It had to be a case of inflated infatuation, though why it was hitting him now and with this woman in particular he didn’t know. As he’d told his mom, he met plenty of women. Beautiful, funny women. Some were also smart and successful. Others showed their caring natures in various ways.
But Sloane was all those things inhabiting one body, and he’d been drawn to her at first sight.
When he reached his room, he pulled out his computer and did what he usually did—checked the latest news from around the circuit, scanned the standings, examined the options for upcoming rodeos. Texas was a big state, one full of rodeos. Maybe he wouldn’t have to go far for his next competition, could convince Sloane to agree to another date. He still fully intended to persuade her to see him the next day, but there wasn’t anything wrong with looking ahead.
But as he perused the standings and upcoming rodeos, he realized he could hang around Texas in order to spend time with Sloane or he could stick to the schedule he’d outlined that would give him the best chance to make the Finals, but not both. His dad really believed Jason was going to get back to the Finals this year, and Jason didn’t want to disappoint him. This might be the last chance their family got for some rodeo glory. And the paycheck and potential endorsement deals that came with it.
A heavy, tired feeling settled in his chest, so he shut the computer and went to the bathroom to take a shower. When he stepped under the flow of water, he realized that thoughts of Sloane had followed him. Those thoughts transformed to hot and steamy daydreams about having her in the shower with him. He ran his hand over his face. He suspected this would be what Shannon called “having it bad.”
He made quick work of the shower, hoping his thoughts of Sloane would fade enough that he’d be able to sleep. Right now, sleep was the furthest thing from his mind.
He flopped down on the bed and grabbed his phone. It wouldn’t hurt to text Sloane to make sure she’d made it home safely. That’s what any decent guy would do.
Of course, the images he’d had of her over the past several minutes couldn’t be described as decent.
He cursed at himself as he typed and sent off a quick message. If he had a lick of sense, he’d set the phone aside and try to get some sleep. Instead, he stared at the small screen, waiting for a response to appear.
Chapter Twelve
Sloane was pretty sure her heart continued to race all the way back to Blue Falls. At this rate, she was going to have to drive straight to the ER to get something to slow it down. But the way Jason kissed her kept playing on repeat in her head, sending shivers of need dancing across her body. She felt as if someone else’s personality was invading and supplanting hers. She wasn’t this person who wanted to spend an entire weekend in bed with a guy she didn’t know anywhere near well enough. And that’s exactly what she’d wanted before she’d barely pulled herself away from Jason and left him standing in that parking lot.
She had to stay away from him. No way was she going back to see him ride the next night. Twice she’d gone out with him, and twice it’d felt as if she was losing control to a wildfire.
As she pulled into the ranch a few minutes later, she realized that her head had been so thoroughly filled with Jason that she hadn’t thought about how to explain where she’d been all day and evening. She didn’t want to lie, but telling the truth was almost as unappealing. Especially if her mom was within hearing range. Sloane parked and sat staring out the windshield at the darkness that lay beyond.
She realized that the longer she sat out here, the more curious anyone waiting inside was going to be, and yet she couldn’t make herself move. Even though she’d thought about Jason all the way back home, she wanted to indulge just a bit longer before she had to go inside and pretend nothing earth-shattering had happened.
With her eyes closed, she let her mind replay the entire day, from when she’d spotted him at the zoo entrance until he’d pulled her into his arms like some romantic hero in a movie.
A knock on the driver’s-side window made her jerk and yelp as if she’d opened her bedroom closet to find a chain saw–wielding clown waiting for her. She clasped her chest in a vain effort to calm the explosion of her heart’s beating. It took a few of those thundering beats for her to realize the person on the other side of the glass was Ben. And he was wearing a big ol’ grin.
Sloane opened her door so fast she nearly slammed it into her brother. He would deserve it.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
He chuckled in response, which irritated her even more.
“Seriously, what the hell?”
“I figured I deserved a little bit of fun for saving you.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
He pointed toward the house. “Mom figured out where you were.”
Sloane glanced toward the house. “How did... Wait, how did you figure it out?” She knew there was no sense denying the truth. If she did, it would make her day with Jason seem more important than it was, and he’d tease her unmercifully. Probably still would, but it was a matter of degrees at this point.
“She asked Angel where you and Jason were going for your date.”
“Angel spilled?”
“Not on purpose. The way Mom asked the question, it was designed to catch Angel off guard and it worked. She didn’t have to say anything. The look on her face confirmed what Mom suspected.”
Sloane cursed and took a few steps along the side of her truck before gripping the side of the bed with both hands.
“It was only a matter of time,” Ben said as he came to stand beside her. “The woman is psychic or something. And it’s not exactly like you to go off without explanation.”
“I blame you and Neil for this. You put the idea of weddings and babies in her head. Now she sees every casual date as a potential happily-ever-after.”
“Is it?”
