang helped Luke pull his rope, while Slade used a padded wooden board to force the bull’s body away from the back rail so Luke could get his leg into position. They were veterans, all three of them. Four if you counted the bull, who Annie knew had been around a while and knew the score. By his actions, it was apparent the bull knew that if he leaned the rider wouldn’t be able to get properly centered.
Finally, Luke appeared ready. His free arm, bent at the elbow, was raised high and the rope was wrapped tight around his riding hand. Annie tried not to think about how often those ropes didn’t release and the riders got hung up. Mustang was right when he’d said none of them knew how much time they had in this sport or in life.
She shook that sullen thought from her mind and watched as Luke nodded to the gateman. The gate swung open hard and fast, crashing against the rail with enough force to shake the platform she stood upon. The sound of metal clashing against metal rattled her nerves as bovine and rider took off into the arena amid a cloud of dust and flying bull spit.
The adrenaline that surged through her bloodstream was nothing compared to what coursed through the rider’s veins. She knew that. Annie had talked to enough riders just seconds after their rides to see the wild gleam of adrenaline-fueled excitement in their eyes and the shaking in their hands. She realized what she felt simply watching was nothing compared to what they did from actually riding, but it was still enough to make her hands tremble as her gaze tracked Luke across the arena in his battle with a beast ten times his weight.
She should be used to this by now, having watched enough rides over the years to have long ago lost count of the number. But this was Luke. Watching him ride was different, from the flutter in her chest to the increased anxiety for his well-being. That in itself told her what she felt for him was very different than the camaraderie and affection she had for all the other riders. It also told her what a bad idea having these feelings for a rider was. Too bad love—or lust even—rarely listened to common sense.
Annie’s attention never wavered, not once during the eight-second ride. Definitely not when Luke’s bull had him scrambling for the rails. Not until he was back safely behind the chutes and had walked out of her line of sight did Annie find she could think again. Even then, concentrating on the action in the chutes was far more difficult than it should be, especially when she glanced at Mustang and found him grinning at her. He tilted his head in the direction in which Luke had disappeared and winked. Mustang laughed and Annie felt her face heat, regretting that she’d ever thought she could get information out of this cocky cowboy who saw more than she’d like him to.
Damn. She needed to do something about this situation and soon. But what?
Chapter Two
“Great ride tonight, Luke.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Marker in hand, Luke Carpenter signed the T-shirt the fan had thrust at him.
Something sparkly grabbed his attention. He glanced up at the gray-haired woman. She was wearing a sweatshirt decorated with a rhinestone bull that caught the arena lights and washed everything nearby with tiny prisms of color. A quick smile at the whimsical sight was all he had leisure for, and then it was time to move on.
He shifted one step to the left. His well-worn boots sunk in the soft dirt where the bull riding action had taken place. As Luke stood in front of the next fan lining the rail that separated the raised seating from the riders a few feet below on the arena floor, another rider took his place in front of the bedazzled granny.
“Good luck tomorrow, Luke.” A middle-aged man held a cowboy hat for Luke to autograph. “You win it for all your fans back in Oklahoma.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll sure give it a try.” Luke scribbled his signature in black on the grey felt and then moved over another foot as, in a well-practiced ritual, the rider behind him stepped up to the man with the hat.
A program was thrust forward next and Luke signed the cover, glancing up to see the young boy who’d handed it to him through the rails.
“Thank you, sir.”
Luke smiled at the boy’s politeness and nodded. “My pleasure.”
He stepped once more to the left. When nothing to sign appeared in front of him, Luke glanced up. His gaze traveled over nicely shaped denim-clad thighs and quickly past a shirt unbuttoned enough to reveal a nice expanse of cleavage he knew he shouldn’t be noticing. He finally landed on the welcome sight of Annie Grant’s familiar face as she leaned over toward him, her forearms braced on the top rail.
Luke grinned up at her. “You know, you don’t have to wait in line for an autograph. I could probably be persuaded to sign anything you wanted back behind the chutes.”
Yeah, he was flirting with her a little bit, but that’s as far as he’d strayed from their strictly professional relationship of professional bull rider and television sports interviewer. So far, anyway.
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” Her smile lit her face and reminded him exactly how tempting this woman had become recently. “Actually, um, I’m heading out to find some food and I remembered you’d mentioned you had a really good meal last night. I just wanted to ask where.”
Did Annie look nervous? And if she did, was it a good sign or a bad one? Luke had been out of the dating world for far too long to know anymore. But one thing sure seemed interesting to him about her question. There had been five other riders at the restaurant with Luke and they’d all discussed it together in front of her before the competition today, yet Annie chose to find and ask him for the information.
