by Cat Johnson
“Morning.” What was up with Mustang? Luke didn’t know and was kind of afraid to guess.
“So Aaron told me he knocked on your door this morning and there was no answer.” Mustang’s eyebrow rose expectantly.
Shit.
“I uh, woke up late. I must have been in the shower when he knocked.” Luke cursed himself for not coming up with an excuse in advance. But then again, who knew he’d need one?
What the hell was Aaron doing knocking on his door anyway? He’d never done that before. Oh, wait. Aaron had Luke’s gearbag, but why did Mustang care?
Okay, Luke would admit he was usually up before everyone else so he was the one doing the knocking. Of course, he’d never been up half the night having sex before. Even when Lilly had been with him, they’d been a couple for so many years that they’d do it once if at all and then go to sleep. They’d certainly never had the marathon session he and Annie had. At least not in recent memory.
Somehow thinking of Lilly right after he’d been with Annie seemed very wrong. Lilly was his past. He would remember fondly the time they’d had together, and a part of him would always love her on some level, but it was over now. Annie was his present and with any luck she’d be a part of his future too. Meanwhile, Mustang was still looking at him with an amused expression.
“What?”
Mustang shrugged. “Nothing. I just think it’s funny, is all.”
“My oversleeping is funny?” The moment the words left his mouth, Luke got the feeling he shouldn’t have asked.
“Yup, it’s quite a coincidence, because for the first time in all the years I’ve known Annie, she was late getting to the arena. Funny, isn’t it?” Mustang knocked his hat back a bit and glanced past Luke’s shoulder. “Oh, look. Here’s our little Annie now. Hey there, darlin’. You’re looking mighty pretty this morning. All bright eyed and bushy-tailed.”
Luke spun to see her approach. She looked as if she’d like to turn tail and run, but it was too late.
Annie’s eyes cut from Luke to Mustang as her face pinked. “Uh, thanks, Mustang. Good morning, Luke.”
Between how adorable she looked when she blushed and the memories of the night before that assaulted him, Luke couldn’t hide his smile. He didn’t even care if Mustang saw it.
“Morning, Annie.” Luke nodded to her and tried not to smirk too big as he remembered how he’d actually said good morning to her. He was sure she was thinking of the same thing when her face turned a deeper shade of red.
“All right, then. I’ll leave you two to discuss…something. See ya’ll later.” Mustang tipped his hat in Annie’s direction, shot Luke an I-know-what-you-did look and then was gone.
He watched the door slam behind Mustang, leaving them alone in the hall. With no reason not to since there was no one there to see, Luke reached out and ran a finger down Annie’s arm. He watched her shudder from his touch. That reaction, combined with the look of lust in her eyes, nearly had him backing her into a broom closet somewhere for a quickie. He swallowed hard and tried to get a rein on his libido. “Hey.”
She drew in a deep breath. “Hey.”
“I had a really good time last night.” Damn, he wanted her again already and they’d only parted ways a few hours ago.
Annie nodded. “Me too. But, Luke…”
Uh oh. But was never a good beginning to a sentence.
Annie glanced around. “Here at work, I’m afraid—”
“That people will talk. I didn’t tell Mustang anything about us or last night. I swear.” He wouldn’t have his stupid, immature friend’s teasing him and Annie ruin this thing between them.
“I know. It’s okay. I’m not worried about Mustang. Besides that—him suspecting—that’s probably my own fault.” She shook her head even though Luke couldn’t figure out how she could blame herself for Mustang’s suspicious and nosy nature. “But other people. It’s hard enough in this business for a woman. I have to be professional.”
Luke nodded. “You are professional. And you’re damn good at what you do. Better than any man or woman. I would never do anything to endanger your career. I swear.” Please, please don’t say we can’t be together again.
“We have to be really careful and discreet. Okay?” Though she kept her voice low, Annie’s tone pleaded with him.
“Of course.” He felt suitably reprimanded. He’d have to be more careful. No more secret touches or glances at the arena. Definitely no quickies in the broom closet.
