by Jane Jamison
Although they had on black cowboy hats, she knew they could never be mistaken for bad guys. Maybe it was their square jaws or the intense looks in their eyes, but they had that hero look about them. The kind of look that, as soon as the hero appeared on the movie screen, the audience knew he was there to rescue the girl in trouble.
Their long legs went on for miles in their faded jeans. Silver belt buckles adorned their lean waists, but that was the only thing that was shiny. Their boots were worn and their shirts had seen better days. Still, they couldn’t have looked any better if they’d been wearing tuxedos.
Jesse spun around, ready to act all tough, then dropped the snarl as the huge cowboys headed his way. His bravado disappeared as he edged behind her, suddenly needing her protection again.
Donny went around one of the rigs to find his way over to the first cowboy. “Mr. Hill, I’m glad you’re here. I tried to tell them they couldn’t park in this lot, but then that guy threatened me.”
“Asshole.”
She elbowed Jesse in the ribs. “Shut up.”
Mr. Hill scanned the parking lot, then over to the public lot. “He’s right. You’re not supposed to park here.”
“See?” Donny thrust out his chest.
“Still…”
Donny’s bravado instantly deflated.
“The public lot is almost full.” He pointed toward the line of cars still feeding into the lot. “I don’t think there’re going to be enough parking spaces.”
“Then they’ll have to park on the street.”
Shit. Not on the street. The gang might see my car.
“No, I can’t.” Damn. “I mean, I’m already parked and…” And what? She couldn’t tell him the real reason. Heat coursed into her cheeks.
Mr. Hill narrowed his eyes, suspicion making her even antsier. “Look, Donny, no contestant is going to show up at this late hour. So why not cut her a break and let her stay put?”
“Because it’s against the rules.”
“Yeah, I know.” His chocolate-colored eyes met hers. “But sometimes rules are made to be broken. As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.”
She knew when to stay quiet, and this was one of those times. Instead, she plastered on a hopeful expression and was ready to slap her hand over Jesse’s mouth if he tried to open his.
Donny, however, didn’t want to give up his authority. “I have to keep the rules. Besides, this guy threatened me.”
The second sexy cowboy looped his arm around Donny’s shoulder. The young man’s face lit up as though his favorite sports hero had just made him his new best friend.
“That wasn’t really a threat. It wasn’t, was it, kid?” Mr. Hill narrowed his eyes at Jesse. “Because if it was, I’d take it kind of personal. I don’t like it when someone threatens my good friend Donny.”
Donny glared at Jesse who glared back. “It sure as hell sounded like a threat to me.”
“Naw, it wasn’t. And even if it sounded like one, I’ll bet he didn’t mean it. He’ll apologize, right?”
“Fuck no.”
She grabbed hold of Jesse’s arm and lowered her voice so only Jesse would hear her. “Yes, you will. We need to stay parked where we are.” She darted her gaze at the trucks, trying to give Jesse a less-than-subtle hint. “Hidden between these two really big trucks.”
She knew Jesse hated backing down, even when it was the smart thing to do. She shook him a little, giving him more incentive. “Tell him you’re sorry, Jesse.”
“It’s the right thing to do, Jesse,” said Mr. Hill.
She smiled at him, thankful for his intervention and for calling her brother by his name instead of kid. Names were important. Thinking of him as Mr. Hill didn’t seem right. It was too formal and being formal with him was the last thing she wanted to do.
She took both men in, feasting on their stone-hard bodies. They oozed masculinity, and the way they stood showed they had a natural confidence and strength. If she could’ve ordered up the perfect men for her, they would’ve fit the bill perfectly.
If only I could’ve met them someplace else. Alone. Without anyone following…
She jerked back to reality. They needed to get moving. “Apologize, Jesse.” She shoved against his shoulder, never taking her attention off the two amazing cowboys. “Now.”
Jesse grumbled another curse word, then added in a voice barely more than a whisper, “Sorry.”
