Bucking The Odds (Dancing Moon Ranch Book 9)

by Patricia Watters

  "Then I suppose you want to turn the power off now?" Billy asked.

  Jeremy shook his head. "Before I do that I'll attach the new circuit box and string up the new wire and connect it to the breakers, so when we cut the power, all I'll have to do is hook up the main line, which shouldn't take more than a few minutes. The rest of the week I'll be jacking up the front porch and squaring it away with concrete blocks and pressure treated posts. I brought along the jacks and materials to get the job done."

  Billy eyed him like she was confused, or maybe concerned, and said, in a guarded tone, "Why are you doing all this? It's taking a lot of your time, and I don't charge that much for bulls on buckout night?"

  Jeremy smiled, which was easy to do when looking at the woman because she had an innocent look about her, but she could also hit him with a hell of an attitude when she wanted. But for the moment, she just looked sweet and pretty and a little dusty. "I'm doing it because you need it done and I can do it," he said. "I'm also prepared to strip off the old roof on the porch and reroof it. We don't get the snow you did in South Dakota, but we do get snow, and about six inches on that old roof would be the max."

  Billy looked over at the roof, sighed heavily, and said, "I've been worried about that because I really was planning on closing the porch in since there's no place for boots and cold weather gear inside the house, but I knew the porch had to be leveled and squared first. If you can jack it up and fix the roof, I can close it in as soon as the rest of the boxes are delivered. I'm still missing the ones with my power tools."

  Jeremy scanned her small frame and saw the determination on her face and knew she was up to the job of closing in a porch, but her comment triggered something she'd told him earlier, that had him saying, "I thought you said the boxes were here but inaccessible."

  She batted her eyelids several times, and took a few moments before saying, "Some boxes went missing when the movers unloaded things. The power tools are in the missing boxes."

  "Have you filed a claim?" he asked.

  "Well… I… umm… called the movers and they said they were tracking the boxes and would deliver them as soon as they were located," Billy replied.

  Something about the explanation didn't ring true. Maybe the hesitations, like she was searching for words. "Who were your movers?" he asked.

  Again she batted her eyelids, and after a moment, she replied, "They were a small moving company in South Dakota. They didn't seem very organized when they came for our stuff, but they were cheap and I figured they knew what they were doing. If the boxes don't arrive in the next couple of weeks I'll file a claim."

  Jeremy had a slew of other questions to ask, but decided to put them off for another time, maybe after he'd gained a little trust, in case she was in trouble, then he'd take it from there. "Good luck with the boxes then. I'll get going on the wiring, and maybe in a couple of hours we can buck a few young bulls with the dummy."

  There was the sweet smile again, like she was truly pleased. He could get used to that smile. It was energizing, and it made him want to do other things to please her.

  …the next thing you know you'll be bringing her home to Mama…

  He wasn't ready to bring anyone home to Mama, so Josh's spouting off was just that.

  But Billy Bree Fitzsimmons was occupying a lot of space in his mind of late. In fact, she was becoming a distraction. He'd even passed up signing a year-long lease on an apartment closer to Burns in favor of renting one of the guest cabins on the ranch for the winter, now that the guest season was winding down, and Matt and Ruth were fine with that.

  The problem was, he found himself concocting reasons to stop by Billy's place, since he passed it on his way to and from work each day, and although he didn't mention it when he talked about jacking up the porch, he had in the bed of his truck several bundles of asphalt shingles, a roll of building paper, and enough sheets of exterior plywood to re-roof the porch and keep him stopping by every day for at least a couple of weeks.

  The way he justified the expenses was, if he were taking Billy out to dinner once or twice a week, and buying tickets for some kind of event in Burns, along with the cost of gas, he was still coming out ahead with the building materials, and she wouldn't view it as dating, which she'd probably turn down if he asked.

  "Maybe you could help me work Wild Card today," Billy said.

  Jeremy couldn't help the wide grin. "I'll have to see if Josh can come."

  "I'm talking about with the dummy," Billy pointed out. "I have a 45-pounder that I use on the older bulls. Wild Card's bucking in the Pendleton Roundup next weekend and I want to make sure he's ready."