“Good.” She nodded once firmly and with resolve. “And don’t forget you need to buy more condoms.”
A smile tugged at the corners of Luke’s mouth. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll get on that right away. I promise.”
Oh yeah.
“Okay. I gotta go get ready.” Annie hooked a thumb in the direction of the door Mustang had disappeared through.
“All right.”
“See you later?” She was seriously asking him if he’d see her later? Hell, she should try and stop him.
With one more glance around them to ensure they weren’t being observed, Luke grabbed both her arms and dropped an incredibly fast and far-too-risky kiss on her lips, and then released her. “Definitely.”
Looking a little off-kilter and as if she didn’t know whether to lecture him again or jump him after that kiss, Annie left him alone in the hall, but not without Luke fully enjoying the view as she walked away.
“Wow.” His cock stirred in his pants. Boy, was he in trouble.
Luke made sure his excitement wasn’t visible, then made his way through the door. He arrived in the dressing room to find it already filled with riders in various stages of preparation. After spotting Aaron and getting his stuff back, Luke found an empty corner. He dropped his gear bag on the floor and sat on the bench. He needed to prep his rope, strap on his chaps and wrap his sore wrist. Meanwhile, the only thing he could focus on was Annie.
Not good. He needed his head on his upcoming ride. Not on the ride he’d taken last night with Annie. Championship Sunday meant the best bulls would be brought back for the short go. God willing, Luke would be brought back for it too.
“So you look like you’re in a good mighty mood, Luke.”
He glanced up to find Mustang grinning at him again. “Sure am. My name is above yours in the standings so of course I’m happy.”
Ha! That’ll teach Mustang for meddling in Luke’s personal life.
Good natured as ever, Mustang just smiled and shook his head. “That’s all right. You old guys need to get in all the wins you can. You know, since retirement looms ahead so closely.”
Hmm, and that would teach Luke for trying to act the smart ass, because what Mustang said was absolutely accurate. Riders in their thirties were most definitely on the downward side of their career. Barring injury, the youngest guys had a decade, maybe two, left to ride, while Luke could probably count his years left to compete at this level in the pros on one hand.
That was a depressing thought, but at least it served to focus his mind on something other than sliding into Annie…at least until he saw her again, walking around the corner accompanied by—holy cow—none other than his ex-girlfriend’s brother. Why was Chris here and why hadn’t he called?
“Chris?” Luke jumped up. “You didn’t say you were coming. I would have left you a pass at the will-call window if I’d known.”
His best friend, the man who Luke’s entire hometown had assumed would be legally his brother-in-law by now, shrugged. “I figured I’d call your cell when I got here.”
Something was up. Luke knew Chris as well as he’d know a blood brother and the man was not the type to show up on a whim, unannounced.
He’d have to get to the bottom of this. Luke glanced at the clock. He’d have to get ready for his ride at the same time. The dressing room was already beginning to clear out as the riders started moving to behind the chutes.
Luke’s gaze cut to Annie and he felt his insides flip. He had a feeling it wasn’t from the pre-ride adrenaline either
. “Thanks for bringing him back, Annie.”
She treated him to that smile that made his pulse speed. “No problem at all. I was out getting some coffee when I bumped into him. It was just as easy for me to escort him through security rather than bother you to come get him while you’re getting ready for your ride.”
“When do you ride?” Chris glanced down at the chaps hanging loose around Luke’s thighs.
“I have a little bit, but not long.” Luke started to work the buckles while speaking.
“I’ll let you get ready. Good luck, Luke. Good seeing you again, Chris.” Annie nodded her goodbye as Luke regretted her leaving, but she was right, he had both a ride to prep for and this mysterious visit to deal with.
“Thanks, Annie.” Luke turned his attention back to Chris. “So what are you doing here, man? I mean, not that it isn’t good to see you, but a phone call would be nice.”
Again, Chris looked like he was holding something back. “Can’t a guy just visit his friend?”