She looked at her brother as if he’d fallen victim to body snatchers. “Of course not. Kind of hard to have happily-ever-after when one of the people isn’t even around.”
“True, but sometimes they come back. Look at Arden.”
Neil’s wife had tried to go back to her job as an international reporter overseas after he’d helped her heal from the trauma of being held captive by human traffickers. But she’d barely landed in Europe when she’d realized she missed and loved Neil more than her old career. She was still a journalist, a good one, but she was forging a new path that allowed her to be with the man she loved.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“It just is.”
Ben laughed again. “Great comeback.”
“Oh, shut up.”
They stood in silence for a few moments before Ben spoke again. “Did I ever tell you about the time Neil and I ran into Blake Sharpe up in Fort Worth and I damn near broke his nose?”
Sloane stiffened at the mention of her ex-boyfriend’s name. “No, and why are you bringing it up now?”
He shrugged. “Just thought you might like to know.”
Ben didn’t have to explain further, but what he’d done touched her. She’d evidently not been as good at hiding her pain when Blake had left her as she’d believed. And that made her angry at him all over again.
Ben walked away before she could think of an appropriate response. Even though she’d never been one to need her brothers to fight her battles for her, she had to admit she liked the idea that Blake had earned himself a bit of Hartley retribution. She might have punched him herself if she’d been there. She wasn’t the same heartbroken girl she’d been when Blake had dumped her at the worst possible moment.
She wasn’t sure what Ben hoped she’d glean from the story about the punishment of Blake’s nose, but she took the reminder of what Blake had done as a sign that she was allowing hersel
f to get too caught up in a guy again. She’d sworn to herself she’d never repeat that mistake, which probably explained why Jeremy’s hookup with the barrel racer hadn’t crushed her more. It had sucked, but not crush-her-heart-to-bits suck.
She took a few more minutes to get her emotions under control and envision how she’d respond when she went inside. Remembering her plush giraffe, she opened the truck’s door and retrieved the toy. Unable to keep herself from doing so, she smiled. It really had been a great day and she’d honestly like a repeat. Several repeats. But sometimes you just didn’t get what you wanted because it wasn’t in the cards.
Without even thinking, she hugged the giraffe close. Warmth spread throughout her body, but the strongest concentration was around her heart. For a moment, she allowed herself to wish Jason lived nearby, that maybe she could finally believe she could try loving someone again.
She startled at that last thought. Love? She wasn’t anywhere near loving Jason. She didn’t know him well enough. He might have some annoying habit that had yet to reveal itself that would totally turn her off. Or he could really be a jerk and was just hiding it well.
Of course, she wasn’t ever going to find out any of those things, especially not anything approaching love.
But why had the word effortlessly made its way into her thoughts in the first place?
Didn’t matter. Wasn’t happening.
Figuring she might as well get the impending gauntlet over with, she headed for the house. When she stepped through the front door, the bright look of hope on her mom’s face was so comical that Sloane almost laughed.
“You look as if you won the lottery, the county fair cake bake-off and were given a new puppy all on the same day.”
“I hear you had a date with Jason.”
“You didn’t hear. You wheedled it out of Angel.”
Her mom looked momentarily surprised, then scrunched up her lips. “Ben has a big mouth.”
“He had the decency to tell me I was about to be ambushed.”
“Ambushed? Well, that’s a bit dramatic.”
Sloane faced her mom head-on. “Yes, I saw Jason, but you need to let go of the fantasy that we’re going to be riding off into some romantic sunset together. We went to the zoo, then a rodeo. We had fun, the end.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“Believe what you want, Mom. Won’t change reality.”
“Don’t you think you’re protesting the idea too much?” Her mom lifted an eyebrow in a way that said she believed she’d won the argument.
“Nope.” Sloane headed toward her bedroom.
“Sloane.”
She halted and looked back at her mom.
“I just want you to be happy, and whether you want to admit it or not, that boy makes you happy.”
“So does chocolate cake.”
Her mom sighed. “I thought Ben was stubborn.”
Sloane just grinned and made for her room. The door had barely closed behind her when her phone dinged with a text message. Her immediate response was a fluttering of her pulse even before she looked at the display and saw it was from Jason. She glanced back at the door as if her mom might burst in and say, “I told you so!”
She shook her head and read his message.
Call me cheesy, but just checking if you got home OK.
She sank onto the edge of her bed and smiled at his thoughtfulness. Granted, he might just be trying to get her to come back for day two of his rodeo so they could pick up where they left off, but it made her happy anyway. Stupidly happy.
She flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. The truth was she did want to go back and not run off next time. But she suspected that while it might be awesome as it was happening, she’d kick herself for being an idiot after the fact. Maybe sooner rather than later.
Considering he couldn’t see or hear her, wasn’t even in the same county, it was silly how fast her heart was thumping as she began to text a reply.
Yep, fine. Hitting the hay.
