“You look nice.”
She almost heard her boots skid as she stopped suddenly. “Uh, thanks.”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
What did that mean?
Don’t read too much into it.
She waved in his general direction. “You don’t clean up bad yourself.”
“I guess anything would be an improvement over the last time you saw me.”
She wouldn’t say that, but she made a vague sound of agreement and moved toward the door. Cole opened it and allowed her to precede him before stepping out onto the sidewalk himself and waiting as she locked up.
Devon turned away from the door just in time to see Verona Charles watching them with a huge smile on her face. Uh-oh. As if they didn’t have enough attempted matchmaking going on with Barbara, now the town Cupid had spied them together. But since they were supposedly already together, maybe she’d move on to someone else.
“Well, don’t you two look picture-perfect,” Verona said. “I’ve got to admit, I hadn’t thought about pairing you two up, but it couldn’t be a better match.” She shifted her gaze up to Cole. “Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, ma’am, I do.” Cole’s hand captured Devon’s, his fingers sliding between hers with an ease that would have made more sense if they were actually a couple and held hands often.
Devon’s blood electrified and raced through her at a speed that she feared wasn’t healthy.
“I know your mother must be so happy,” Verona said to Cole.
Devon noticed how Verona said nothing about her mom.
“As a clam. It was nice to see you, Verona. We’ve got to head out. Don’t want to miss any of the rodeo action.”
“You two have fun. And tell your mom hello for me.”
“Will do.” Cole tugged lightly on Devon’s hand, pulling her out of her stunned state enough that she was able to walk next to him toward his truck.
She knew he probably kept his fingers entwined with hers because Verona was watching, but for those few moments, she allowed herself to pretend that he was holding her hand because he wanted to, because being near her made his heart thump as wildly as being near him did hers.
When they reached his pickup, he continued to hold her hand until he’d helped her up into her seat.
“Thanks,” she said.
His gaze met hers, level because of how high up she sat.
“You’re welcome.” Cole hesitated for a moment before stepping back and closing her door.
As he walked around the front of the truck toward his side, Devon finally drew in a deep breath. Yep, she’d traded one problem for another. She’d had a lifetime of dealing with her mother’s expectations. But the crazy, runaway feelings she was having toward Cole? Those were new territory, and she realized she might have made the biggest mistake of her life asking him to pretend to be her boyfriend.
Needing desperately to focus on anything other than how Cole’s strong, work-roughened hand had felt wrapped around hers, Devon pulled her notepad out of her purse and started perusing her list of celebration ideas.
“What do you have there?” Cole asked as he slipped into his seat and started the truck’s engine.
Devon tried not to be disheartened that he seemed totally unaffected by their brief hand-holding. And why would he be affected? Their faux relationship was nothing more than a mutually beneficial favor to him. Remembering he’d asked a question, she held up the notebook.
“Ideas for my shop’s anniversary celebration.”
Cole pulled out onto Main Street and headed for the fairgrounds. “Let’s hear ’em.”
Latching on to the safe topic of conversation, she recited her grocery list of ideas.
“The kids’ knitting class should be popular,” she said.
“Why not include adults, too?”
“I guess I could.”
“I bet my mom would do a quilting class or demonstration if you asked her to,” Cole said with a glance toward Devon.
“I don’t want to take away from her work. I know she stays busy.”
“Are you kidding? She’d love it, combining quilting with chatting everyone up. Plus, it would give her some extra exposure for the launch of the Arts and Crafts Trail.”
“Maybe I’ll ask her.”
“She’ll probably have a boatload more ideas for you, too.”
The drive to the fairgrounds was over almost as soon as it began, and Devon’s nerves started firing again. Would Cole reclaim her hand, or had that simply been for Verona’s benefit so she’d spread the news far and wide?
As soon as Cole parked, Devon shoved her notebook into her purse and hopped out of the truck. Cole met her at the front.
“You’re stealing my chances to be the doting boyfriend,” he said as he pointed back toward the passenger door.
“Sorry. Habit.” She started toward the entrance gate, and Cole walked close to her but didn’t take her hand or drape his arm around her shoulders. While she missed the contact, she had to remember they were only friends and she could expect Cole’s acting to go only so far.
When Cole paid their way in, she added her half to the mental tally she needed to repay him. Guys might insist on paying during real dates, but that wasn’t what this was, any of it.
Though he still didn’t touch her, Devon sensed Cole’s hand near the lower part of her back as he accompanied her through the crowd toward the grandstand. She perused the bleachers, looking for an empty spot. Enthusiastic waving drew her attention to Mandy, who was sitting next to India Parrish and Keri Teague, along with several other members of the Teague family.
“Mandy, right?” Cole said next to her.
“Yeah.”
“I think she wants us to sit with her.”
Devon smiled. “How could you tell?”
“Wild guess.”
A jolt of awareness went through Devon’s body as Cole gently touched her elbow. It was nothing more than a chivalrous gesture, supporting her as they climbed the steps to the higher row, but it jangled her already frazzled nerves anyway.
