He held up his hands. “Whoa, you really aren’t a morning person, are you?”
“No.”
“Well, then, I apologize. Can we still take a cab together if I promise to be a good boy?”
Leah sighed. It was amazing how in turns she wanted to throttle him and kiss him. “Let’s get this circus underway.”
“Show me the clown makeup.” He grinned at her and she couldn’t help but laugh.
Once at the TV studio they were ushered into makeup chairs. Leah watched as Brady patiently sat while a petite woman with far too much energy for this time of day bustled around him, applying pancake makeup and arranging his hair just so. He was far quieter than yesterday and she guessed it was in deference to her foul mood. She sat sipping her coffee, feeling the caffeine mercifully starting to take effect, while her makeup was done and her hair styled. Her preparations took longer than Brady’s, and he began to pace the room like a caged tiger.
“Why don’t you have someone show you where the green room is? You can grab another cup of coffee, maybe a doughnut,” she suggested.
Brady made a face. “I don’t eat that kind of stuff unless I have to. I eat enough crap at the arenas as it is ’cuz there’s nothing else available. Despite what you no doubt think, what I do for a living is a sport and I need to keep myself in good shape.”
“That’s obvious,” she mumbled.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing,” she replied, her face flaming. She hoped the heavy layers of makeup would hide the redness from him.
He feigned surprise, one hand on his chest and the other over his mouth.
Pity covering up that mouth…
“Did I hear you just make a comment about my body?”
“No! Of course not,” she told him, knowing her backpedaling wasn’t doing any good. “Why would I say something so crass?”
Brady smirked. “Because you liked what you saw yesterday?”
She took a gulp of her coffee, but began to choke when it went down the wrong way. Coughing and sputtering, she bent at the waist, her hand thumping her chest. Brady was instantly at her side, rubbing her back.
“Sugar? Are you all right? Can I do anything?”
Leah shook her head. “Down wrong,” she managed to gasp out.
“Ah.” He continued to rub her back, his hand warm and strong. Soon the gasping and wheezing abated, but she was loath to sit up. It felt too good to have an excuse for him to touch her.
She straightened through sheer force of will and glanced at him in the mirror. “I’m fine now, thanks.” She ran a tissue lightly underneath her eyes to remove the moisture that had built up from her coughing fit. “Ready? We can wait in the green room until they call us.” Not waiting for a reply, she rose from the chair and left the room. A production assistant pointed them in the right direction along the way.
Brady sat and watched television while she flipped through a magazine. A short time later they were called to the set and microphones were attached to their clothing. After being introduced to the two hosts, they sat down and waited for the commercial break and subsequent news segment to end.
The floor director gave Melanie, one of the hosts, the countdown, and she began to speak. “We’re joined by Olympic Gold Medalist Leah Fitzpatrick and top-ranked professional bull rider Brady Parrish. Yes, you heard that right, a figure skater and a bull rider. Let’s find out what they’re doing together.” She turned to Leah and said, “So, tell us about how you two got hooked up.”
Leah wondered why everything Melanie had said made it sound as if she and Brady were a couple. Was that on purpose? Maybe to play off the sexy photos from yesterday? Well, two could play that game. Pasting on her best public persona smile, Leah began, “It’s simple, really. Nelson Motors is a sponsor of both the US Figure Skating Association and the National Bull Riding Tour. The CEO of Nelson Motors, David Nelson, approached both of us and asked if we’d consider doing a promotional tour to let the folks in each sport learn a little about the other. After all, who wouldn’t want to learn more about a sport that boasts good-looking guys like Brady taking on those big, powerful beasts?”
She reached over, grasped Brady’s biceps and squeezed, throwing him a wink and barely holding back a giggle when his mouth fell open and a blush crept up his face. She was happy to see she’d shocked him. Clearly he hadn’t expected this reaction from her. Of course, she’d been in this game a long time and knew David would love it too.
