“Bailey.” Adam’s voice cut through hers. He’d been burned slightly, a welt on his good cheek and one on his neck. “These are my brothers you’re talking about. Wasn’t a thing you could have said to stop them.”
Bailey chewed her lip. He had a point—the original idea had been Grant’s. Carter and Tyler had expressed misgivings. Bailey had said that a controlled and safe stunt would get Adam used to doing them again. The brothers had taken that theory and run with it. They’d done plenty of safety checks beforehand, but as Grant had explained to her when she’d first wanted to begin stunt riding, shit always happens.
“I’m still sorry,” Bailey said.
“So am I. But it’s done, and it could have been worse. Grant’s in there soaking up the attention.”
“Yeah, I saw that,” Bailey felt a smile come. Grant was good at turning bad situations to his favor. “In that case, what did you want to talk to me about?”
For answer, Adam stepped to her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her.
Heat spread from his hands, as though he’d absorbed the fire in the ring and was radiating it back to her. The kiss went on, Adam taking her strength, but lending her his.
When he eased away, Bailey let out a breath. “I’m liking what you have to say.”
His answering smile undid her. Charming Adam, coming to her again.
“What I wanted to tell you—straight out—is that I’m not taking the movie job. I’m calling Mark tomorrow and telling him I won’t be doing it. I’m staying in Riverbend.”
Bailey blinked. She took a step back, breaking his hold, confusion washing through her.
“No,” she said. She didn’t quite mean to say it. It slipped out. Loudly.
“No?” Adam stopped, amazement in his eyes. “What do you mean, no?”
Yes, what did she mean? This was what Bailey wanted, right? For Adam to stay? To give them a chance to be together?
Was that what she really wanted? For Adam to give up everything he’d won after years of work? Of putting up with shit and facing impossible situations to turn his talent into a career? Every hard thing he’d done, every injury he’d suffered, had been to earn money to send home to his brothers and mom, helping to make Circle C Ranch and the Campbell’s training business the most prosperous in Hill Country.
And Bailey wanted him to give it all up … so she’d feel better?
Bailey drew a breath, forcing out her words. “Seriously, you’re going to take all the time I put in to you, getting you back on a horse, working you into fighting shape, and throw it all away? You were awesome tonight—your reflexes better than ever, your instincts amazing. If Grant had been in trouble three weeks ago, you’d have never gotten to him in time, never saved him. You dove at him like it was nothing. You were fearless. I was so proud …”
She trailed off under Adam’s hard stare, her eyes moist. “Not fearless,” he said, his voice still rough from the smoke. “I was scared shitless.”
Bailey shook her head. “No one knew. You didn’t think about running to save your own skin—you went straight to Grant and pulled him out of the way. You can do anything, Adam. You just have to believe it.”
His brows drew together. “If you mean I have my confidence back, I do. Mostly. Thanks to you.”
Adam in the dark was a heart-melting sight—tall and straight-bodied, the light behind him outlining every tight inch of him. He was even better when he was naked, in her bed, his long, tanned body against her white sheets, his wicked smile lighting up his blue eyes.
She could have him there for always, if she would just shut up.
“If you’re still afraid, we can keep training,” Bailey said. “You go out to California tomorrow, sign the contracts, let them tell you what they need, then come back, and we’ll work out the stunts. Me, you, and your brothers. You can do this.”
Adam’s frown deepened. “Bailey, I keep trying to tell you—I don’t want to work on the movie. I want to stay here, help my brothers train horses, maybe go with them on some of the smaller shoots. Find my own place.”
“I heard you. I just don’t understand why.” Bailey waved her hands to emphasize her points. “It’s a fabulous opportunity. A stunt coordinator. You could make your name. Maybe even move to overall director. Start making your own films. We’ll all come to the Academy Awards when you win.” She tried to smile, but it died under his flat gaze.