“Yeah, he can.” But he usually didn’t, at least not like this. Luke couldn’t think of it much longer, because he saw a few of the other riders gathering in a circle in the hallway. “As long as you’re here you can help me because I’m way behind.” Luke flipped his rope over a bar on the wall and grabbed the stiff brush out of his gear bag. He handed it to Chris. “Can you clean my rope? I’ll be right back.”
“Sure.”
With the knowledge that his friend would handle his rope for him until he got back, but still no clue as to why he was here, Luke left Chris to work on it. Luke took a knee in the prayer circle with the other riders, still wondering what was wrong with his friend.
Chapter Five
Annie tried to calm her stomach, which had decided to clench up the moment she saw Luke’s best friend standing outside the security checkpoint with his cell phone in his hand trying to get a clear signal to call Luke. Of course she’d recognized him immediately. He’d been a fixture on the circuit for years, along with his sister, Lilly, Luke’s longtime girlfriend.
Chris had only told her he needed to get a hold of Luke, not why he was here now. Did Lilly want Luke back so she sent her brother to feel him out? Another thought careened into Annie’s brain and nearly had her doubling over from the ache in her stomach it caused. What if Lilly was pregnant? She counted the months since she’d seen her last. It was possible it happened right before Luke and Lilly had broken up. Lilly might have hidden it until now, when she’d begun to show. Then her brother would have noticed and made the choice to come tell Luke. It would explain why Chris wasn’t acting very happy to be here.
Annie realized her mind was running away with her. She didn’t know any of this was true. Maybe the guy just wanted to see his friend ride. She needed to get a grip on herself.
The coffee cup in Annie’s hand shook as she raised it to her lips. She was a wreck, shaking like a leaf simply because Lilly’s brother was here. She knew getting involved with a rider on the circuit was a bad idea. Crazy. Stupid. Unprofessional.
How was she supposed to go live on air like this? Smiling and pretending that everything was okay when in reality, she had likely handed Luke a key to her heart when she’d invited him into her bed last night.
Annie lowered the coffee again, deciding that even as tired as she was, the caffeine wasn’t doing her already jittery nerves any good.
She needed to think this out. Chris was Luke’s good friend. That wouldn’t change simply because Luke was no longer dating his sister. Men were different than women. Buddies were buddies for life, in spite of changes in circumstances. Right?
How the hell could she know how men thought? How Luke thought. Annie hadn’t had enough long-term boyfriends to predict who got the friends in a breakup. She sure as hell hadn’t had a relationship that had lasted years the way Luke’s had with Lilly.
A tap on her shoulder had her spinning around with a squeal.
She turned to find her cameraman, Carl, frowning. “Annie. Joe’s been trying to get a hold of you. Where’s your earpiece?”
Annie had been so distracted she’d forgotten to put it in, because, as she’d said to herself before in her internal bashing, sleeping with Luke had been a bad, bad idea.
“Sorry.” Annie pulled the earpiece out of her pocket and shoved it into her ear, hidden beneath her hair. “What did Joe want? Do you know?”
As Carl explained something about getting an interview with one of the VIPs in the chute seats, Annie’s gaze swept the riders behind the chutes until she found Luke’s now more than familiar figure. He was stretching, pivoting his torso to loosen up. She remembered the motion of his hips last night. Man, the same skills that made him a champion bull rider were pretty handy in the bedroom too.
Feeling the heat creep into her cheeks, she wrestled her attention back to where it should be, on her cameraman and her job. “Okay. I guess we can take care of that interview during the break before the short round.”
Carl frowned at her. “That’s what I just said. Joe wants it on during intermission. What’s up today, Annie? You sick or something?”
She smothered a laugh. Lovesick maybe. “Sorry. I’m fine.”
Lovesick, at her age. How ridiculous. Meanwhile, she couldn’t stop her gaze from finding Luke again. This time he was standing with Chris and a wave of jealousy struck her. Jealousy that Luke was best friends with Lilly’s brother. That gave Lilly a huge advantage over Annie and would make her a part of Luke’s life forever. While Annie would have to be happy with memories of last night and hopefully a few more nights like it. Those memories would have to keep her warm during the off season when Luke went back home to his family’s ranch in the town he’d grown up in. The same town where Lilly still lived.
