Tanner (American Extreme Bull Riders Tour Book 1)

by Sarah Mayberry

  She slid a soapy hand between his legs and he laughed.

  “You can do that anytime, darlin’.”

  She patted him dry after the shower, then fetched the chair from the corner of his room and sat him in it while she prepared to shave him.

  He talked her through his usual method, and she took tentative passes at his face, growing more confident with each stroke of the razor. Part way through, Tanner pulled her onto his lap, and she wound up straddling him as she scraped the whiskers from his face. When his face was smooth and bristle-free, she pressed a kiss to his lips.

  “Mmmm. Nice and smooth,” she said.

  Tanner opened his mouth beneath hers, inviting her to reciprocate, and she was about to take him up on it when a knock sounded on the bedroom door.

  “Morning, Tanner. I came across to organize breakfast. Any idea where Evie is? She’s not in her room,” Helen called.

  “I’ve got some idea,” Tanner said, his lips twitching into a smile, and Evie pressed her face into his shoulder to smother her laughter.

  There was a long pause before Helen responded. “Then I guess I’ll see you both in the kitchen in twenty minutes for waffles and syrup.”

  Evie slipped off his lap as she heard the other woman walk back up the hallway.

  “You’re the worst,” she said, her tone light.

  “That’s not what you said last night.”

  “Last night I was out of my mind.”

  She laid out clothes for him before tiptoeing up the hall to collect clothes for herself. She could hear Helen singing to herself in the kitchen and decided to duck out to talk to her before Tanner joined them, just in case it was awkward.

  Helen’s warm smile killed any concern Evie had on arrival, however, the other woman pouring Evie a cup of coffee and explaining that the maple syrup came from her cousin’s farm in upstate Vermont. When Evie heard Tanner’s footsteps in the hallway, she went to collect him, leading him to the dining table.

  She was aware of Helen watching their interactions, listening to her and Tanner’s banter as he got settled and Evie brought him food. When the meal was over, Helen stole a moment to have a quiet word with her.

  “I’m thinking Project Not Going Today is a go?” she asked quietly.

  Evie gave her a big grin and two thumbs up and Helen nodded her approval.

  Tanner’s injury meant there weren’t many options for entertainment for the rest of the day. They went for a walk to the horse barn, where Tanner touched base with Johnny and discussed Clementine’s condition. Evie ran her eye over the mare again but couldn’t see any significant change. She noted with approval that Johnny had fresh straw at the ready to lay down, along with towels, sterile gloves and antiseptic. Given that most mares foaled in the quiet of the night and early morning, it was wise to have a foaling kit at the ready to avoid panic at the last minute.

  After their walk, they lounged in the living room and did crosswords, Evie reading the clues out loud, the two of them debating the merit of possible answers. Helen brought soup and fresh-baked bread for lunch, after which Evie insisted Tanner try to get some sleep, since he’d had so little during the night. She set him up with a pillow on the couch, but he refused to settle without her so she wound up curled against his chest, breathing in the smell of clean man and sun-dried clothes as she dozed.

  Johnny came to ask a couple of business questions later in the afternoon, and the two men disappeared into Tanner’s study. Evie took the opportunity to send a quick email home to assure her parents she was alive and well. They had no idea she was over here in the States, obviously, and even though the reasons she’d had for withholding that information were no longer valid, she decided to leave explanations for later and simply let them know she was happy and well before asking after them. She could fill them in on her adventures—most of them, anyway—when she came home.

  Helen delivered a chicken casserole for dinner, along with creamy mashed potatoes and homemade cornbread that made Evie moan with happiness and approval. She and Tanner did another crossword together before cuddling together on the couch talking about favorite movies, places they’d been and places they’d like to see.

  Tanner was the one who took her hand and led the way to his bedroom. It was where she’d planned on sleeping anyway, but it was nice to know they were on the same page at last.

  The next morning, she woke to find him lying beside her, arms crossed behind his head. If he could see, she knew he’d be staring at the ceiling, and when she laid a hand on his chest she could tell he was wound up.

  “You thinking about the doctor’s visit?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Whatever happens, you’ll work it out,” she said.

  “I know. I just… I want it over.”

  “I bet. It’s been a long few days. And nights.” She slid her hand from his chest onto his belly, heading south. It was a cheap trick, but she wasn’t above deploying it to provide him with a much-needed distraction.

  His cock thickened beneath her touch almost instantly, and then he was rolling toward her and neither of them thought about his doctor’s appointment for the next hour.

  By the time they were done with each other, breakfast and showers, it was suddenly time to get in the truck and drive into town to see Tanner’s local doctor. Johnny brought the vehicle around to the front door, and even though he offered to drive, Evie waved him off. After two days of solid wrong-side-of-the-road experience, she felt like a pro. And she had Tanner beside her to give her directions to Canon City, where his GP was located.

  It only took them twenty minutes to reach the outskirts of town and Evie narrowed her eyes as a large “Welcome to” sign flashed by.

  “Did I read that right? Corrections capital of the world?” she asked.

  “Nine state and four federal prisons,” Tanner said dryly.

  “Wow. You’d better hope there’s not some kind of mass prison break-out because your ranch is gone.”