“Hey, you two,” Mandy said, all bright and chipper as if she’d just won the lottery, learned chocolate wasn’t fattening and landed Prince Charming at the same time. The look she gave Devon fairly screamed, I’m up to something!
When they took their seats, Mandy leaned forward to speak to Cole past Devon. “You probably don’t remember me from high school—”
“Sure, I do. You two were always together,” Cole said as he glanced at Devon.
He remembered that? Devon could almost believe he hadn’t been aware of her existence, except for that pivotal moment when he’d defended her against Amy.
“I’m surprised you remember,” Mandy said, echoing Devon’s thoughts.
“Wasn’t that big of a school.”
And way to burst the bubble of potential happiness, dude.
More chitchat passed back and forth between Mandy and Cole, then Cole and Ryan Teague behind them. Devon, feeling strangely left out, a feeling she really hated, focused her attention on the grand entry beginning in the arena.
As soon as the entry and the national anthem were over, she noticed how Cole’s attention firmly fixed on the riding and roping events. He sat on the edge of his seat, even giving instruction under his breath. But when the final event, the bull riding, was about to begin, she sensed a change in him. Though she wasn’t touching him, she could tell his body stiffened. He watched the animals in the chutes as if sizing them up, judging their moods and personalities. She supposed it’s what he’d done for years when he’d been among the cowboys about to risk his life astride one of those huge beasts.
She wasn’t sure how she was able to read him so easily, but she could tell he hated being in the stands right now.
He wanted to be down there in the midst of the action, about to test his skill in the arena. He’d said he hadn’t been to a rodeo since returning to Blue Falls, and she knew in that moment it wasn’t just because he was busy on the ranch. Even as busy as ranch life was, he could have spared two or three hours to watch a rodeo. But being able to only watch a sport he loved as a career, that he’d been good at, was hard for him.
Before she could think better of what she was doing, she slipped her hand into his, fingers entwining, palm to palm.
Cole shifted his attention from the rider who’d just been tossed into the dirt to her. There in his eyes, she saw a longing that she understood all too well.
* * *
COLE KNEW HE missed life on the rodeo circuit. He’d even expected twinges at tonight’s rodeo, the first he’d attended since retiring. But he hadn’t been prepared for the intensity of the longing. It’d been manageable, about what he expected, at first, but it had built as the night went along. By the time he saw the first of the bull riders preparing to ride, it felt as if his insides were being squeezed. Bull riding had been his life for so long, since he’d graduated high school, that it still didn’t feel real or final that he’d never do it again.
The feel of Devon’s hand clasping his startled him. At first he thought that she’d seen someone, perhaps her mother, who needed convincing of their supposed romantic relationship. But when he turned his head and saw her expression, the truth of her compassion stole his breath. One look told him that she knew what he was feeling and sympathized. It wasn’t pity, but rather a heartfelt wish that she could return what he’d lost. The purity of her silent offer of support touched him so deeply he didn’t know how to react. How could this woman who until recently had been only a past acquaintance understand perfectly when his own mother and brother, even his riding buddies, didn’t fully understand? Sure, none of them had gone through it, but neither had Devon.
He smiled and squeezed her hand, not wanting to let go of that connection. Maybe that was dangerous considering his vow not to get attached to another woman, but at the moment he didn’t care.
“Thanks.”
She simply nodded and went back to watching the riding.
Though he watched as well, almost perfectly predicting what the riders’ scores would be, a lot of his attention remained focused on the feel of Devon’s small hand in his. He had the strangest sensation that it was easy, simple, without expectation. Giving rather than taking. That was a switch from his two marriages.
No, he couldn’t think like that. He and Devon were friends. He was doing her a favor.
But you were mighty quick to say yes to playing her boyfriend.
Unwilling to let his brain go down that road, he refocused his attention on the next rider up. Based on what he knew, this would be the toughest bull of the night.
“Next up, we’ve got Adrian Wells riding Cotton-Pickin’ Good,” the announcer said.
The bull, a monster in size, showed his displeasure by rattling the gates. A sick feeling curled in Cole’s stomach, and two seconds after the gate opened he knew why. Wells was jerked to and fro as if he were as flimsy as a piece of rope. And then he went airborne. In the blink of an eye, he slammed into the ground and lay still.
Beside Cole, Devon gasped and gripped his hand with a sudden strength that surprised him. He placed his other hand atop their clasped ones.
The bull fighters rushed in to protect Wells as the pickup guys steered Cotton-Pickin’ Good out of the arena. Other cowboys jumped down off the gates where they were sitting, and Cole knew things weren’t good when one of them whistled for the paramedics.
“Oh, my God,” Devon said. “Is he—?”
“Knocked out.” At least he hoped that’s all it was.
The entire grandstand of people watched, hushed, as a paramedic hurried into the arena while another backed up the ambulance. When the driver hopped out, the paramedic kneeling beside Wells, who still hadn’t moved, called something back to the driver. Cole couldn’t make it out, but it became obvious what he said as the driver pulled a backboard out of the ambulance.
