“Geez, Leah, I had no idea. I’m sorry.” He reached his hand over the seat and grasped hers, squeezing.
“Thanks.” She paused for a minute, letting the warmth of Conner’s hand sink into hers. It was nice to unload on somebody without feeling as if they had an agenda. “I wasn’t trying to play on your sympathies. I just wanted you to understand how lucky you and Brady are. True friends don’t come around that often, and when they do you shouldn’t take them for granted.”
He squeezed again and then put his hand back on the steering wheel. “I won’t.” They drove for a while in companionable silence. “You know, you’re good for him.”
“I am?” She knew she sounded skeptical, but this was only a brief affair. She doubted it would change him in the long run—though she knew she wouldn’t be the same. Brady had opened her eyes to a lot of things, and she intended to make some changes when she got back home, that was for sure.
“Yeah, you are. You see, Brady’s pretty serious when it comes to bull riding. But he’s not serious about anything else, really. Sure, he loves his family and his ranch n’ all. That’s not what I’m talking about. You make him less concerned about himself and his own pleasure, and that’s a good thing. You make him more mature. I dunno what I’m trying to say here, Leah, but you’re good for him. I hope he’s good for you too.”
“He is,” she whispered, settling back in her seat. She turned to stare out the window. Was Conner right? Was she good for Brady? She’d like to think she made him a better man, but maybe that was foolish girl talk. Leah pinched the bridge of her nose to stem the oncoming headache as she considered the past days with Brady and what was still to come. Could this affair turn into something more? Did she want it to? This upcoming year was her last-ditch attempt at a championship.
Why was she letting a distraction like Brady get in the way of everything she’d worked for? She wanted to go out on top—to show everyone she still had what it took to be the best. Leah knew what people thought. She’d heard the whispers about how she should hang up her skates, but she was determined to prove them wrong. Even if it killed her, she would leave the sport on her own terms. Shaking her head, she scooted over to the window and laid her head on the glass as her overtired brain continued to swirl with questions.
They finally arrived in Tulsa after ten that evening and found an all-night diner to grab a bite. Leah didn’t eat much, over the objections of both Conner and Brady, who attempted to gang up and bully her into a big meal. Jessica tried to stand up for her, but they kept railing until she agreed to eat a little more. Between the arena fare she’d been forced into eating and all the greasy food in places on the road, she was dying for a good mesclun salad, but didn’t see one on the horizon anytime soon.
Brady, Conner and Jessica dropped her off at her hotel before taking the Airstream to the parking lot of the arena. They wanted to be close by so the guys could check in the next day with little hassle. Leah told them she’d see them later the next day after she’d had a chance to do a full-scale workout on her ankle and then she fell into bed, sleeping for nearly eleven hours straight.
When she finally awakened the next day, her head feeling clear for the first time in a while, she grabbed an egg-white omelet and coffee and then went to the fitness center at the hotel. As she worked out, paying special attention to her ankle exercises, she took time to refocus. She’d let herself get so caught up in Brady and what was happening between them she’d started to lose sight of her end goal; another Olympic gold medal. At her age, she couldn’t afford to take her eyes off the prize for what could only be a brief affair.
There were figure skaters who were ten years younger and more technically proficient, and she knew her only means of beating them was by using her artistry and her experience. The younger girls could do harder jumps and more complicated spins, but they couldn’t feel and interpret the music the way Leah could. They couldn’t tell the story to the audience as effectively as she could. They were also more easily rattled when they made a mistake, which is something Leah had learned to keep a tight control over. It was how she’d gotten her nickname, but it had served her well in competition. Ice flowed through her veins when she was competing.
She finished her workout and went back to her room to shower. After calling James again she got ready for the sponsor event later that afternoon. Brady would be there, and she hoped Conner would be too. She felt closer to him after their talk yesterday and it made traveling with the group a lot more comfortable.
Dressing in black leggings with her black cowboy boots and her favorite Versace beaded tunic, she plopped her brand-new black Stetson—a gift from Brady—on her head and took a quick look at herself in the mirror. If any of her fellow skaters saw this getup they’d never believe it. Chuckling to herself, she caught a cab to the arena and asked for directions to the sponsors’ party.
When she got to the room, her eyes swept the attendees, automatically searching for Brady. Conner waved to her from where he was standing talking to a younger man, and she made her way over to them.
Conner let out a low whistle when she got closer and she blushed. “Damn, girl, you’re lookin’ more and more like a cowgirl every day. I like it.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek and then stood back, taking her elbow and turning her toward the other man. “Leah Fitzpatrick, this is MarcoD’Allesandro. Marco’s one of the newer riders but doing very well.”
Leah held out her hand and Marco shook it. “Pleasure to meet you, miss,” he told her, giving her a not-so-subtle once-over.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Marco,” she answered, smirking. What was this guy’s deal? Tilting her head, she said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.”
“No,” Marco answered, smiling with even, white teeth. “I am just coming back from injury.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope everything is all right now.”