  He smiled, but his fingers were drumming on his knee and she knew his mind was elsewhere. He had every right to be nervous. This was an important and loaded consultation with his doctor, the outcome of which could change his life, one way or another. She sent up a little prayer to the universe as she pulled into the parking lot beside a modern-looking medical clinic.

  Please let him be able to see. Please don’t take that from him, too.

  He would cope and adapt if there was a problem. He was a determined, resourceful man, and he’d still have sight in one eye. He’d rise to the occasion. But it would be better if he didn’t have to, and that’s what she wanted for him.

  As was becoming their habit, he got out and made his own way to the front of the truck. She took his hand and gave him a quick rundown on the course ahead, then guided him into the clinic.

  “Okay, counter to the left, waiting room to the right,” she murmured as she steered them over the threshold.

  She led Tanner to a seat and was aware of the interest of the other patients as they settled. A woman with a small baby stared openly, not even bothering to disguise her curiosity, while a middle-aged man in a cowboy hat and a genuine string tie looked once, then twice, then sat with a furrowed brow. With the huge rise in popularity in pro bull riding, riders like Tanner were becoming household names and Evie could almost hear the man’s brain whirring away, trying to work out where he knew Tanner from.

  “I’m just going to let the receptionist know we’re here,” she told Tanner.

  He nodded, and she hustled to the desk, aware that Tanner must be feeling disoriented and extra-vulnerable, being out in an unfamiliar, public place after a couple of days of the known territory of home.

  “Tanner Harding, to see Dr. Slater,” Evie said quietly.

  “Of course. The doctor will be with you in a moment,” the nurse said.

  Evie sat next to Tanner and wove her fingers with his. She could feel her own anxious heartbeat in the pit of her stomach and she took a deep breat
h to try to steady herself. Tanner squeezed her hand, turning his head toward her.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She huffed out a laugh. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”

  He simply squeezed her hand again, then raised it to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a flash of white and she realized a tall, thin man was standing there, a stethoscope dangling around his neck.

  “Mr. Harding? Please come through,” he said.

  Evie leapt to her feet, almost sick with nerves now.

  Please, please, please.

  Together she and Tanner followed the doctor down a short hallway and into a treatment room.

  Once they were settled in seats beside the doctor’s desk, he smiled at them.

  “So, Tanner, how has your pain been? Any headaches? Anything else you want to mention?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle in the headache department. My eye was sore the first day or two but that’s died down. I’ve had trouble sleeping, but that happened last time I had a concussion and I know it’ll pass,” he said.

  Evie frowned. It had never occurred to her before that Tanner had had prior concussions. Another thing to worry about.

  Dr. Slater was nodding. “We’ll keep an eye on that, okay? If you find you’re still struggling in another week, come back in and we’ll send you off for some tests.” He turned and checked something on the computer monitor in the corner of his desk. “I’ve had a letter from Dr. Collins, your ophthalmologist, with full instructions. So, let’s not keep you in suspense any longer than we have to.”

  The doctor stood and went across to angle the blades on the blinds covering the window before crossing to the light switch.

  “You’re going to be light sensitive for a while, possibly a few days. Dr. Collins said he told you to bring a pair of sunglasses?” the doctor asked.

  “Evie’s got them,” Tanner confirmed.

  With the overhead fixture off, the only illumination in the room was what natural light was leaking around the edges of the blind, leaving the room dim but not unfeasibly dark for what the doctor was about to do.

  Evie reminded herself to breathe as the doctor used a pair of blunt-ended scissors to cut through the bandages masking Tanner’s eyes. As they fell away, the gauze pads that had been taped over both eyes were revealed.

  “Let’s take care of your good eye first,” the doctor said, releasing the tape holding the pad over Tanner’s right eye in place. After a second’s hesitation, Tanner’s eye opened, and Evie couldn’t stop herself from smiling as he blinked a couple of times and then met her gaze for the first time since the accident.

  “Hi,” she said.

  He smiled faintly.

  “And behind door number two…” the doctor said, starting to peel away the tape protecting Tanner’s injured eye. There was a dressing beneath the pad, unsurprisingly, and Evie’s stomach squirmed when she saw it was spotted with blood. The doctor eased the dressing away from Tanner’s eye, and Evie swallowed as she saw the elaborate bruising shading his eye socket, temple and cheekbone. The purple and yellow bruising was mottled and painful-looking, not to mention swollen.

  “Give me a second, I’m going to give you a quick clean to make life a bit easier,” the doctor said, reaching for a sterile kidney dish he had sitting at the ready. After washing his hands, the doctor swabbed Tanner’s eye and surrounding skin with gentle strokes.

  “All right. That’s looking good now,” Dr. Slater said. “Ready when you are.”

  Tanner’s eyelid flickered, then slowly opened half an inch. His eyelashes were wet with tears, and Evie winced as she saw how bloodshot and red his eye was.

  “Okay, let’s get some drops in there to make you comfortable,” the doctor said. “These will give you pain relief for up to half an hour, and I’ll be sending some home with you, along with some other drops to cover infection.”

  Tanner tilted his head back as drops were applied and Evie could feel him relax as the anesthetic kicked in.