“Hold on … Hold on.” Adam reached for her flailing hands, but Bailey backed a step. “I don’t even know if this movie is a sure thing,” he said. “They might talk to me and decide they don’t want me after all. There’s no guarantee in this business.” He let out a brief sigh. “That’s another reason I don’t want to go back. It’s too uncertain, too full of greedy people who don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone—including making a stunt safe enough so the stuntmen don’t get killed. I’m never going to forgive them for that. Let Dawson’s brother sue them all he wants.”
“But that’s why you should go. The business needs people like you to remind them that stuntmen aren’t fodder, easily replaced; that they need to be taken care of. You can make sure your guys are safe, that accidents like what happened to Dawson don’t happen again.”
Adam’s frown lessened. He hadn’t thought of that, she could see.
“You go,” Bailey said. She made a pushing motion at him. “Do what you were meant to do. I didn’t help you out all those years ago for you to stay home, and I didn’t do it for that this time, either.”
She tried to walk around him, to head back for the bar and the celebration inside, but Adam seized her and hauled her back.
“Bailey.” His grip was strong, fingers biting down. “Maybe I’m wanting to stay home so bad because of you. I keep hearing how much you love it here, how much you’re glad you came back to Riverbend. I know you’ll never leave. So I want to stay—where you are.”
Happiness flooded her, as did guilt and more confusion. Bailey had spent a year trying to deal with hard emotions, and had finally figured out how to push them away so they wouldn’t make her sick or keep her awake at night.
But she couldn’t handle them right now. “What I want—what I want most of anything in this world—is for you to be happy.” Bailey put her hand on Adam’s chest, feeling his heart pounding crazily under her fingertips. “Go,” she said softly. “Be happy, Adam.”
While Adam stared at her numbly, Bailey broke away, evading his grasp this time. She hurried back to the bar, where her confusion could be swallowed by the jangle of the band and the people there. Her family, her friends, everyone important to her were inside. Adam would go, and that would be that.
Chapter Twenty
“You know,” Kyle Malory’s voice came from behind Adam. “You two should get married. You already act married. Can’t be together five minutes without having an argument.”
Adam swung around to see Kyle blocking his way to the bar, his hat shading his face from the parking lot’s lights.
Bailey had already disappeared into the bar. She hadn’t understood what Adam was trying to telling her, probably because he hadn’t told it right. He wasn’t gifted with words. Bailey had this crazy idea that she was holding him back, when she was the one who got Adam going every morning. No way in hell was he going to throw that away.
“I’d think you’d want us to fight,” he said to Kyle. “Then you can step in and save her from me.”
“Nope. Don’t get me wrong. I like Bailey. I really like her. She’s turned into one hot woman. But as much as I hate losing to you, I know that tricking her away from you wouldn’t be a win for me. You two work. Believe it or not, I know when to bow out.”
“You won our challenge today,” Adam said. “I didn’t finish.”
Kyle shook his head. “I didn’t win. There was an accident. Didn’t count. We can have a do-over any time you want.” He paused. “But I’m not getting up on that bull again anytime soon. Ray’s going to get my boot up his ass over that. Scared the liv
ing crap out of me.”
“Is that what was all over your pants?” Adam asked, his sense of humor returning. “You did good, though, much as I hate to admit it. Anyone else would have called off the bet and gone running for the hills.”
“I almost did when I saw what was waiting in that chute for me. But, hell, I did it.” A grin lit Kyle’s face. “Set a record for riding the un-ridable bull. I am pretty good, aren’t I?”
“Don’t push it, shithead.”
“Tell you what, though,” Kyle said. “It’ll make every other bull I ride seem like a kitten in comparison. I’ll win every championship until I retire. So, thank you.”
“Yeah, you’re terrific. Don’t get a big head.”
Kyle chuckled. “You always bring out the worst in me, Campbell. And the best. You know, I think I’ve done as well as I have in my life because I refuse to be showed up by you.”
Adam knew damn well the same thing could be said in reverse. Not that he’d tell Kyle that. “You can thank me then,” he said.