Luke felt his eyebrows rise along with his hopes. He tried to wipe the more-than-interested expression off his face. A man didn’t want to appear too eager to the woman he was secretly interested in.
One glance past Annie told him he’d reached the end of the line of fans waiting for autographs. He was free to go and happy about that now that Annie was here. After capping his marker and shoving it in his back pocket, Luke climbed over the rail. He landed next to her with a thud as his boots hit the hard floor.
“Sure, I can tell you. I could even show you right where it is…if you wanted some company, that is.” Was that too forward? Hell, what did he know? Luke feared he didn’t even remember how to flirt anymore, let alone ask a woman he was interested in out on a date.
“Uh, sure. I’d like that. I mean…if you’d like to.” Annie straightened and shoved a hand in each of the front pockets of her jeans.
“I’d love to.” Luke tried to tamp down his nerves.
He noticed the way her gaze dropped and her cheeks pinked in response to his suggestion. This woman, who without blinking an eye traveled the world successfully doing her job in a field dominated by men, was definitely acting shy around him suddenly.
What did that mean? Was Annie not interested in him on a personal level and because of that was uncomfortable being alone with him eating dinner? Or did she like him and was too embarrassed to let him know?
Annie had been a fixture on the pro tour for nearly as long as he’d been riding in it
, but until just a few months ago, he’d been a taken man. Not anymore though. Not since Lilly had ended their relationship months ago with her ultimatum that Luke choose between his career or her. He was free as a bird now. Free to look at Annie as more than a coworker if he chose to.
“Okay, great. I guess I’ll drive?” She pulled a car key out of one pocket, her blue-eyed gaze still not quite meeting his.
“Since I don’t have a car here, yeah I guess you better.” He grinned. Luke might as well be back in middle school pulling on the pigtails of the girl he had a crush on because he didn’t know what else to do to let her know he thought she was cute. He had come to realize that single life kind of sucked.
One glance at how great she looked in her tight, dark-wash jeans as she turned and led the way up the stairs had him realizing something—he wouldn’t mind giving up his newly attained single status and becoming tied down to one woman again if that woman was Annie.
He glanced quickly behind him. The other riders were heading back across the arena toward the exit behind the chutes. Good, no one would ask where they were headed or want to join them. Luke had already stashed his gear bag in Aaron’s truck so that was safe. He had nothing left to do here at the arena and some time alone with Annie was exactly what he wanted.
Dinner. Together. Alone. This could be considered kind of a date. No? His pulse began beating faster, from fear or anticipation he wasn’t quite sure. Luke had jumped on the back of some of the rankest bulls in the world without an eighth of the anxiety he was experiencing now. This one woman had his hands shaking.
No doubt about it—dating was a lot harder than bull riding.
They walked a little while in silence, the combined sound of their boots echoing off the walls of the now nearly deserted hallway. Meanwhile Luke wracked his brain for an icebreaker. Should he save the conversation for the restaurant where he could be face-to-face with her or try to make small talk now? Hell if he knew. He’d never really had a first date with Lilly. They’d known each other forever, until one day they’d simply gone from friends to more. Coincidentally, about the time she turned legal and became a woman to him, rather than his best friend’s little sister.
Annie was Luke’s friend, kind of. They’d spent a lot of time working together for years now, so at the very least they were work friends. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to turn the friendship into something more—if she wanted that. He reminded himself he didn’t know what the hell Annie was thinking as she kept her head down and walked a quick and steady path toward the door at the end of the hall.
They neared the exit that led to the parking lot. A security guard nodded to them as Luke pushed the door open and held it for Annie. He may not remember what to do on a first date, if this could even be called that, but he knew the manners his mama taught him and he always opened a door for a lady.
It wasn’t until they were outside, under the electric lights illuminating the rows of parked cars that Annie glanced sideways at him. “So, good ride tonight.”
“Thanks.” Luke matched his pace to hers, which was pretty fast considering she was a head shorter than his own five foot eleven inches.
“I thought he was going to get you there in the end.” She smiled, obviously far more relaxed talking about the action from the day’s event than she’d been when they’d discussed having dinner together. He’d have to remember that.
“Yeah, me too. But I figured what the hell. Those people paid good money to sit in the front row so why shouldn’t they get the extra excitement of a bull rider landing in their laps, right?” Luke shot her a grin, knowing full well she’d seen how close the bull had come to hooking him with a horn and throwing him over that railing. In fact, he definitely would have been hooked if he hadn’t jumped over the barrier just in the nick of time.
“Extra excitement, huh?” Annie laughed. “You certainly gave them that.”
The sound of her laugh caused a little flutter in his belly. Damn, he felt like he’d been hooked all right, and not by any bull either.