  “Okay, let’s take a look in there,” the doctor said.

  Sitting on his wheeled chair, he came in close, getting right up in Tanner’s face as he slowly scanned the inside of Tanner’s eye with a handheld instrument.

  “It’s looking good in there, very good. A bit of free-floating blood, which will be absorbed along with the saline as your body recovers,” he said.

  Wheeling away from Tanner, he held up three fingers. “How many fingers?”

  Tanner blinked a few times to clear his eye. It was obvious he was having trouble holding it open, but he frowned in concentration as he focused on the doctor.

  “Three.”

  “Great. And now?” The doctor held all five fingers upright.

  “Five.”

  “And now?” Just a single finger.

  “One.”

  Evie barely restrained herself from giving Tanner a round of applause, but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She knew it wasn’t a definitive test, but it was a bloody good start.

  “Fantastic,” Dr. Slater said. “I’m going to give you an A for effort. We’ll run you through some more tests in a few days’ time, but for now, you are looking good. Now, let me walk you through your eye drop regime…”

  They spent another ten minutes with the doctor as he answered Tanner’s questions and explained what to expect over the next few days, then Evie slipped Tanner’s sunglasses over his ears. She’d become so used to being his eyes, she automatically reached for his elbow as they stood to leave the room, then caught herself.

  “I’ve got this,” Tanner said, and she glanced across to see he was smiling at her.

  “You sure have,” she said, matching his smile.

  She stayed by his side, however, because Dr. Slater had explained he might have issues with depth perception. They paid for his consultation, then stepped out into the cool, bright day. Tanner immediately lifted a hand to shade his bad eye, ducking away from the sunlight even though he had his sunglasses on.

  “You’re like a vampire,” Evie said as they walked across to the car.

  “Feel like one, too. Man, that’s so bright,” he said.

  “Maybe keep your eyes shut on the way home, and we can acclimatize you over a few hours.”

  “Is that what you’d tell a dairy cow who came to you for advice?” he asked, his tone playful.

  It was so good to have him teasing her, to hear the lightness in his voice. To know that some of the worry he’d been carrying had just been lifted.

  “Little-known fact, dairy cows are notoriously anti-vet,” Evie said straight-faced. “It’s almost impossible to get them to make an appointment. As for regular checkups? Forget about it.”

  His gaze was warm as he looked at her. “Huh. I didn’t know that.”

  “Oh, I’m full of that kind of bullshit, Harding. Just you wait.”

  That got a laugh out of him, and Evie was feeling lighter than air as she started the truck and headed back to the ranch.

  Johnny B and Helen came out of their house and walked across to meet the car as Evie drove down the long driveway, just as they had when she and Tanner arrived two days ago. She could see the concern and tension on their faces as they waited to hear about Tanner’s visit and she glanced at him, wondering if he understood how much these people valued and cared for him.

  “Look at those sad sacks,” he said. “You’d think I had one foot in the grave.”

  “How dare they,” Evie agreed. “It’s almost like they care about you. Outrageous.”

  His mouth twisted, then he lifted a hand, rewarding his friends with a wave.

  She parked in front of the house and Tanner exited the car.

  “All good,” were his first words, and Evie sat behind the wheel and watched him talking to Helen and Johnny B, smiling when she saw their relieved faces. Helen threw her arms around Tanner, giving him a huge hug, and Johnny clapped him on the back a number of times, the cowboy’s v
ersion of an effusive emotional display. Helen turned to Evie when she slid out of the car, her face still lit up with relief and happiness.

  “We’re celebrating tonight, whether you two want to or not. I’m making something special and Johnny and I are coming up to the big house to join you love birds.”

  “Sounds great,” Evie said, glancing at Tanner.

  His smile was a little more rueful and she guessed he still wasn’t feeling at his social best. She made a promise to herself that she’d keep an eye on his fatigue levels and intervene if he looked as though he was fading.

  Leaving him talking with his friends, she went inside and started drawing curtains and closing blinds. She was pulling the final drape across the front window when Tanner entered.

  “Thanks,” he said when he saw what she was doing.

  He slid off his sunglasses and looked around, and she swallowed a lump of emotion at the look on his face. Relief and gratitude and caution in equal measure.

  “How are you doing?” she asked.

  She half expected him to shrug her off, but he surprised her by pausing to think for a beat.

  “Honestly? I spent so much time preparing myself for the worst so it wouldn’t be a blow if things didn’t work out, it feels weird to be standing here, looking at you and knowing it’s going to be okay.”

  “Well, I told you it was going to be okay. Should have listened to me right from the start, cowboy,” she said, blinking back the tears that sprang to her eyes.

  “Guess I should have,” he said.

  He lifted an arm, inviting her close, and she didn’t need to be asked twice, crossing the room and sliding into his embrace. As usual, the feel of his hard body against hers made her blood heat, but it was the way he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the crown of her head that made her heart swell. For a moment they simply held one another, thinking their separate thoughts. He ducked his head and pressed a kiss to her lips before releasing her.

  “You should get some rest now you don’t have to be my babysitter all the time. Or saddle up one of the horses, check out the spread.”

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.