by Cat Johnson
“That’s not why they made them that way.” She scowled.
“No, it’s not. But it’s pretty symbolic, don’t you think? Kind of prophetic how it worked out that way. Six feet down, three feet wide, and nothing but you and the bull inside those metal rails. Something to think about.”
Tara was quiet, and actually looked as if she was listening. Jace even thought she might have been impressed with him, which would have been a first, but then she rolled her eyes and let out a snort. “Quite the redneck philosopher, aren’t we? Come on. Let’s go. I’m done. I can leave.”
At least things seemed to have returned to normal. She was back to being insulting and demanding. Jace liked it when everything was status quo. It was comfortable that way.
“Don’t get snippy, girl. I was the one waiting on you.” He pushed off the edge of the table. He was dirty, hungry, and tired. He was something else too—riding always got him revved up for sex—but that sure as hell wasn’t happening tonight. Not with Tara as his roommate.
That was fine. A quick pass through the drive-thru, a hot shower, and a hotel bed would fix him up right. Since it seemed he was incapable of being with anyone besides Jacqueline, he was better off not satisfying his other need.
Bed would feel real good. But now that he’d be sharing a room with Tara, Jace wished he’d packed a pair of gym shorts or something to sleep in. Something that offered more coverage than his underwear in light of their surreal morning hard-on discussion earlier. That had been real fun.
Oh well. Too late now.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” Jace asked from across the hotel room.
Tara pulled sweatpants and a T-shirt out of her duffle bag and turned to see Jace watching her. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, for starters, I’m about to take a shower, and since I don’t own pajamas, when I get out, I’m going to put on a clean pair of boxer briefs, then I’m going to get under those covers. I’m not sleeping in my jeans in my own room that I paid for.” Jace took a pull on the take-out cup’s straw and looked smug, as usual.
“Jace, seriously, it’s not as if you’ve got anything I haven’t seen before.” Tara did have two brothers. And she was in the medical field. One body was just like another to her. Okay, so she wasn’t an actual doctor, but she almost had her bachelor’s degree in sports medicine. That counted.
“Yup. Females always say that, right before they start blushing and acting all weird after getting a good look at the exact part they say they’ve seen before.” One sandy colored brow rose high. “Don’t say I didn’t give you fair warning.”
Tara rolled her eyes. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll try to control my weak female self around your extreme masculinity.”
Jace grinned the smile that had won him the hearts, and other body parts, of countless buckle bunnies over the years . . . when he wasn’t sharing a room with his best friend’s little sister, of course.
The sleeping arrangements were definitely going to put a cramp in his style, which was why Tara had been so surprised he’d offered to bunk with her. She’d been grateful, yes, but shocked nonetheless. Who knew Jace had any restraint when it came to buckle bunnies? That was as surprising as discovering he had such generosity hidden away inside him. Not just about the money he was laying out for the room, either. He was selflessly giving up his privacy to help her out of a jam.
Then again, he could always go to the place of whatever bunny he picked up. That’s probably what his plan had been all along.
Fine with Tara. She’d get a free room, and have it all to herself. She could take advantage of the privacy if he did ditch her. A nice, quiet night with a long, hot shower followed by snuggling under the covers with the trashy romance novel she’d packed—that all sounded pretty good to her.
“When you’re done, I’m heading in there for a shower, so don’t dilly dally.”
“Men don’t dilly dally, as you put it, but please be my guest. You go first.”
“No, I can’t do that. You’re paying for the room. You should be able to get first dibs on the shower.”
“If I wanted first dibs, I would have taken it. Go on. That way I get to finish my shake before it gets all melty.”
He mocked her for saying dilly dally but he could say melty?
Grinning, Jace plopped his butt into the chair by the desk and kicked his legs out in front of him. He picked up his cup and sucked in a loud slurp of milk shake.
“Fine. I’ll go first.” With her sleep clothes in one hand and her toiletry bag in the other, Tara headed for the bathroom.
The arena was a dirty place. Even if she wasn’t competing in the events herself, the dirt and dust seemed to get everywhere. Ground deep into the knees of her jeans from kneeling to check on a fallen rider. In her hair and on her skin, making her feel gritty. Even her teeth had felt kind of sandy at one point during the night.
They’d have to find a Laundromat soon. She’d be out of clean clothes to wear to work before the weekend. Jace might be able to get away with riding in jeans with dirty knees, but Tara sure couldn’t work on the medical team like that.
Rid of the remnants of a few hours spent up close and personal with arena dirt, Tara emerged from the bathroom wearing her comfy sweats and a T-shirt and feeling a million percent cleaner.
“Can we look for a place to do laundry in the next town?” She scrubbed her head hard with the rough hotel room towel to get as much water out of her hair as she could. It could take forever to dry, even with the blow dryer in the bathroom.
It wasn’t until she put the towel down and it no longer obscured her vision that she realized why Jace had never answered her question about the Laundromat. He was flat on his back across the mattress sideways, fully clothed right down to his boots, which were propped one ankle on top of the other on the floor.
His eyes were closed and his slow, even breaths were deep enough to raise and lower the hands he held clasped across his belly. He was good and truly asleep.