Though Cole had seen a similar scenario countless times before, had even been the one hauled out on more than one occasion, it didn’t stop the sickness in the pit of his stomach. It eased only marginally when he saw Wells move one of his legs. Thank God, not paralyzed. But Cole knew from experience that he could have serious injuries, perhaps ones that would end his career.
When Wells was finally on the backboard and lifted by half a dozen fellow cowboys, everyone in the grandstand stood and clapped for him. He was aware enough to lift his hand in a quick wave.
Instead of continuing to watch Wells be carried out, Cole looked at Devon. “You ready to go?”
The quickness with which she nodded told him the scene had upset her. Without thinking, he took her hand in his and headed toward the steps as she said goodbye to Mandy and the others. Cole just wanted to be anywhere other than where he was at the moment.
When they reached his truck, he hesitated letting go of Devon’s hand. Surely he wasn’t allowing his feelings to change toward her. They had an arrangement, nothing more. The need for connection now was simply a reaction to being in a situation that brought back memories he’d rather not relive. Holding her hand gave him something else on which to focus.
“You’ve been through something like that before, haven’t you?” she asked.
He reluctantly broke contact with her and leaned against the front of his truck, staring toward the arena where the ambulance was pulling away and the rodeo staff was preparing for the final couple of riders of the night.
“Yeah, I’ve had my share of scares.” He nodded at the arena. “That was eerily familiar.”
“The reason you retired?”
“Yeah. We’ve all had broken bones, torn muscles, more cuts and bruises than you can count. But the last time I rode, I got thrown, hit hard and it further damaged some vertebrae in my back. The doctor who saw me said I was done, and the way he said it made me believe him.”
“I’m glad you quit.”
He shifted his gaze to Devon.
“Nothing is worth damaging yourself beyond repair,” she said. “You had a good, successful run. And now you’re starting a second career, something that you’re also really good at.”
The belief in her voice stirred something within his chest, something that made him determined that they’d remain friends after their charade was over.
“I appreciate it.”
“It’s not just flattery,” she said.
“I know. You don’t seem the type to offer false praise. I mean, you’re kind but honest.”
“Except when lying about our relationship.”
For a crazy moment, he thought about saying that maybe they didn’t have to be lying about that. And then he remembered how easily he’d been led down that path twice before and how he didn’t want to go through that again.
He shrugged. “There are way worse lies. I’m not even sure this counts.”
She laughed a little. “Somehow I think my mom would beg to differ.”
“She never has to know. Whenever you’re ready to call it quits, we’ll stay friends. We won’t give her a big, public breakup scene to pounce on.”
She met his gaze and studied him for a minute.
“What?” he asked.
“Thank you.”
“You’ve already thanked me.”
“I know, but in all honesty, you barely know me. Doing this for a virtual stranger is no small thing.”
“It’s not as big a deal as you seem to think. It isn’t like it’s hard to spend time with you.”
Quite the opposite, in fact.
“Thanks, I think.”
He smiled when he glanced over to where she was leaning a
gainst the truck beside him. “Are you fishing for a better compliment?”
“Who, me? Never.”
He bumped his shoulder against hers. “Let’s get out of here.”
How many times had he said that to a woman and meant something totally different? As he glanced at Devon as she turned away, he wondered why she wasn’t dating someone for real. Surely some man with a brain and who hadn’t been handpicked by her mother had crossed her path. A man who hadn’t sworn off serious relationships, he reminded himself when he remembered how her hand had felt in his. How in that moment when their gazes had connected and he’d seen her understanding, it would have been so easy to lean over and capture her mouth with his.
Way too easy.
And a really, really bad idea.
Chapter Seven
Cole likely had no idea how his words had made Devon’s mind go wild with images that were never going to be more than just fantasies in her head. As he drove back toward downtown, she kept reminding herself that his “let’s get out of here” did not have the same meaning attached to it that those words normally did when a guy uttered them. Not that she’d had loads of experience being on the receiving end of that meaningful phrase.
He’d just wanted to leave the rodeo, and she couldn’t blame him. After what she’d witnessed, she wasn’t so hot on staying, either. Her stomach was still twisted up inside her at the idea of how easily that bull rider could have come down wrong and broken his neck, been gored or even killed. And how many times Cole had risked his life riding. She fully understood following one’s dream, but at least her dream never put her life in danger.
When Cole parked behind her car, all her racing thoughts distilled down into one. She had to end their charade before it got out of hand.
“Hope you had a good time tonight despite how it ended,” Cole said when he turned off the truck’s engine.
“I did, thanks.” She hesitated for a moment.
“You sure about that?”
She glanced over at him and was struck anew by just how handsome he was. Now that she knew him a bit better, had seen his kindness and his humor, he was even more attractive. Which was not a good thing for her peace of mind.
COWBOY TAKES A WIFE, THE Page 7