She paused in front of a beige sedan and clicked the doors open with the control attached to her key. Luke glanced inside at the light-colored interior and immediately regretted not taking the time to change his clothes. It was too late to change now. He brushed any dirt from the ass of his jeans the best he could with just his hands before taking a seat in her rental car.
Oh well. Annie had been around bull riders enough to not be bothered by a little arena dirt. At least he hoped so, anyway.
In the driver’s seat, Annie pulled the seatbelt across herself, and Luke was reminded to do the same. His mind had obviously fled along with his ability to make conversation with a pretty woman.
She started the engine and then turned to look at him. “So?”
“So?” Luke’s mouth felt dry. Sitting in the dimly lit car, all he could think about was leaning forward and tasting those perfectly shaped lips.
“Which direction is the restaurant? North or south on the highway?”
Luke felt like an idiot. “Oh, um, sorry. North, toward the hotel.”
She nodded and shifted into reverse, navigating the car out of the space as Luke resisted the urge to leap from the passenger door and go back to the guys in the arena. At least he knew how to talk to men. If the start of this date, or non-date, was any indication, he was going to be single for a long time to come.
Glancing out the window and wondering if the persistent silence in the vehicle was as uncomfortable for her as it was for him, Luke just had time to read the name of their exit before they sped by the sign. “This is our exit coming up.”
She nodded and slowed the vehicle while Luke’s brain scrambled for a plan for this evening. Maybe a nice big drink would do them both good. Hell, it couldn’t hurt.
“This is it. Right there. See the sign with the longhorn on it?” He hooked a thumb in the direction of the restaurant, part of a chain of barbecue places strewn throughout the country.
“You guys don’t stray much from your usual, do you?” Annie laughed and the sound did his worried mind good.
He felt himself loosen up a little and grabbed onto the topic of conversation. “Hey, why take a chance on something new if you already know what you like.”
That was probably a good way to describe his philosophy regarding women too. He’d stayed with Lilly long after he knew it was over because it had been comfortable. And now he’d dodged buckle bunnies and any other kind of entanglement with females since his breakup, and the reason was sitting next to him, turning off the engine of her rental car.
He’d found Annie intriguing as a person for a while. He’d always respected her as a professional. Now Luke wanted to get to know her better. See how things might work out since they were both free, single and young—okay, maybe he wasn’t so young for the profession he was in, but he was at least still young enough to enjoy life, and Annie.
Unfortunately, now that he’d set his sights on her, what had always been an easy, casual working relationship between them had turned into something very uneasy, as evidenced by his constant state of nervousness around her tonight.
“I have to agree with you there. I’ve had too many bad meals and more than one case of food poisoning over the years. It’s just the way you guys were all talking about how great this place was, I assumed it was someplace new you’d discovered.” Annie brought his attention back to their impending meal together. “Mustang never mentioned it was a Longhorns.”
Come to think of it, Mustang had made a particular point to tell Annie how good their meal was when they’d all been talking before the event. Strange. The food had been good, but that wasn’t what had impressed his friends last night. The other guys had been so into this place because the management seemed to only employ girls with huge racks on them, and the staff was allowed some liberties with their uniforms. They all wore the same logo T-shirts, but they also all cropped, cut and tied them up into different body-baring configurations.
His
friend had always had a good appreciation for a well-endowed woman, but it made it even stranger that Mustang would push this place as a suggestion for Annie so strongly.
How the hell did he tell Annie that Mustang’s raves were probably boob induced? Luke felt his cheeks heat as he realized she seemed to be waiting for an explanation for Mustang’s enthusiasm over the chain restaurant. Deciding he couldn’t tell Annie the truth, Luke lied instead.
He shrugged. “I guess we were just really hungry last night and we probably had enough beer to make it seem even better than usual. You know guys.”
Yeah, right. Annie wasn’t dumb enough to believe that, especially once they went in and she got a look at the scantily clad waitresses.
The moment they walked inside, the hostess, belly button ring clearly visible beneath her tight-as-skin T-shirt tied up under her generous boobs, greeted them. “How many?”
“Two, please.” Annie’s eyebrows rose as she answered the girl.
With a look that traveled from the top of Luke’s hat down to his boots, the hostess nodded to them. “Sure thing. Follow me.”
“Now I see why you liked it here so much.” Annie’s voice was so low he had to strain to hear her over the noise of the crowded restaurant.
He blushed and tried to shrug away his embarrassment. “Like I said, you know how the guys are.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I do.”
What Annie didn’t know was Luke. Not well enough for his liking anyway. He didn’t want her assuming he was a horn dog. He wracked his brain for something to say that would let her know he wasn’t interested in the hostess, or the waitress the hostess handed them off to. Her belly was covered but her nipples showing through the shirt might as well have been flashing in neon the way they screamed out for attention. He shot Annie a look and noticed her smirking.