“See? There you go. Now we can all be good friends.” Mr. Hill turned Donny loose and pointed at the public lot. “You’d better get on over there. Looks like they’re starting to get backed up.”
Donny wasn’t totally convinced, the furrow in his brow deepening. “I don’t know. What if Mr. Hilliard finds out?”
“If he does, I’ll make it right with him. Now go on.”
“If you’re sure this is okay.”
“Trust me, Donny. It’s fine.”
The second cowboy crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. “Jarrod to the rescue again.”
Jarrod. The name fit him. Solid. Firm. Trustworthy. And it was a lot better than thinking of him as Mr. Hill.
“Go on and take care of business. Seth and I can handle this.” Jarrod gave Donny a slight shove to get him moving.
Donny nodded, then shot Jesse a hard look before jogging toward the other lot. He hadn’t gone five yards before he was waving his arms and shouting at another driver.
She let loose with a breath of relief, then stuck out her hand. “Thanks for helping us.”
Jarrod ignored her offer to shake hands and, instead, leveled his hard gaze at Jesse. “Let me give you a word of advice.”
Jesse snorted, but she held on to him. Not giving him a chance to turn away, she jerked on his arm before sending him a warning look. If Jarrod noticed, he pretended he hadn’t.
“Don’t go acting tough around here. Especially with guys smaller than you. It’s the chicken-shit way to be.”
“Sure thang, cowboy.” Jesse’s twangy drawl was layered with disrespect.
She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to smack the back of her brother’s head. When had he become such a jerk? “Please don’t pay any attention to him. He has a disease called PSD.”
Seth took her seriously. “PSD? I’ve never heard of it.”
“PSD is a disease of the brain and mouth called Permanently Stupid Disorder. He can’t help thinking stupid thoughts then letting them fall out of his mouth.”
“Hey!” Jesse groaned and tugged away from her. “Can we get going now, sis?”
“You’re his sister, huh?” asked Seth.
Was that interest she caught in the cowboy’s eyes? Had he thought Jesse was her boyfriend? She couldn’t help but get excited. Although she’d learned to love her curves, it wasn’t often that a man appreciated them. “He’s my younger brother Jesse.” She offered her hand again. “I’m Amy.”
Seth accepted her handshake, and Jarrod tipped his hat. “I know what you mean. Name’s Jarrod Hill and this is my younger brother Seth.”
“It’s nice to meet both of you. Are you two in the rodeo?”
“We won’t be if we don’t stop flapping our yaps and get going.” Jarrod slapped a hand against Seth’s arm. “You two have a good time, but keep your brother on a short leash. For his own good.”
“Oh, I will.”
She wanted to ask them what events they were in, but by the time she’d thought the question, they were already striding away, their long legs eating up the ground.
* * * *
Jarrod knew it as well as he knew his own name. Now was not the time to think about girls. Not even one who was super-hot. And yet, if any girl was worth thinking about in the middle of a rodeo, it was Amy.
Amy whatever-her-last-name-was.
Jarrod almost turned around to ask her what her last name was.
No. Keep your mind on what you’re doing.
He’d come to the realization a long time ago that girls and rodeos didn’t mix. After failing
to win the kind of prize money he needed to keep the ranch going, he’d decided to separate business from pleasure. At least at the rodeos. No more honky-tonking on the road no matter how much Seth tried to coax him into it. He could think about women once he was back on the ranch.
But damn, she was hot. All curves with a sweet round face. Long brunette hair and crystal blue eyes. Other men might call her chunky, but to him, she was curvaceous, voluptuous, and womanly. Amy was his type, all right. And she had spunk, too.
Still, checking out a girl wasn’t in the plan for the day. And neither was dealing with her jerk of a brother.
He shouldn’t have gotten involved in the situation. But when he’d seen the brother coming down hard on Donny, he hadn’t been able to resist helping the poor guy out. He’d met Donny a couple of times before and knew he wouldn’t start any trouble. It was just that sometimes the parking lot attendants took their jobs a little too seriously. After all, why cause a ruckus when she was already parked and no more contestants or vendors were liable to show up?