“Yeah, you’ve always been an arrogant shit.” Kyle pushed his hat to the back of his head. “Ross told me about your friend getting killed. I’m sorry. That sucks.”
Adam clamped his lips together and gave him a nod. “Thanks.”
“I know when I got the news that my brother was in the hospital, maybe dying because of that stupid wreck, it was like my world dropped out from under me. He pulled through with only a few scratches, but I sure hated it when I didn’t know what was going to happen to him. And this is Ray we’re talking about. My shithead big brother who decided I should ride the White Devil.”
“I’m glad he wasn’t hurt,” Adam said, meaning it.
“Me too. Just don’t tell him.”
Adam’s grin broke through his tightness. “He’ll never hear it from me.”
“Good. Now, what are you going to do about Bailey?” Kyle looked him up and down. “She’s a fine woman. One of the best. Are you going to let her go?”
“Hell, no.”
“Then get in there and go after her. There’s plenty of guys in that bar who’ll jump on her the second they think she’s available. Do I have to make you do everything?”
“Shut the hell up, Malory,” Adam said. Kyle was right, but only to a point. “Come on inside with me. Watch and learn.”
Kyle snorted a laugh. “This I gotta see.”
The bar inside was still in chaos. The band was grinding out a song and couples were spinning to the fast beat. When Adam walked in, he saw Christina approaching Grant. Whatever she said to him was lost in the noise, but Adam came close enough to hear Grant’s answer. “You’re with Ray,” he said in a hard voice, then turned and walk away.
Christina watched him go, her broken heart plain to see. She started to head for the door, but Adam stopped her.
“Stay,” he said in her ear, making his voice as gentle as he could under the circumstances. “I need you to. I want you to hear this.”
Christina looked puzzled, then as she got a good look at his face, interested.
Adam moved from her and headed up to the band. No way would Bailey be able to make out what he was saying in this racket, and she wasn’t about to leave the bar with him again. He had no choice.
As the song ended, and everyone screamed for more, Adam stepped up to the lead singer and spoke into his ear.
“Sure, man,” the singer said with beer-scented breath, and handed him the microphone.
“Hey, y’all,” Adam said into the mike. “Listen up.” His voice boomed across the room, and one of the techs winced and adjusted something on a board. The crowd turned, sending up a cheer for Adam. The cheer was slurred—they were partying pretty hard tonight.
“I just want to thank y’all for helping my brother out,” Adam said. “Today, Grant Campbell proved he can fall on his ass and catch himself on fire at the same time. He appreciates your support.”
Laughter. Shouting and stomping. Grant gave Adam the finger and a grin.
“I also appreciate something,” Adam went on. He had no idea what he was going to say—only that he had to say it, and if he stopped to choose his words, he’d never get through this. “I appreciate a lady here who, when I fell on my ass, picked me up, dusted me off, and gave me the push to get going again. She’s right over there. Her name is Bailey Farrell.”
Cheers. More clapping and stomping. Tyler yelling, “Yeah, Bai-lee.”
Bailey stared at him in shock. A little space cleared between her and Adam, she in a tight shirt with lace at the neckline, her jeans hugging her hips. Her lips were parted, her beautiful eyes on Adam.
Adam continued, his gaze only for Bailey. “So what I have to say to you, Bailey, is …” And he ran out of words. He never knew what things women liked to hear anyway. All he had to do was smile, but that didn’t always work with Bailey.
He tried again. “What I have to say to you is … I love you.”
A few Awws went through the crowd. A swallow moved down Bailey’s throat, her eyes enormous.
“The other thing I want to say to you is … Bailey Farrell—will you marry me?”
The crowd dropped into stunned silence. Then the cheers began again, and the people of Riverbend started weighing in. “Go for it, honey!” “Don’t do it, Bailey; save yourself!” “Damn, Campbell, you got balls.”
Adam ignored them all. He looked only at Bailey, who watched him in return, her chest rising with her agitated breath.
When she didn’t answer, Adam’s heart began to sink. She was going to refuse, walk away, be angry with him for embarrassing her.
