by T. J. Kline
DEREK LOOKED DOWN at the woman on his chest and his heart clenched. He hadn’t missed the conflict she fought through last night. Seeing the fear that had flooded her eyes, he almost gave in and confessed his feelings for her, but he’d been around enough to know you couldn’t smother fear. She pulled away, retreating into her protective shell, and the only way to draw her heart back to his was tenderness. A night of passion wasn’t worth giving up what was developing between them, even if his body was in direct opposition with his heart. Derek wondered if she regretted their lovemaking. Her body clutched him, still buried within her, and he groaned in his chest. If she did, it wasn’t enough to avoid repeating their mistake several times. And he couldn’t silence the pessimistic voice warning him he was making yet another mistake.
He hadn’t meant for them to end up in bed last night. In fact, he’d entered the trailer furious about the fact that he couldn’t completely refute Joe’s accusation. As much as he wanted to believe that she wasn’t using him and his family to launch her career, she’d already admitted she would do whatever it took to get ratings. The reporter he’d met at the rodeo grounds that first day wouldn’t have thought twice about sleeping with a man to get ahead, but he was having a difficult time seeing that woman in the one he held in his arms.
His fingers brushed her hair back from her temples and he looked at her closed eyes, a slight smile curving her lips. As much as he warned himself to keep his distance, if only to protect his family from the ramifications of negative press, his heart had tumbled ahead, refusing to listen.
Derek knew this wasn’t lust, although that hadn’t been lacking. The more he was around her, the more he felt like he was seeing the real Angela—someone she didn’t even know—and he couldn’t seem to get enough of her.
“I really do have to get up, Angel,” he said pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“Do you have to?” she complained.
“Yes,” he laughed, “unless you want Jake or Mike to come walking into the trailer and find us lying naked on the floor.”
Her eyes grew wide and a blush crept over her cheeks. It made her look innocent and adorable. She scrambled to grab a blanket from the top of the bed and wrap it around herself as she stood up.
“Don’t you dare cover up.” He stood and pushed the blanket from her shoulders, his hands finding her waist and pulling her against him. He pressed a kiss to her cheekbone before moving to her eyelid and forehead.
“They could come in any second,” she protested.
“The door is locked.” He grinned at her as she looked up at him, annoyance written all over her face. “How else was I supposed to get you up?” He laughed and winked at her as he let go of her and pulled on his pants. “I do have a job to do today, you know. As much as I’d love to stay for this rodeo, there’s one out there I already committed to.”
She pursed her lips in mock anger. “Get out and let me take a shower.”
He crossed the small room in only a few steps. “Woman, stop teasing me. I don’t have time to keep servicing your insatiable needs.”
“Out!” She pointed her finger at him, picking up a boot and tossing it toward him.
Derek caught the boot and slipped it on, laughing as he made his way into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee for each of them. “Cream or sugar?” he called.
“Both, please.”
He heard the shower turn on and was hard-pressed to distract himself from thinking about the warm water sluicing over that perfect satin flesh. He was failing miserably, his body responding to the mere thought of the way the water would be covering her breasts, sluicing through the valley between them. He was considering sneaking into the shower with her when the handle of the trailer rattled and a knock followed. He sighed and unlocked the door, forcing his fantasies to wait until tonight when he could act on them.
Scott entered, looking exhausted. “So, what’s new?” He took one of the cups of coffee Derek had poured and sipped it.
“I don’t kiss and tell.” Derek reached for another cup as the water stopped in the bathroom. He closed the curtain blocking the bedroom and bathroom from view of the kitchen, making sure Angela had some privacy.
“Then there was kissing?” Scott’s eyes were filled with humor. “I’m sure Sydney and Jen will be happy to hear that.”
Derek shot him a look of warning, unsure how Angela would tolerate teasing this morning. He wasn’t sure she was ready for their relationship to be made public just yet.
“Why don’t we just keep all of this between the two of us for now,” he suggested as he sipped the brew.
Scott shrugged it off. “Derek, the entire crew is hoping the two of you end up together. It’s good to see the fun Derek back again.”