Melanie tittered and turned to her co-host. “Who, indeed?”
Evan, the male host, smiled indulgently and addressed Brady. “So what’s your part in all this?”
Brady cleared his throat. “I get to escort this lovely lady on my tour for the next couple of weeks, show her off to my fans, and tell ’em all about what a great sport figure skating is.”
“But really, Brady, have you ever even watched figure skating?” Evan scoffed.
Brady’s eyes turned stormy so fast even Leah jumped away a bit. “Of course I’ve watched figure skating. It’s a beautiful sport, and it’s every bit a sport. If you think it’s easy to get that kinda air for those jumps, much less land them on ice with those itty-bitty blades, you’re outta your mind. It takes a tremendous amount of strength, determination and skill. Anyone who laughs at figure skating, who thinks it’s a sissy sport, just isn’t giving it a chance.” Leah noticed his accent was thicker when he was angry and idly wondered when else it was thicker. She felt her face flame again. Why couldn’t she better control her reactions to this man?
Melanie cut in then. “Well said, Brady. We need to take a break. We’ll be right back with Leah Fitzpatrick and Brady Parrish, who are here to talk about their respective sports, figure skating and bull riding.”
When the camera clicked off, Brady sighed. “I apologize for my outburst, Evan. It’s just…it makes me mad when people assume stuff about other people.” Leah was still too shocked to say a word. But as Evan and Melanie conferred with the producer, Brady reached over and squeezed her knee. “Hey,” he whispered.
She blinked up at him. “Hey.”
“You all right?”
“Fine…”
“You sure? You need some water? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something, sweetheart.”
“No, I’m good, really.” She studied him for a moment and he let her look her fill. “Thank you for what you said. No doubt people will think it was only because Nelson Motors is paying you to.” She laughed. “That probably is why you said it, but thank you nonetheless. That might be one thing we have in common. People laugh at what both of us do for a living. It’s really hard sometimes, isn’t it?”
Maybe I should give bull riding more respect than I have…
Brady shrugged. “I just let it roll off my back for the most part. But I couldn’t let him make fun of you.”
Leah cocked her head, looking at him with narrowed eyes. “Why do you care if he makes fun of me?”
“Because you’re not a morning person and I didn’t want to see you go over the table and rip out his jugular,” he joked, but refused to meet her eyes. “The commercial’s almost over.”
“We’re back with Leah Fitzpatrick, Olympic gold medal winning figure skater, and Brady Parrish, top-ranked professional bull rider. When we went to break you were saying, Brady, that Leah would be going on tour with you?”
“Yep, she sure is.”
“And what will you be doing on tour, Leah?”
Leah smiled. “I’ll have the easy job, I assure you. While Brady is battling the bulls, I’ll be signing autographs, taking pictures, that sort of thing. And, of course, I’ll be watching the events. It sounds exciting. Scary, but exciting.”
“Well, here’s hoping Brady has good luck with the bulls and you have fun on tour,” Evan replied. The camera cut out to another part of the studio, and Leah and Brady stood.
“Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak today,” Leah told them, shaking their hands before turning to th
e producer. “We really appreciate it.”
Brady did the same and then they made their way out of the studios and into yet another cab, this time bound for the radio and television conglomerate where they’d be doing interviews for the rest of the morning.
By the time noon arrived, Leah was already exhausted. She’d forgotten how tiring these media days could be. Brady didn’t look much better. They both ate their takeout sandwiches in silence before taping segments for a bunch of television affiliates. After what seemed like an eternity they were done and headed back to the hotel.
“I can’t wait for a nap,” Leah declared, groaning as she pressed her fingers into her aching neck muscles.
“That actually sounds real good. I don’t usually sleep during the day unless we’re traveling, but I’m bushed. Wanna grab some dinner later?” When Leah paused to consider her answer he added, “Please? I hate eating alone.” He gave her a lost puppy-dog look which didn’t fool her for a second, but she agreed. “Great. I’ll make reservations for seven. See you in a few.”