Didn’t matter. Adam would go after her. Again and again, as long as he could, asking her over and over until her no became a yes. He could roam the country making stupid movies, or he could stay here and keep his brothers out of trouble. Either way didn’t matter—as long as Bailey was in his life.
Adam took a breath to tell her it was all right, she didn’t have to answer right away, when Bailey gave him a dazzling smile and shouted,
“Yes!”
The noise in the bar was deafening. Somehow Adam got rid of the microphone, somehow he got off the little stage and to Bailey. Maybe he flew—he didn’t know.
He grabbed Bailey in his arms and spun around with her, once, twice, three times, lifting her high before setting her down and sinking into the best kiss of his life.
Around them, his brothers and friends were laughing, shouting, going crazy with noise. Adam heard nothing but Bailey’s yes, felt nothing but her body in his arms, her lips on his.
“Love you,” he said.
“Love you too, Adam,” she yelled over the racket. “I love you too!”
She pulled him down to her, crying, his sweet Bailey, his anchor in the world’s storms.
The band started playing again, the classic, “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” Everyone around them found partners, pulling each other close, surrounding Adam and Bailey in the middle of the floor.
“Wait,” Bailey said to Adam. She reached up with her thumb to wipe tears from his eyes. “What about your movie? We haven’t finished that fight.”
Adam leaned down to speak into her ear. “Nope. Because you’re coming with me.”
“What?”
“I said, you’re—”
“I heard what you said. I meant, what are you talking about?”
“I’ll need a wrangler for the horses. You’ve proved to be a terrific one—look at what you can do with Buster. Since I get to hire my own crew, I pick you. We’ll go together, make that movie, and come on home.”
Bailey stared at him, joy and astonishment in her eyes. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“You want me to work on a major movie with you?”
“Yep,” Adam pulled her close again. “I just said so.”
“You are awesome, Adam Campbell.” Bailey burst out laughing. “How do you know what makes me happy?”
He gave her a mock frown. “Wait, are you happier ab
out the movie or marrying me?”
Bailey slanted him a mischievous look, and he knew he was in for a lifetime of her teasing the hell out of him. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Which do you think?” she asked.
“I don’t care,” Adam said, deciding. “As long as you’re with me, I don’t care.”
“I love you,” Bailey said. She rose on tiptoes, gave his earlobe a bite, and said, “Now how about we ditch this place?”
“Hell, yeah.”
Adam led her out. Or tried to. They were swamped by his brothers and Christina, all trying to crush Bailey into smothering hugs.
It would always be like that, Adam knew. He’d want Bailey all to himself, but his mom and brothers would be there, and her sister, plus Adam’s cute-as-a-button niece, and all their friends, wanting Bailey’s attention. The whole damn town, really, because no one in Riverbend could mind their own effing business.
As he and Bailey walked out, hand-in-hand, followed by yells of congratulations coupled with indecent suggestions, Adam knew that all that was fine with him.
Bailey said it best when she opened the door to her house not far away, and turned on the doorstep to kiss him.
That kiss led to a deeper one, which led to Adam sliding his hands under her shirt to cup her soft, hot-as-summer skin. And that made Adam push her inside before he ended up undressing her on her tiny front porch.
“Come on in,” Bailey said, giving him a wink that made his blood sear. “You’re home now.”
She took his hand and led him inside, shutting out the night, then to her bedroom, where they found each other once more, and didn’t let each other go until morning.
End
Note from Jennifer Ashley
Welcome to Riverbend! I’m thrilled to introduce the Campbell family in the Riding Hard series, and their rivals, the Malorys, in the small ranching town of Riverbend, in Texas Hill Country.
Though I have written many, many romance novels, mostly historicals and paranormals, this is my first foray into contemporary romance. While it’s strange for me not to write about men who turn into wolves, wildcats, or bears, or who aren’t Scottish lairds, I have long been wanting to write contemporary stories, particularly about this family, who have been living in my head for a while now.
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