  "He'll be ready faster if he's worked with a live rider on him," Jeremy reminded her. When he caught Billy's glare, he added, "Okay, we'll do the dummy."

  He glanced toward the bull pen where Wild Card was standing quietly with the other bulls, and decided there were actually two plusses in working with the dummy. First, he'd be working closely with Billy, maybe close enough for a little body contact. And second, by watching, he'd get an idea how Wild Card comes out of the chute and which direction he turns, and how quickly he turns back and goes into a spin. He'd also be able to note if there was a set direction that he turned before going into a spin. When he rode him before he'd been so blindsided by his rankness that all he'd been trying to do was stay on. Maybe this would give him another chance, since he and Josh would be heading to Pendleton too. It was a major rodeo, with pros coming from all over the world, and he needed a high score, which he'd get if he bucked the odds and drew Wild Card and completed the ride.

  "Are you going to Pendleton?" Billy asked.

  Jeremy nodded. "Both Josh and I will be there on Friday for the short round and we plan to stay overnight for the finals. What day are you scheduled to buck Wild Card?"

  "Saturday," Billy replied, "but I plan to arrive the day before so he's settled and not stressed out the day he bucks."

  Jeremy glanced toward Billy's old Ford truck, which was parked beside her stock trailer, and said, "You want me to help with the hauling. That truck of yours doesn't look too dependable."

  Billy also looked toward the truck. "Thanks," she replied, "but I put my canopy on the back and I have a mattress to sleep on so I need my truck."

  "My truck has a camper," Jeremy said. "You'd be a lot more comfortable in it."

  Billy's eyes flared. "I told you I'm not a buckle bunny, so you can keep your rig and your bunny warren, and I'll take my truck," she clipped.

  "Simmer down," Jeremy said. "Josh is going too so I'd stay with him. You'd have my camper all to yourself."

  "Won't Josh's wife be going?" Billy asked.

  Jeremy shook his head. "Genie has to work that day so Josh is coming alone."

  Billy eyed him with uncertainty, which she had a right to do. It wasn't as if he'd never had bunnies crawling into his sack after a rodeo. But now, the idea of Billy sleeping in his bed, even if he wouldn't be in it, was oddly arousing. Bedding down with one buckle bunny wasn't much different than bedding down with any of them. They got the job done in interesting ways. But with Billy… He couldn't begin to imagine how it would be…

  I worked hard to get every one of my callouses, and since I'm not into holding hands with anyone, I figure I've earned the right to keep them...

  That too was oddly arousing. There could be something to the feel of hands on his body that had some substance to them instead of ones that drifted over him like a cloud—floating and flowing by, but too soft to feel. And long curved bunny fingernails always made him nervous, worrying that if the woman got overly excited during the foreplay, she could do some serious damage where it mattered.

  He found himself staring at Billy's hands, which were clamped together against her chest. Her fingernails were neatly trimmed, and her hands looked strong, like she could have a good grip. He wasn't sure if that was a plus or a minus, but he was willing to find out...

  "Why are you staring at my hands?" Billy asked.
<
br />   Raising his eyes to hers, Jeremy replied, "I was just thinking that they look strong."

  "They are," Billy said. "I have a couple of putty balls I play around with at night. I like squeezing them and they keep my hands strong."

  Oh man. Jeremy was getting all kinds of images from that. If a bunny made that comment he'd have a quick comeback about hands playing around with balls, but Billy meant exactly what she'd said. Untangling one of her hands from the other, he said, "Squeeze my hand. I want to see how strong you are." He really didn't care how strong she was, but any physical contact with this woman was better than none.

  "Okay, here goes."

  Jeremy clamped his jaws some. It was no surprise that she had an amazingly strong grip, which had him thinking he'd better focus on other things than the damage that grip could do during foreplay. "Yeah, I guess you have the strength to manage bulls," he said, though that didn't get his mind away from the obvious. Now, he could imagine that strong little body of hers being as agile as a small Mexican bull, and even more exciting to ride.