He’d done his good deed for the day. Now it was time to concentrate on bull riding.
Maybe I can find her once I’m finished.
He started whistling, happy with the new plan of the day.
“We have enough time.” Seth kept walking, making a quick turnaround to glance back at Amy.
“Naw, we don’t. We’ve got to get saddled up.”
“And you can’t spare ten minutes to talk to a beautiful woman?”
Jarrod knew that old trick. Seth’s “ten minutes” usually turned into an all-nighter. “I didn’t come here to hook up with some buckle bunny.” Buckle bunny as in rodeo groupies, the girls who hung around the cowboys hoping to score one for the night. Or longer.
He kept on walking even though a part of him—a very large part of him—wanted to head straight back to her.
“She’s no buckle bunny and you know it. That, dear brother, was a Grade A-prime lady. First class all the way.”
“She was wrangling her way into the private lot like a lot of them do.” Yet he didn’t disagree. Anyone with two good eyes in their head could see she had a brain and wasn’t used to using her body to get her way. If she had, she would’ve been all over Donny convincing him to let her stay where she was without any outside help. She’d flirted, but not in the overt crass way some women did. Seth was right. The lady had class, plain as day.
“Come on, bro.”
“Like I’ve said before, if I’m going to pay hard-earned money for the chance to ride a bull and win some cash, then I’m not going to fuck it up by chasing skirts.”
They finally walked around the corner and onto the trail that led away from the parking lot and back toward the arena. Seth had given up turning around to get another glance at her. “I sure would’ve liked to talk with her more.”
Talk, my ass.
He’d like to “talk” to her more, too. Alone or with his brother. Sometimes they liked to enjoy a woman together and sometimes they didn’t. Once they found the right girl, the one they’d want to spend their lives with, then they’d share all the way. But today wasn’t the day for sniffing around any woman, no matter how enticing she was.
Still…
“Maybe later.” He and his brother were one of the best team roping duos in the country. Winning at one event, however, wouldn’t get him to the finals and a good shot at the All-Around Cowboy victory. “Until then, get your head in the game.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
He could’ve counted down the seconds, knowing Seth was bound to say something more.
Three. Two. One.
“But I’d rather get my head between her legs.”
Just like I knew he would. He couldn’t help but smile. “Come on. We’ve got money to win.”
* * * *
Oh, hell.
Amy knew she was headed in the wrong direction. The stands where visitors sat and watched the rodeo was off to the left. Yet after meeting Seth and Jarrod, she found it difficult not to follow them. Would they believe her if she said she’d gotten lost and ended up in the same place where all the cowboys and horses were? Doubtful. Then again, it might just be worth it.
Thankfully, security seemed to be lax at the rodeo. No one wore badges distinguishing contestants from spectators.
She wanted to see them ride. Or rope. Or whatever it was they did. They could’ve stood around and done nothing and she would’ve found it fascinating. And if they got on one of the huge bulls getting hauled closer to the fence, she might just pass out.
She could imagine it already. A sexy cowboy, his legs spread, his ass hard against the leather of the saddle, his hand gripping the reins. Talk about downright hot. She couldn’t think of anything that made a man look hotter than when he was sitting on top of a beautiful animal.
Unless, of course, it was a hot man holding a baby in his arms.
Holy crap. Talk about a wild thought.
Where had that come from? She’d never taken the time to consider having kids. Then, just because some cowboys looked good in their jeans, she was ready to push out baby? Not a chance. Hell, she was still raising Jesse.
Unless, of course, she fell in love and got married. Even then babies would be a few years down the line. Besides, with the way her life was going, falling in love was more than a long shot. It was an impossibility.
“Those two cowboys are ready to ride. They just announced their names.”