Not sure what to do—leave him be or wake him up so he could sleep properly—Tara stood still and quiet, deciding. He wasn’t drunk, but in the past, he had probably passed out plenty of times in the exact position—dirty, dressed, and sideways. It wouldn’t hurt him to stay like that until he woke up on his own. Besides, she wasn’t the man’s momma, or even his girlfriend. It wasn’t Tara’s place to tuck him into bed.
Decision made, she tiptoed to her side of the room and slipped beneath the covers of her own bed. She’d woken early this morning and the day had been long. It was no wonder Jace had fallen asleep waiting for her to get out of the shower.
When even the cheap hotel linens seemed comfortable, Tara knew she’d soon follow his example. She’d be out like a light in no time. With that thought in mind she considered what to do about the lights. She settled on turning off the room lamp, but got out of bed and turned on the bathroom light, closing the door almost all the way so just a sliver showed through the crack in case he woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t remember where he was or needed to find the bathroom.
Feeling like a good and responsible roommate for thinking of that, she crawled back beneath the covers and rolled onto her side. Facing away from Jace and the sound of his steady breathing, she closed her eyes and felt herself begin to drift away.
A loud buzzing infiltrated her slumber. In a state between waking and sleeping, Tara knew the sound was annoying but didn’t know what it was, or what to do about it.
Movement from the other side of the room confused her until, slowly crawling toward full consciousness, she woke enough to remember Jace in the other bed.
“Hello?” His sleepy voice confirmed it, as well as what the noise had been—his cell phone vibrating.
At least it didn’t require any action on her part. Tara could stay right where she was, comfortable and warm, though she did wonder what time it was and how long she’d slept. Finding out would require rolling over to look at the clock between the beds an
d that seemed like far too much effort. She wasn’t that interested in knowing, and maybe if she closed her eyes and willed it, she’d go back to sleep.
“Jacqueline? Shit.” Jace hissed the last word so quietly Tara barely heard it. That was enough to pique her interest, and keep her from falling back to sleep.
“I’m on the road competing,” he continued softly, but Tara could still hear the annoyance in his voice.
She couldn’t decipher words, but she could hear the woman’s screeching through the cell across the room in Jace’s hand.
“No, I’m not. And I told you, I’m not doing this anymore.” Jace disconnected the call without a good-bye and slammed the phone down on the nightstand.
Tara was more than intrigued. So much so, she wasn’t even pissed about being woken up.
Okay, so she was being nosy, but it wasn’t as if she had a love life of her own to worry about. She rolled over to face Jace and reached for the light between the beds. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry for waking you up, Tara.”
“Not your fault.”
“Yeah, it is.” There were dark circles beneath his usually bright hazel eyes, and even his voice sounded weary. “Last night when we got in, I turned my phone on to check if the guy helping me out with the lawns had left a message. I must have forgotten to turn it off again.”
Because he’d passed out cold, that’s why. Tara remembered the odd conversation in the truck, his comment about keeping her phone on in case Tuck called, so he could turn his off. He was dodging Jacqueline’s calls. After being privy to one side of just a couple of them, Tara could see why.
She got a look at the clock. It was after midnight. No one called that late unless it was an emergency—or they were a crazy ex-girlfriend. No use pretending nothing was going on. “Everything all right back home?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. Go back to sleep.” He reached out and switched the light off.
She heard him get up and the bathroom door click shut. The sound of water pounding against the tile told Tara that Jace was finally getting the shower she’d hijacked from him earlier. Tomorrow, she’d let him go first so he wouldn’t fall asleep in his clothes again. She had a feeling he might not get much sleep. Not after that phone call.
Chapter Seven
Through the haze of early morning consciousness, Jace heard soft footsteps padding across the carpet, and then the bathroom door close. A few moments later, the door opened again, followed by a thud and, “Ow.”
Tara’s annoyed and pain-filled whisper had Jace smiling, even as tired as he was.
“You don’t have to creep around in the dark. I’m awake.” He reached over and turned on the lamp before she broke a toe, if she hadn’t already.
“Sorry I woke you.” Tara cringed. “I was trying to be quiet, but I had to pee. Then I stubbed my toe on the corner of the dresser.”
“It’s fine, Tara. I was already awake.” One side effect of the middle of the night conversation with Jacqueline had been a crappy night’s sleep. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Tara kicked her foot up on the edge of the mattress and inspected her big toe. She shrugged and put her foot down on the floor again. “Might lose the toenail that’s starting to turn blue, but I’ll live.”
Jace had forgotten what it was like to be around a tough female. Tara, having grown up with boys, was more tomboy than he was used to. Had Jacqueline stubbed her toe that hard, he’d be driving her to the nearest ER, or at the very least to a nail salon to have her pedicure repaired.
Tara’s stomach let out a loud rumble. Eyes opening wide, she pressed her palm against her abdomen. “Jeez, I guess I’m hungry.”
He had also forgotten what it was like to be around a woman who wasn’t afraid to eat. He’d thought twice before buying Tara that hotdog yesterday because Jacqueline would have rather died than eat something so fattening, and in public where someone might see her. The former rodeo queen was obsessed with not gaining weight. Tara didn’t have an ounce of spare flesh on her, and she could use some, but she put away food as fast as any bull rider.