Ducking into her own room, she collapsed on the bed and was asleep within seconds.
* * * * *
Brady called down to the concierge as soon as he got back to his room. He didn’t want to eat in the hotel restaurant—he wanted something a little special. As he waited for the phone to ring he smiled to himself. Leah would shit bricks when she saw him in a suit tonight. He hadn’t been sure what he would need on this little field trip, so he’d brought some of everything. It might not be a fancy designer suit, but he’d had it custom-made. He’d had to, since most off-the-rack suits didn’t fit the shoulders or thighs of his muscular frame.
When the concierge answered they spoke for a few minutes. Brady didn’t want to get stuck in some place where he had to remember a million rules about which fork to use when, but he did want to show Leah he could be as civilized as the next guy. He wasn’t sure why he cared what she thought, and didn’t choose to examine it too closely. After picking a nice steakhouse, which the concierge assured him had a varied menu just in case Leah wasn’t a fan of red meat, he hung up and flopped onto the bed. He’d intended on taking a nap, but decided to call Conner first.
“Hey, buddy, how’s the big city?” Conner asked.
“Same as it was when we were here with the tour a few months ago. What’s up with you? You and Jess get the rig to Wichita okay?”
“Of course we did. It wasn’t exactly my first time driving this thing.”
“I know.”
“So quit worrying. Tell me about the woman. Is she a bitch? We looked her up on Jess’ phone. Nice nickname.”
“No, actually, she’s not. I dunno what she is, but she’s not a bitch.”
“Frigid, like her nickname?” Conner laughed and for some reason his comment rubbed Brady the wrong way.
“Cut it out, man. You don’t even know her. And that’s the thing. I don’t think she’s cold at all. I think it’s an act.”
Conner let out a low whistle. “I’ll be damned.”
“What?” Brady asked with a growl.
“You like her.”
“I don’t like her, I just know we gotta deal with her and I don’t want things to be uncomfortable.”
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, man. She may be ‘The Ice Queen’, but you still wanna tap that. Hey, she’s beautiful, I get it.”
Brady felt another growl trying to work free and knew it would only give Conner more ammunition, so he tamped down his annoyance. “Look, just don’t be a dick when you meet her, okay? I think she’s going through some stuff right now and having a hard time dealing with it. She doesn’t need pricks like you making things worse.” When all he heard was silence on the other end of the line, he swore. “Look, I’m sorry, man. I know you treat women right. You’ve been great with Jessica and I had no right to say what I did.”
“It’s no big deal. I knew you didn’t mean anything by it, but I will say this. Be careful. She’ll eat you alive, man. Anyway, just don’t do anything you’ll regret later.”
Brady sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Thanks. And thanks for being straight with me. I needed someone to kick me in the ass.”
“You always do,” Conner retorted, laughing.
He hung up and Brady sat back against the pillows. Maybe a little wining and dining would melt the “Ice Queen”. He smiled a little just thinking about it.
Chapter Three
After waking from her nap feeling refreshed, Leah called James to update him on the day’s events. Even though she was an old pro at doing press tours James still liked to hear from her after each day was over. He’d always been a worrier, which was secretly kind of nice considering he was the only person who worried about her at all.
“Hello?”
“Hi, James, it’s me.”
“How did it go? How was the cowboy?” Leah could hear the amusement in James’ voice and had to laugh.
“Actually, he’s really nice. He seems to be making a concentrated effort to make me feel comfortable with this whole thing.”
“I saw you guys on the morning show. You killed it, naturally, but what was up with him?”
“Oh, you mean getting mad at Evan?”
“Yeah, what was that about? Do you think he actually has watched figure skating?”
“I’m not sure why he reacted like that…” Leah said with a note of hesitation. Sometimes maintaining professional distance with James was difficult since in a lot of ways he was the closest thing she had to a friend and she found herself wanting to confide in him.