She snapped out of it and turned her attention to the far side of the arena. Although it was hard to see from that distance, she knew it was Seth and Jarrod Hill. They were on their horses, each of them off to the side of a chute where a small cow—or was it a steer if it had horns?—was mooing its head off. The poor thing sounded so distressed she wanted to rush over and try to calm it down. Of course, she knew better. If she did, she was liable to be the one getting roped.
Um, tied up by Seth and Jarrod. Now there’s a thought.
“Come on, let’s get in the stands. I want to get a better view of the action.”
Jesse hesitated. “And get us seen?”
Maybe he was right, but she couldn’t resist seeing Seth and Jarrod. “Don’t worry. We’ll blend in with the crowd.” She tugged him along, hurrying him toward a couple of empty places on the bleachers.
A bell pierced the air, jolting her in her seat. The gate flew open and the calf darted out. The animal ran, hard and fast, throwing up dirt, as it dashed away from the chute.
But it didn’t get very far. Jarrod and Seth, their horses pounding the dirt underneath them, raced after it.
She bit her lower lip, entranced at how sexy they looked. Her fantasies played through her mind as she watched them. They looked like they’d just stepped out of her dreams and into the real world. Hard-packed bodies moved with precision, in total control of the animals under them.
What would it be like to ride the cowboys?
Seth’s hat went flying off, but it didn’t slow him down. Within seconds, both cowboys had their lassos in the air. First Jarrod’s rope landed around the steer’s horns. Then, Seth sent his rope flying and caught the animal by the back legs. Their horses, seemingly without a command from their riders, stopped, digging in their hooves. But not for long. They backed up, pulling the rope taut. A few moments later, a whistle sounded, and then another man came running out from behind the fence and tugged off the ropes. The steer bellowed then ran toward a pen at the side of the arena.
“You can sit down now, lady.”
She glanced around and found people around her smiling at her. Feeling very conspicuous, she sat down next to Jesse. So much for blending in. “I didn’t make a scene, did I?” She scanned the people around her. If any of the gang was there, their black clothing would stick out amid the blur of denim and cowboy hats.
Jesse gave her one of his rare grins. “You don’t remember shouting your head off? It was fucking embarrassing.”
She crouched even lower. “Why didn’t you s
top me?” What if Ruben Bandura or one of his guys had seen her?
“Are you kidding? You were funny as hell.”
Seth and Jarrod were already at the gates and slapping each other on the back. Obviously they’d done well. Although she knew it was a timed event, that was about all she knew. She would’ve liked to have found out how well they did, but after making a scene, she couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone was watching her.
“Let’s get going, Jesse.”
She’d get them away from most of the crowd, but she wouldn’t go very far. The bull riding event was up next and she wanted to see it. They’d just have to do it from the sidelines and not in the bleachers where they might be seen.
* * * *
“Jarrod, you suck.”
Jarrod laughed at his good friend Mitch Wilson. He knew Mitch was just razzing him because his first bull ride had gone well. He’d ridden the full eight seconds and both judges had given him high scores. Getting good scores for not only how tough the bull was but how well he’d ridden him made his day.
“Can I help it if I’m a better bull rider than you?” He pretended to act humble, ready to razz his friend back. “And a better calf roper. And a better…” He shrugged. “Well, hell, a better everything. Including a better lover.”
“Man, you are fucking delusional. The last time a girl was in your bed, she left screaming.”
“Shit. Give it up, Mitch. I told you. She saw a damn mouse.”
“You mean she saw your cock and thought it was a mouse.” Mitch ducked. Jarrod’s lasso skimmed over his head, just barely missing getting Mitch caught in the loop.
He and Mitch had known each other for years. They’d shown up at different rodeos around the country, then had started unwinding together afterward with a cold beer in one hand and a hot girl in the other. With Seth’s encouragement, of course.
Just like Seth and him, Mitch had hopes of being one of the top fifteen money-earners in the nation. The cowboys who made it into the top fifteen earned a slot in the American Finals Rodeo. So far, neither one of them had made it to the finals, but they were both high up in the rankings this year. They had a good shot of finally making their goals come true.