Derek frowned. “I thought it was time for me to ‘grow up and take responsibility,’ remember?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you stop living and having fun.” He sipped his coffee. “You’ve been trying so hard to be me that you’ve forgotten how to be you.”
Derek shook his head. “Do you always get this deep when you’ve been up driving all night?”
“I slept a few hours before I left.” Scott looked up as the curtain between the rooms moved. “Morning Angela,” he said, tipping his cup to her.
“Good morning, Scott. I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.” She took the cup of coffee Derek held out to her, her cheeks coloring.
Derek wondered if she’d heard their conversation and needed to find out where her head was, with the story and their relationship.
“Mike wants to head back to the ranch tonight after the rodeo.” He caught her frown. “We’ll have to rest the bulls a bit before we take off, but we would still be home by dark.”
Derek finished his coffee and placed the cup in the sink. “I hate unloading the animals at night.”
“It’s not so bad since we put in the extra lights now.” Scott yawned. “I’m gonna go catch a little sleep while you get started.”
“I’ll come get you in a couple hours,” Derek promised. “Thanks for making it back so fast.”
“We have a rodeo today, so try to keep your hands off each other and stay focused.”
She’d been quiet during their discussion but choked at his parting statement. Derek patted her back.
“He’s only joking,” he assured her. He put his own cup into the sink and pulled her close for a kiss.
She held her hand against his chest. “Derek, we need to talk.”
He frowned, noting the disapproving tone of her voice. This sounded like “reporter Angela,” not the Angel he’d come to know, and he didn’t like the sound of it. “We will when we get back to the ranch, I promise. But for now, can we just enjoy this?”
She glanced up at him through dark lashes fanning against her brows. How had he not noticed how long her eyelashes were?
“This is what we need to talk about.”
He wasn’t going to let her analyze what happened between them like it was research for one of her reports. He kissed her eyes closed before moving to her sweet lips, his tongue sweeping inside her mouth to taste her. She leaned into him, allowing him to draw her against him, and he felt himself go hard. Damn if this woman didn’t excite him more than anything he’d ever experienced.
“We’ll talk on the way home tonight.” He forced himself to hurry out the door before he carried her back into the bedroom and ravished her the way his body was begging him to do.
DEREK SAT ON the gelding as the sun beat down on him. It was hot and humid and his shirt stuck to him as he glanced toward the announcer’s booth where Angela waited. He heard her talking with Joe earlier about the story, trying to convince him to make it a series. She was heading to the rodeo in Folsom with them on Friday, since she had four cowboys to follow up with: one bulldogger with a fractured wrist, as well as the bull rider with broken ribs and two bareback riders with shoulder injuries. Nothing too dangerous, but the injuries had been caught on tape when they hap
pened, and Angela was able to interview them in the medical tent. As much as it wouldn’t help her story, he just wanted to finish this rodeo without any further trouble.
His gelding hung his head as Derek untied his rope and dropped it over the saddle horn. The crew began loading the first bulls into the chutes. Through the slats he saw a commotion in the pen. The crash of a massive animal against the metal panels echoed over the loudspeaker. Derek nudged his horse to move toward the back gate to inspect the chaos.
“Jake, what’s going on back there?”
“It’s Devil May Care boss. He’s acting like it’s his first time out. He’s already kicked one of the boys in the thigh.”
“You want to pull him?” Scott asked as he rode up. “Is he hurt?”
“Naw, he’ll just have the medic look at it. He’ll probably have a doozy of a bruised thigh, though.”
Derek sighed, irritably. “The bull, Jake,” he clarified.
“Oh, no.” He waved them off. “He’s fine, not a scratch on him. I think he’s just cranky today because it’s hot and he doesn’t want to work.”
Derek hated days like this. None of the animals performed well in this kind of weather, which in turn gave the cowboys more to complain about. He’d already heard from several of the bronc riders because the horses hadn’t bucked as hard as they expected, bringing the scores down for those competing for national titles. These were the days when less-than-honest cowboys would break the rules, trying to sneak small electric prods or over-tightening straps on the animals to get them excited. Animals, on the other hand, became unpredictable, which lead to injuries, both animal and human. With Angela’s news crew videotaping every move, it was the worst scenario for him. Derek motioned for Scott to head back to his spot in the corner of the arena across from him.