“Yes, I am well, thank you.” He smiled again and Leah looked at Conner and raised a brow. Conner just grinned back at her.
“Marco is from Italy,” Conner supplied, and Leah nodded. She’d recognized his accent right away, having been to Italy several times for competition or vacation.
“I love Italy,” Leah told him, and his smile turned dazzling.
“You have been to my homeland?” He picked up her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles.
“Yes, many times.”
“Leah is a professional figure skater,” Conner explained. “An Olympic gold medal winning figure skater, actually. She’s traveled all over the world.”
Marco turned to her again. “You are Olympic gold medalist?”
“A long time ago, yes.”
“Not a long time ago,” Conner argued.
“Three years. At my age in the figure skating world it might as well be forever.” Leah sighed. “Anyway, Marco, now that you’re back, I wish you a lot of success.”
“Thank you. I have learned much from watching these guys. I only hope I can be as good as they are.”
“I’m sure you will be.” She spotted Brady making his way toward them.
When he arrived he moved next to her and opposite Marco. He nodded to the man. “Marco, good to have you back. I see you’ve met Leah.” His arm snaked around Leah’s waist as he leaned in and kissed her neck right below her ear, and she stiffened. Leah glanced at Conner, who was valiantly fighting a snicker. What was going on here?
Moving away from Brady, she glared at him. “What’s up, Brady?”
“Nothing, darlin’,” he gave her a lazy grin, but she didn’t buy it for a second. Was he feeling threatened by Marco’s presence? Surely he didn’t think there was anything going on between the two of them? The idea seemed so preposterous. She’d just met Marco, but after looking at Brady again and seeing the glower on his face as he assessed the other man that was the only conclusion she could come to.
“Brady, would you come with me for a moment? I’d like to get a glass of water.” She looped her arm through
his and practically dragged him away to the bar. Once they got out of hearing distance of the other men, she hissed, “What was all that about?”
“All what?”
“That caveman act back there. Do you have a problem with Marco?”
“He irritates me.”
“Obviously, but why?”
“He puts on that whole ‘I’m from another country, I’m so exotic’, but he’s just an Italian playboy.”
“What does that matter?”
“He’s only here because he’s bored. He doesn’t care about bull riding. He just wanted something to do that’d piss his dad off.”
“But why do you care?”
“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”
Leah shook her head in confusion. “How was he looking at me?”
“Like you were his next meal,” he retorted.
“You’re imagining things.”
“I didn’t like it. I don’t trust him.”
“You don’t have to like him, but there’s nothing going on, so calm down. And I thought we were going to be discreet. You coming up to me in a roomful of people and kissing me on the neck isn’t very subtle.”
“Yeah, well, you trying to follow me into a curtained-off area of the med room isn’t real subtle either, sweetheart.”
Leah’s face flamed as she remembered the incident. “Point taken. Just back off the jealousy, all right? There’s nothing going on, so cool it.”
“Fine. Let’s just get a drink.”
They began to make their way to the bar again but were waylaid by the CEO of the tour, Aaron Jackson. “Brady! Leah! Good to see you.” He clapped Brady on the shoulder and gave Leah a warm smile. “I hear you guys have been a hit. I’m sorry I haven’t been around to help you get acclimated, Leah. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks around here. We’re bringing in a few new sponsors next year and we’re trying to get all our ducks in a row.”
“That’s all right. Everything has gone quite smoothly. David’s made my time here very comfortable.”
“Good, good,” he answered, rubbing his hands together. “Look, you two, I wanted to approach you about something.” He turned to Leah. “Would you be willing to be part of the opening ceremonies today? They’re being televised since this is one of our larger events.”
“Um, sure,” Leah answered. “What would you like me to do?”
Aaron waved a hand around. “Oh, just stand there next to Brady. We’ll do the rest.”
“All right.” She wasn’t crazy about having so few details about what was expected of her, but what could she do?
“Great! I’ll have someone come and collect both of you when we’re ready to go.” With that, he moved off through the crowd.
Brady watched him go. “That man never stops moving. He makes me nervous.”
“So what usually happens during these opening ceremonies?”
He ordered her a bottle of water and then turned to her, shrugging. “There’s that stage in the middle of the arena, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So I go and stand there. Sometimes there are other riders, sometimes not. They play music, I try to look intimidating, the announcer talks, that’s about it. Usually takes about ten minutes, start to finish. No biggie, really.” They made their way back through the crowd, stopping to chat with different sponsors and other VIPs along the way. By the time they reached Conner again Marco was nowhere to be seen.
They chatted for a little while, but were interrupted shortly thereafter by an aide from the tour telling her and Brady they were needed for the opening ceremonies. They said their goodbyes and followed the perky young aide to the stage, where she began to move them into position.