Annie swallowed the bitter taste in the back of her mouth. The opening was about to begin. It was showtime once again. “Let’s head up to the chute seats so I can set up the interview for later.”
Carl nodded and followed her up the steps that Annie managed to trip on halfway up as another less-than-happy thought struck her. With Chris here, Luke would most likely spend the night with him. Instead of a nice dinner together, followed by some even nicer time in her room again, Luke would have to entertain his friend from home, who would of course spend the night in Luke’s room since the hotel was probably sold out. And it wasn’t exactly like Luke could say, “Hey, Dude. Make yourself at home while I go have sex with a woman who isn’t your sister.”
Annie held a little tighter to the rail since she seemed incapable of even walking since spending the night with Luke. She sighed. Bad idea. Really, really bad idea.
So why couldn’t she wait to do it again?
By the time Annie had connected with the subject of her interview later, the bulls for the first section had been loaded into the chutes. Thankfully, the familiarity of the event she’d been covering for more years than she cared to admit to, took over her formerly wandering mind. After so many years, Annie could probably do this job in her sleep, and that was proving to be important today as she walked through the event in a daze. She interviewed the winning rider of the round last night. She spoke with the head of the sports medicine team to inquire about a few riders who were on the injured list. She was just heading toward the stock contractor to ask about the bulls in the championship round when she heard Luke’s name being announced. She held up her hand to stop Carl behind her.
“Hold up a sec. I want to watch this match up.” Annie glanced once more at her cameraman. Would he guess she particularly wanted to see this ride because she’d spent all of last night beneath Luke?
Who knew sex made a person so paranoid. Annie ignored the fear and turned to scan the chutes. She found Luke straddling the rails, waiting for the antsy bull to settle down.
Pushing the image of him straddling her out of her mind, she drew in a deep breath. Watching the guys ride could be nerve wracking. Watching the guy she’d spent the night with and had a huge crush on was nearly torture.
“Luke Carpenter in the chute on Moonwalker. This bull put Mustang Jackson on the leader board last night. Let’s see what he can do for Luke tonight.” The amplified announcement directed everyone’s attention to Moonwalker and Luke.
She combed her brain for stats on the bull. The way he was acting up in the chute was not making Annie happy one bit. Luke either by the looks of him as he adjusted his chaps one more time to get them out of the way after the bull had jostled him in the chute.
Finally, Luke nodded and the gate swung wide. Annie realized she was holding her breath as Moonwalker took Luke into a spin. She forced herself to breathe as Luke held on, breaking at the hips to absorb the motion as Moonwalker dipped his head low. Good thing these rides only lasted eight seconds or she would have probably passed out. She didn’t feel better until the buzzer sounded and Luke pulled the rope to release his hand. Too many riders got caught in their ropes and Annie wasn’t going to assume he was safe until his gloved hand was free and he was on his feet in the arena, preferably with the bull out of it. When that was finally the case, she allowed herself to relax and wait for his score. She even let herself cheer when his score put him in the top five.
In fact, the only thing that put a damper on the celebration was seeing Chris congratulating Luke behind the chutes.
She sighed. She’d have to get over his past with Lilly. She only hoped that he had.
“You in the short go?”
Luke nodded to Chris, who should know the answer to his own question and who wasn’t looking as happy as he should be that Luke had scored so high. “Yeah. I’m definitely going to be in the top fifteen. Even if everyone else covers their bulls, I won’t get bumped out of the final round. Why? You got somewhere you gotta be?”
Luke had managed to put it out of his mind for the ride, but Chris’s strange behavior was front and center again.
Chris shook his head. “Sorry. Just distracted today.”
Luke’s brows rose. Yeah, he definitely had to get to the bottom of this, but it would have to wait until after the short go. The last rider in this round was in the arena, and then after a short intermission he’d be up again. Luke drew in a deep breath. As if he didn’t have enough on his mind today after that hot night with Annie, now his best friend had shown up unannounced and acting weird.