Hope your bed is more comfortable than mine was the other night. When I retire, maybe I’ll write a guide to the country’s worst motels.
She smiled wide at that image, him in his cowboy attire pecking away at a computer. Though his author picture on the dust jacket would certainly be attractive.
She reread the message a couple of times, trying to decide how to respond. Or whether she should respond at all. Maybe she could just pretend that she’d gone to sleep, which was plausible since she’d told him she was hitting the hay. But despite her protestations that there was nothing really between them and the fact that she’d darn near run away from him, she didn’t want the night to end.
I’m sure it would be a bestseller.
Ha. I’d only sell copies to buckle bunnies wanting to know where all the rodeo cowboys stay.
Sloane’s jaw tightened at the idea of a buckle bunny showing up at Jason’s door tonight. Would he let the woman in? After all, she’d in effect declined his implied invitation. She should let the comment go without responding, but she found herself typing back with more force on her screen than was necessary.
I don’t understand those women. No self-esteem.
They seem to think pretty highly of themselves.
Her eyes narrowed as she wondered just how many women Jason had slept with and left after one night. She’d been right to leave when she did. And yet she couldn’t seem to toss her phone aside and go to bed.
That right?
He didn’t immediately respond, and she couldn’t help the image of some overly made-up fake cowgirl standing in his open motel room doorway. Or maybe he’d somehow read her accusatory tone and decided that was enough texting with the crazy lady.
Are you jealous?
No. Okay, she’d typed that too quickly, probably negating the answer. Because as daft as it was, the idea of him with someone else did make her jealous. Growling, push-someone-in-the-lake jealous. Ugh, she didn’t want to be that person.
A smiley face appeared on her screen. She imagined him grinning ear to ear somewhere in a dumpy motel room. She was about to turn off her phone when another text arrived.
I’m not interested in them. I’m interested in you.
Her breath caught, and her heart started doing that racing thing again. It was scary how much his admission filled her with a warm, giddy feeling.
You’re a nice guy. I have fun with you. But we both know this isn’t going anywhere.
She paused a moment before typing a bit more. I can’t see you anymore.
Unexpectedly, tears formed in her eyes and she had to blink several times to keep them at bay. It became increasingly hard to do as she stared at her phone and the lack of response from his end. But what was he supposed to say? She’d basically just told him to buzz off because he couldn’t commit. How could she expect him to commit when they barely knew each other? When it made absolutely no sense that at least some part of her wanted that commitment?
Her heart leaped when the phone finally dinged again.
Have a good night, Sloane.
And just like that her heart sank all the way to her feet. Her hands actually shook as she typed, You, too. And good luck tomorrow night.
Thanks.
She waited way too long to see if he sent any more messages. But none came.
She’d finally made sure what she’d told her mother was true. There was nothing between her and Jason. It was for the best, but the painfully heavy feeling in her chest told her it wasn’t what she wanted.
* * *
JASON HAD BEEN in a piss-poor mood all day, a complete one-eighty from the previous day. Even the texting with Sloane the night before had been fun—right up until she’d basically said she never wanted to see him again. He’d known she had wall
s but had thought he’d been finding his way past them. Evidently they’d gone back up with lightning speed somewhere in the midst of their text conversation.
Maybe she was right. Who knew when he’d be back in Texas again? His father’s words came back to him, that Jason had more important things to worry about than a woman. He tried focusing on that night’s ride, another step toward the ultimate goal. But his stupid brain kept veering off in the direction of Sloane Hartley. Damn, he needed to get that woman out of his head.
He took the large iced tea he’d brought back from the diner where he’d eaten a late breakfast and plunked down in a chair beside the sad little pool at his motel. No one else was around, and he couldn’t blame them. Despite having decent beds, the place was depressing. He took off his boots, rolled up his jeans to his knees and moved to the edge of the pool. Dangling his feet in the water, he took a big swig of his tea.
When his phone started ringing, he grabbed it so quickly he nearly fumbled it into the water. Thank goodness no one was around to see that feat of grace.
He tried not to think about how happy he was that Sloane was calling him. Maybe she’d changed her mind and was coming back today. Having her here would certainly improve the scenery.
But when he looked at the phone, he saw the name on the display wasn’t Sloane, but rather his sister. He told himself he was a fool before answering.
“Hey, sis,” he said.
“Hey, yourself. Mom just told me you did well last night.”
“Can’t complain.” At least not about the rodeo part of the evening.
“Got a quick question. I talked to your friend Sloane a few days ago, and I was wondering if she’d said anything to you about the ideas we discussed. I was curious if she’s going to implement any of them.”
Ignoring the extra bit of emphasis Shannon put on your friend, he asked, “Why don’t you ask her?”
“Well, she and I don’t know each other, and I don’t want it to seem like I’m pressuring her just because I gave her a bit of advice.”
Her Texas Rodeo Cowboy Page 13