“Okay, Brady, you’re an old pro at this. Just do what you usually do—the crossed arms, hat-down-over-your-eyes thing. Leah, if you could stand with your back to Brady’s and also cross your arms. Hey, you’re wearing a black Stetson too. That’s perfect!” She stood back to regard the two of them once she’d moved them to her satisfaction. “Oh, that looks awesome. Okay, we’ll be starting in about two or three minutes. You can relax for now. We’ll give you a countdown to live.”
They waited for the signal and got back into position when it came a few moments later. Over the loudspeakers Leah heard, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the National Bull Riders Tour.” The music started and the announcer got on the PA system. “Are you ready to see some world-champion bull ridin’?” The crowd screamed and clapped and Leah felt a little chill creep up her spine. She recognized it as the adrenaline that coursed through her before she competed, and she welcomed it.
Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last long as the announcer continued. “Tonight we have a special guest in the house. In addition to the reigning ‘Rodeo King’, Brady Parrish, we’re pleased to introduce ‘Ice Queen’, Leah Fitzpatrick, Olympic gold medal winning, World and United States National Champion figure skater.” As soon as she heard the nickname used yet again she blew out a loud breath.
The crowd clapped and she felt Brady turn a little toward her. “Ignore it,” he said out of the side of his mouth. “It’ll be over soon enough.” She knew she had no one to blame but herself for the nickname—she’d knowingly cultivated it, but that had been when she’d been younger. Now having it shoved in her face all the time was really getting on her nerves. She could deal with it when she was on her own turf, it was just part of who she was, but she felt like a different person out here. Being constantly reminded of how people in the figure skating world saw her was a real downer.
Thankfully the opening ceremony ended shortly thereafter and she was able to relax since she was done with her duties until later on. Conner and Brady weren’t riding for a couple of hours, so they all went back to the Airstream and sat around until the boys had to leave again to prepare their equipment. Leah went to the area on the concourse where she’d be signing autographs and was heartened when there was a huge line and no one mentioned her nickname. Later, she and Jessica made their way to the friends and family seating area, where Leah used the ticket Brady had given her. She’d taken to using his rather than even checking to see if the NBT had left her one.
When they were settled Jessica turned to her. “So, how are things going with Brady?”
“Fine.” Leah liked her a lot but wasn’t sure how much she should say. She wasn’t used to having girlfriends she could gab to. How much information was Jessica looking for?
“He really likes you, you know. I haven’t known him too long, but Conner has, and he says he’s never seen Brady like this. Crap, I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”
Leah let out a nervous chuckle. “I won’t tell.”
“But seriously, I hope you guys are planning to keep seeing each other once the tour is over. It would be a shame to just turn your backs on each other. I would know. I tried to do that when the tour fired me, but Conner wouldn’t let me. He chased me most of the way across Texas, in fact.” Jessica smiled, her gaze unfocused as she no doubt recollected that time, and Leah couldn’t stop the twinge of jealousy that rooted itself in her gut. “Anyway, you can make it work if you want it bad enough. I don’t travel with the guys all the time. It’s too expensive since I’m not working right now. But Conner and I manage. It’s all about compromise.”
“Compromise,” Leah murmured. She hadn’t had to do much of that in her life recently. Did she want to now? What would that mean for her career?
As Conner’s turn came, both women refocused on the event. Conner rode his bull, the centrifugal force throwing him around on the animal’s back, but he stayed on, getting a score of eighty-seven, and shortly thereafter it was Brady’s turn. He struggled a little bit and got jostled as the bull went welly—turning in fast, tight circles and leaning into the dirt, but he too just barely managed to stay on. His bull had a higher ranking than Conner’s, so despite his technical problems he scored an eighty-eight point five.
The competition, including the draft for
the bulls for the final night of the competition, was over by nine that evening, and the four of them headed out to eat. Conner and Jessica decided to go out to a bar with some of the other riders, but Leah and Brady went back to Leah’s hotel room. She’d decided after thinking over what Jessica had said that even though she wanted to concentrate on her skating once the tour was over, there was no reason she couldn’t enjoy Brady while she was here, be a little crazy. Leah intended to enjoy herself, since she knew as soon as she got back home it would be all business.
Chapter Ten
In the cab, Brady turned to her. “I can’t wait to get you back to the room. I’ve been thinking about you all day. I want you so freaking bad.” He paused and let out a loud breath. “Has anyone ever had your ass before?”
“No,” she stammered, her gaze darting to the front of the cab. The driver was listening to some sort of god-awful country tune on the radio and totally ignoring them, thankfully.
He bit off a curse. “Let me have it. Let me be the first,” he demanded through a locked jaw. Her chest rose and fell with harsh breaths. She nodded, finding herself unable to say no to this man who had so much power over her. All she knew was that she’d do anything he wanted right now, even things she never would’ve considered. What did that say about her?
A little while later in her hotel room, Brady sucked her breast into his mouth, pressing it between his tongue and the roof of his mouth. Her breath came in deep, uneven surges as she writhed like a cat. “I want you, Leah. All of you. Will you let me?”
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