He was thinking far too much about Jacqueline. The point of this trip was to stop doing that by getting away from her. Hard to do when she called and texted incessantly, but that was easily enough remedied. He’d make certain not to leave his phone on again. In fact, maybe he’d call the guy cutting the lawns for him and give him Tara’s number. Say his phone had broken and until he got a new one, any texts or calls would have to go to her number.
Of course, he’d have to tell Tara before doing that. Maybe he should accidently drop his cell in the parking lot and run it over with the truck. It was the coward’s way out, but hell, a man had to do what was needed to survive.
Jace threw back the covers and swung his legs so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. That left his boxer briefs, and what they contained, exposed and facing Tara, so he flipped the corner of the sheet back over his lap. He needed to stop at a store and pick up a pair of shorts or something because in the rush to get the hell out of Dodge, he hadn’t packed any.
When he’d snuck back into his apartment after hiding at Tuck’s and threw some things in a bag for the trip, the dead last thing he’d imagined was being roommates with Tara for three weeks. Then again, he never would have guessed that they wouldn’t have killed each other by now, either.
He glanced at the clock. “We can go out and find somewhere to eat if you want. It’s seven. Someplace should be open.”
“You sure you don’t want to sleep a little more?”
She looked wide awake, so the offer, made in her gentle doctor to patient voice, was for his benefit. It was another thing that was totally unexpected—Tara being nice to him. It wasn’t her. She was coddling him because she pitied him. The close proximity of their sharing a room meant she’d been privy to private conversations between him and Jacqueline that he’d never intended anyone to hear. Particularly not Tara.
“Stop worrying about me, okay?” He hated her pity, and that made his statement come out sounding harsher than he’d meant it to.
A frown creased her brow. “Fine. Forgive me for trying to make things easier for you.”
He was too tired from the constant battling with Jacqueline and his lack of sleep to be dealing with Tara. “Well, I don’t need you to make things easier for me, Tara. I need you to be your normal, bitchy self.”
“Bitchy. Real nice. Thanks.” She shook her head and turned away toward the suitcase.
Jace breathed out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to stop being a dick.”
He laughed. This was more like it. “All right. I’ll work on it.”
She shot him a look over her shoulder as she pulled clothes out of her bag. “Good. See that you do. And we need to find a Laundromat or a store where I can pick up another white shirt because I can’t go to work in a dirty one.”
“We can find both.”
“Thank you.” She bit out the two words, but Jace knew they were sincere.
“You’re welcome.”
It couldn’t be easy for her to have to be totally dependent upon him. For her transportation everywhere, as well as the bed she slept in. Tara was nothing if not independent. It must be killing her to accept help from him, of all people. They weren’t exactly friends. More like frenemies who put up with each other for Tuck’s sake.
They’d made a deal and they both had to live with it. Jace scrubbed both hands over his face. Time to wake the hell up and get moving. It was a day off from competition, but also the day they needed to drive to the next venue and do everything that needed doing, like shopping and laundry.
Tara glanced in his direction again. “I never knew you had all that ink.” She stared pointedly at one particular tattoo on the left side of his chest.
It was a heart, located just above his own heart. The black script letters across the red ink spelled out Jacqueline.
In hindsight, that one had been a
bad idea. He’d never regret the one beneath it—a cross with the name of a friend who’d died. Nor would he regret the bull’s horns, or the barbed wire on his bicep, or even the skull and crossbones, his first one when he wasn’t even old enough to get it. But that heart . . . Yeah. That one had to go.
“It’s time I go get another one.”
Not a new one, but a cover-up of an old one. Tattoo parlors made a good living doing cover-up tats for people with regrets. Permanently marking his body with her name hadn’t convinced Jacqueline he loved only her, or was faithful to her. He’d hoped it would, but it hadn’t. Nothing could convince her. It was something inside her he couldn’t fix, much as he’d tried.
“What would you get?” Tara asked.
“Not sure. Any ideas?” Absently, Jace rubbed the tattoo.
Tara’s gaze followed the motion. “It’ll have to be something big and kinda round.”
Crap. The damn girl was more observant than he’d given her credit for. She knew he was thinking about a cover-up for Jacqueline’s name.
She continued. “A championship belt buckle, maybe? That would be cool.”
He laughed. It was a damn good idea, except for one detail. “I’ve won my share of events, but I don’t have a real impressive championship buckle to immortalize in ink.”
It had been Tuck who had won the state championship so long ago, not Jace.
“Then you better win yourself one.” One dark brow rose high as she bundled a bunch of clothes in her arms. “I’m going to get dressed. You need the bathroom or can I go change in there?”
Boy, she didn’t beat around the bush or pull any punches, now did she? “No, you can go on in.”
With a nod, she headed into the other room, leaving Jace surprised yet again. Tara was proving easier to room with than Tuck. With Tuck, there would have been questions and judgment and advice about Jacqueline, whether Jace had asked for it or not. Not so with Tara. Whether it was because she just didn’t give a shit, or that she was giving him his privacy, he didn’t know. Either way, it was working for him so far.