“I thought Brady was going to punch him for a minute there. Imagine the ratings.” James laughed and Leah joined in, though the sound was forced. She hated to admit to James that she was so confused about Brady. James would just tell her what she already knew. It was a colossally bad idea to get involved with a cowboy she’d be saying goodbye to in a few short weeks.
“Anyway,” she continued, deciding an immediate change of subject was in order, “everything went fine. We’ve got those other interviews tomorrow and then we’ll be hopping on the plane to the bustling metropolis of Pueblo, Colorado.”
James snickered. “Have fun. Let me know when you land.”
“Will do.”
After hanging up and throwing her phone on the bed, she dressed in a simple black, long-sleeved jersey sheath with a silver belt and matching ballet flats. She felt a little frumpy not wearing a heel, but had to be careful about tottering around on stilettos with her ankle injury. She doubted Brady would notice or care. A trip down to the hotel restaurant wasn’t worth getting excited about anyway. Even as she told herself that, her heart skipped a beat as she thought about the prospect of spending the evening with Brady. She hadn’t anticipated a night out with a man this much in, well, longer than she cared to remember. And it wasn’t even like they were going on a date—more like a business dinner. Despite that, she couldn’t calm the butterflies in her stomach, and she jumped a foot when the knock came at her door.
Opening it, she gasped. There, on the other side, looking like pure sin, stood Brady in an exquisitely tailored, black two-button suit with a red shirt underneath open at the collar. “Surprised?” he asked, one side of his mouth kicking up in a sardonic smile.
“I…just…wow. You look—”
“Devilishly handsome?” he finished, leaning on the doorframe.
“Devilishly something…”
He laughed. “You about ready?”
Leah looked down at herself and felt underdressed, which was definitely an odd sensation for her, especially where she and Brady were concerned. “Why don’t you come in? I was just, um, putting on some jewelry.”
Brady smirked and stepped into her room. She couldn’t believe how small the space felt with his male presence overwhelming it. Backing away, she turned and went to the hotel safe. Extracting a diamond solitaire necklace and matching earrings, she stood. “Here, let me do that,” he told her.
She hel
d up her hair as he reached around her neck. Her necklace looked so incongruous sheltered in his big, rough hands. He fastened the clasp and then followed the line of the necklace back down her neck, where he let his hands rest on her shoulders. Leah’s breathing sped up and her nipples beaded as his fingers inched closer to them. He stopped before he reached her breasts, though, choosing instead to pull her back into his hard chest. A soft whimper escaped her as her bottom came in contact with the very definite evidence of his arousal. Pushing it against her, he let out a low groan.
He spoke, his breath fanning over her ear. “You look breathtaking tonight. I’ve definitely worked up an appetite, but not for food. My mama raised me to be a gentleman, though, and I promised you dinner.” Backing away, he reached for her coat as she tried to get her wildly erratic pulse under control. It wouldn’t do to faint at his feet.
As she put on her earrings, she asked, “Why do I need a coat?”
“Because it’s cold outside.”
“I know that. But aren’t we just going to the hotel restaurant?”
“Nope.” He helped her into her coat and held out his arm. “Shall we?”
“Don’t you have a coat?”
“Not with me. At least, not one that goes with this suit.” He smiled. “It’s a short cab ride. I’ll be fine. If I get cold, though, will you warm me up?”
Not rising to the occasion and answering him, Leah half-turned and looked at him from underneath her lashes. She could see the pulse at the base of his neck beating in a staccato and had to restrain herself from reaching up and touching it. If she did, though, she’d be making the biggest mistake of her life. Brady wasn’t for her, and she wasn’t for Brady. No matter how attracted they were to each other, it would never work. Their worlds were simply too far apart.
She slipped her hand through his arm and he led her out of the room. When they reached the lobby he gently steered her toward the exit. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” He stepped up to the valet, who hailed a cab. Once they were inside he leaned forward and spoke in low tones to the driver, then sat back.
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