  Billy released her grip, and said, "I can actually squeeze a lot harder than that, but I didn't want to hurt you."

  Jeremy smiled, and replied with irony, "I appreciate that."

  She looked up at him and smiled back, and for the first time since he'd met her, he got the impression she was flirting in her own, un-flirtatious way. A short, candid smile that reflected in her big, hazel eyes… Or were they mossy-gray?

  He held her gaze for the stretch of several heartbeats, and as he did, it came to him that the color of her eyes were also like the color of Marc's eyes. Changeable. When he'd first met her they were hazel, but now they looked more gray than green, like Marc's had a tendency to be in certain light. No, not like Marc's, he suddenly realized. Like Bill's. Which explained everything, and nothing. The man was Billy's father, which was why he lived with her, yet wasn't really a ranch hand. That was the everything it explained. The nothing was, why the falsehood? There seemed no logical reason.

  He was tempted to ask if Bill was in fact her father, and if so, why was she holding him out to be a someone she'd taken in, but he knew he wouldn't get a truthful answer. If she didn't start volunteering things on her own about what was going on, in two weeks, when he and Josh would be in Nevada for the rodeo, they'd talk to the breeder who sold her Wild Card, and maybe they'd get some answers.

  "So what about Pendleton?" he asked. "You want me to haul Wild Card with my rig?"

  Billy glanced over at his truck, then at hers, and said, "I don't know. Maybe."

  Which wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either, Jeremy decided. But if he could pull it off, driving for several hours with Billy in the cab of his truck would give him a chance to worm a little way into her heart so maybe by the return trip she'd be sitting next to him, and who knows where it would go from there. He could imagine a whole range of possibilities…

  ***

  Billy eyed Jeremy as he fastened the electronic dummy around Wild Card, who was standing still in the chute as he always did when being handled, but the moment she'd tighten the flank strap and the gate opened, he'd go into action. She wasn't concerned that Jeremy would have a chance to study Wild Card's moves because Wild Card never bucked the same way twice. The only other bull she knew of like that was Bushwhacker, and he bucked exclusively in the championship round of the sport's most elite circuit, earning $1000 a ride for the best cowboys in the world to try to ride him.

  She also knew that Jeremy was one of only a few bull riders who could possibly ride Wild Card. She'd been shocked at how long he'd stayed on, especially since he'd been offset by Wild Card's rankness, assuming he was a flat bull. Before Crane Butte, no one had seen Wild Card in action because Jeremy had been the first live rider on him, but after that ride, the longest a rider had stayed on was less than two seconds, and those six cowboys had been pro riders.

  She was curious to know how Jeremy would do if he rode Wild Card again and would be prepared for a tough ride. Curious, but not willing to find out. She didn't think. But she wasn't sure she'd stick by her resolve to keep him off Wild Card. The man had some kind of hold on her, though not the kind that put her life on the line, but he was threatening in other ways.

  He'd spent the better part of the afternoon wiring the barn and finishing the chute gates, and during that time he smiled at her, and chatted with her, and made her heart flutter and her stomach churn in a school-girl way, and in that short amount of time she was already getting used to having him around and liking it. That was the threatening part.

  She'd also noticed him looking at her a lot, but not the way he had the first time he approached her, when he thought she was a champion-bull-rider groupie. Now he looked at her like she mattered to him, except for those times when he was puzzled about something she'd said that hadn't come across in a logical way...

  "You'd better tighten that flank strap," Jeremy said, when she found her mind wandering.

  "Okay. Here goes." Billy gave a little tug on the strap, Jeremy opened the chute door, and Wild Card bailed out of the chute and went into action. Holding the electronic remote, she watched for several seconds while Wild Card spun and kicked, and the moment he reversed directions and threw his hind legs up almost vertically, she hit the remote, releasing the dummy and flank strap, and Wild Card settled into a trot. She was a little amused how like his sire he was, strutting around the arena and looking off at the empty bleachers, like he was expecting a crowd to cheer him on before heading for the exit, the way Little Yellow Jacket always had...