“Mike,” Derek called. He already spotted Joe and Skip near the bullpens this morning, inspecting the stock closely. It made him nervous.
“I’ve already got eyes back here,” Mike yelled as if he’d read Derek’s thoughts. “Nothing illegal.”
Derek couldn’t shake the churning in the pit of his stomach as apprehension crept over his shoulders. The nagging premonition of trouble gnawed at him as he sat on his gelding at the far end of the arena while the bulls were shuffled into the bucking chutes. He watched several cowboys straddling the top rungs of the chutes, slipping ropes to the side of the bull while their traveling partners hooked the rope underneath the bull and helped them get their knots right. There was nothing amiss, and he frowned watching the first cowboy settle over his left arm, his right holding the gate in a light grip. At his nod, the bull burst from the chute, immediately turning right and coming down on his front feet. Derek knew the bull and saw that he wasn’t bucking the way he usually did. His normal routine was to buck hard and straight. But after a few turns, the bull stalled and remained still. The crowd groaned and the cowboy bumped him with his heel. The bull jerked a bit but refused to move.
The announcer cracked a joke about the bull being stubborn and proclaimed that the rider would be allowed a re-ride. Derek cringed, knowing that would run the rodeo longer, especially if several of the bulls acted this way due to the heat. There was a slam of metal gates, and one of the cowboys jumped from inside the chute to the top rails. He glanced at his brother across the arena. Devil was already a difficult bull to ride, one of the best in the nation, but if he was unpredictable, it could be dangerous. Scott shook his head and gave him a thumbs-up sign.
The next two bulls came out and performed well, but both riders were green, coming off well before eight seconds. The bull in the arena, a stubborn red beast, wouldn’t exit when Scott and Derek rode behind it, so Scott tossed a loop around his horns, guiding him back to the open gate leading to the holding pen behind the chutes. Dropping his rope, he let one of the crew pull it from the bull’s horns in the safety of the pen and grabbed another through the fence.
Devil had finally settled down in the chute and Derek went back to his corner, hoping it was a good sign that the rest of the rides would go smoothly. As Devil’s rider climbed onto his back, scooting forward over his arm, Derek glanced up at the announcer’s booth where Angela was deep in discussion with Skip, pointing at the chutes. He had to get her out of his head and concentrate.
The rider shifted and jerked his head, signaling his readiness. The chute gate slammed open and cowboys on the ground scrambled out of the bull’s path. Derek breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the rider had worn a protective vest and helmet. Devil bucked hard, unlike the bulls ahead of him. His legs jerked into the air as he twisted before coming down on his front feet with a jolt. Derek had never seen him buck this hard and fast. The animal jerked his head, gearing himself for another twisting jump as the rider rocked back and forth, almost laying against Devil’s back as he kicked high behind him. The buzzer sounded and the crowd cheered for the ride. The cowboy threw his leg over the bull’s head, coming off clean but dropping to his knees from the impact.
Derek and Scott hurried closer as the bullfighters rushed in, distracting the bull as the cowboy jumped up and climbed the chain link fence on the side of the arena. As the clown ran, the bull followed, dropping his head and charging. The clown dodged the animal’s attack, sticking his tongue out at the bull to the delight of the crowd. As the bull moved closer to Derek, he formed a loop with his rope and tossed it over the bull’s horns, guiding him toward the gate ahead of Derek’s gelding. Devil jogged toward the gate and Scott hung a short distance behind him.
Without warning, Devil stopped, snorting loudly. Derek shook the rope, allowing it to slap against the bull’s back slightly. Devil turned on Derek suddenly, kicking his back heels, charging Derek’s horse. Derek kicked the gelding in the side as it spun to get away from the massive beast, and Derek dropped the rope. As the bull charged, the horse kicked out, connecting with the bull’s shoulder but causing the gelding to stumble and fall to its knees.