  "You want to work the Mexican bull now?" Jeremy asked.

  Billy turned and saw Vortex looking their way, like it was his turn, and said, "Sure. He acts like he's ready to go."

  Jeremy shut the gate and Billy urged Vortex into the chute. But with him, strapping on the dummy was an issue. Jeremy, seeing Vortex acting up, said to her, "I'll strap on the box and flank strap, and you can man the gate and hit the remote from out here when the time's right?"

  Billy was fine with that. She hadn't had Vortex long enough to gentle him, if that was even possible at this point, nor did she have the strength to handle him if he started seriously acting up, one of the reasons she hadn't been working him with the dummy. Having Jeremy step in was like a gift from Heaven, maybe in more ways than one.

  After a series of bucks and head butting inside the chute, Vortex settled down enough for Jeremy to strap everything on, while Billy took her position at the gate, ready to punch the remote when Vortex performed well.

  "He's ready," Jeremy called out.

  Billy opened the gate and Vortex shot into the arena and immediately pivoted back and went into a spin, then reversed the spin, and after a few seconds, when he kicked especially high while in the middle of a fast spin, she hit the remote. But unlike Wild Card, who did his victory strut around the arena before heading for the exit, Vortex stopped short, eyed her with malicious intent, pawed the dirt and lowered his head. Jeremy immediately jumped into the arena and rushed in front of her and waved his arms, and Vortex, instead of taking on the challenge, turned and headed for the exit.

  "Thanks," Billy said. "I didn't like the look in his eyes."

  "Neither did I," Jeremy replied. "Next time we need Bill here to help man the gate." He placed his hand behind Billy's neck and gave it a little squeeze.

  After they'd bucked all of the older bulls, Billy said to Jeremy, who was closing the gate, "That's enough for today. I can work the younger bulls with Bill's help."

  Jeremy walked over to the bucking chute, and looking up at Billy, who was sitting on the top rail, said to her, "How about you come down from there so I can talk to you face to face?"

  Billy couldn't decide if it was a come-on or not. She'd worked around so many men she was somewhat of an authority on recognizing come-ons, but she didn't get that impression now. Climbing down, she faced Jeremy squarely, and said, "What did you want to talk about?"

  "Pendleton." Jeremy held her gaz
e, while saying, "The one thing you're not is a buckle bunny, and the one thing I'm not is a virgin, but what I can tell you straight on is that I'm an honest man, and if I tell you you'll have my camper to yourself, that's exactly what I mean."

  Billy looked into a pair of dark brown eyes that were about as candid as eyes could be, and saw a face she couldn't seem to set aside when Jeremy was gone, and found herself saying, "Maybe I could use some help. My truck's been missing some."

  "It probably needs a tune-up," Jeremy said. "I'll take care of it next week some time."

  Billy noticed that his gaze had dropped, not to her chest like before, but to her mouth, and it was some moments before she realized she'd caught her bottom lip between her teeth, like she had a tendency to do when she was nervous. He started to move closer, and she raised her chin because she was certain he was about to kiss her, and she found herself wanting to kiss him back, in spite of all the warning bells ringing loud and clear in her head that she was moving into dangerous territory, bringing Jeremy into her life, but then he stopped, gave her shoulder a little squeeze, and said, "You'd better not look at me that way or I might not be as honest as I'm trying to make myself out to be."

  "I guess I was a little distracted," Billy said. "I was thinking about maybe meeting your sister-in-laws. With all the buckouts and rodeos, I've about had my fill of men, and being able to spend time with women is the best offer I've had in months."

  Jeremy raised his thumb and stroked just below her bottom lip, which had her releasing it from between her teeth, and said, "Maybe I can change your mind about men." This time he bent over and kissed her lightly, then turned and left her staring after him as he went to his truck and started unloading jacks and boards, and bundles of asphalt shingles, and a roll of black paper. And, all the while he was doing that, Billy's heart was hammering excitedly, and her lips tingled, and she couldn't help feeling a little giddy at the prospect of maybe another kiss.

  Just don't get too friendly with the man…