Derek knew his horse was going down with the bull still loose in the arena. He shoved himself out of the saddle as he felt his gelding’s shoulder hit the soft dirt. His mind ran through several scenarios in seconds. It wasn’t the first time he’d come off his horse in the arena, but it had never happened in a situation this dangerous. If he could reach the panels he’d be fine, and Scott could get the bull out with the help of the clown.
He crawled away as quickly as he could and heard the clown yelling at the bull, trying to get his attention. He glanced over his left shoulder as he leapt up onto one of the empty bucking chutes to see his gelding up on his feet and running past unharmed. He breathed a sigh of relief, since it was his best pick-up horse.
“Derek!”
Scott’s voice reached him just as he saw the massive creature barreling toward him from the right. Devil slammed against his thigh, knocking him from the gate. Pain blasted through his leg as he hit the ground and the bull came at him again. Fighting the black tunnel sweeping over his vision, he scrambled on his hands and knees to get away from the infuriated animal, one leg dragging behind him useless. The bull ducked his head and crashed into Derek with enough impact to toss him several feet into the air. He hit the ground with a thud that was far less painful than the impact he’d just endured from the solid skull of the beast. He wanted to move his limbs, but they refused to cooperate, and inky blackness swirled at the edges of his vision. Flashes of color were in front of him, and he realized it was their rodeo clown, teasing the bull away from his trampled body. Fighting to remain conscious, he saw the bull chase the clown toward the barrel just before Scott blocked the rest of the arena from his sight. He heard several other cowboys hurry into the arena, forming a line the bull wouldn’t challenge. Seconds later, the bull exited the arena.
Scott leapt from his horse’s back, dropping the reins as he hurried to Derek’s side. “Don’t move.”
“I don’t want to,” he groaned.
“Get the ambulance,” Scott ordered Mike. “Quick.”
Befo
re he could finish, the back gate was already opening and the ambulance was driving through. Derek glanced up at his brother and saw the worry.
“It’s fine, Scott, I can feel my hands and legs. I just don’t want to move because it hurts.” He started to laugh and coughed. “Crap, that hurts,” he clutched his right side.
Medics rushed to his side with the backboard, moving past the crowd of cowboys surrounding him. Derek wasn’t about to let them take him out on the board. He was sure he’d broken a few ribs and knew there was a chance his leg was broken, but he was walking out of this arena, even if he needed help to do it.
“Help me up.” He waved Scott to his side.
“I think you should stay on the board and let us carry you out. If it’s a broken rib you could puncture a lung,” the medic warned, giving Scott a pointed look, “or worse.”
“I am not going out of here on that thing.” He waved the medics off and forced himself into a seated position.
Pain exploded through his side and he couldn’t catch his breath. He clenched his jaw as he looped his arm around Scott’s shoulder. Jake hurried to his other side and helped lift him to a standing position. Derek gritted his teeth, a groan slipping from his throat, as they carried him toward the gate quickly. The announcer hyped the crowd, calling for a cheer, but the pain enveloped him, muffling the sound as if it were coming from the end of a long tunnel. Spots danced in front of his eyes as they exited the gate, and he caught a glimpse of Angela already in the medical tent, waiting for him. She looked horrified, and tears coursed down her cheeks.
“Grab him!” Scott yelled at a nearby cowboy. “He’s slipping.”
I will not fall.
The thought came just seconds before his vision closed in and everything went from gray to black.
HER HEART FELT as broken as his body looked. The cowboys crowded around Derek in the medical tent, blood and dirt covering his handsome, pale face. She could barely look at him, focusing instead on the medics as they moved swiftly to stabilize his condition. It reminded her too much of the night when her mother lay in the streets and she sat helplessly beside her until the ambulance arrived to transport her to her final moments. When she heard the second ambulance arriving at the rodeo to transport Derek to the local hospital, she wasn’t sure she couldn’t do this. Could she endure watching him risk his life each weekend? It was selfish, self-preservation at its worst, and she despised herself for it. The thought of watching Derek die paralyzed her.