by Liz Isaacson
Plus, he was already…what? What was he doing with Renee? Texting and phone calls wasn’t dating. He’d seen her twice in the last couple of weeks, and the first time he’d never wanted to cross paths with her again.
Abby’s dazzle dulled, and she fell back a step. “It’s okay, Justin.”
“I’m seeing someone already,” he blurted out, though his brain reeled that maybe Abby was a better match for him. She didn’t giggle, and she didn’t tell long stories, and she appeared to have her life somewhat put together.
“I see,” Abby said, turning now and striding away from him. She twisted back. “Oh, the money.” She stepped back over to him and handed him the twenty with a smile so fast he barely saw it. “Thank you. See you next week.”
He stared at the money in his palm, everything in his mind spinning. He finally called out, “I’m sorry, Abby,” but she didn’t turn or otherwise acknowledge that he’d spoken. He turned around, frustrated, and found Magic staring at him placidly. “That was awkward, wasn’t it?” He reached for the horse’s reins.
“Sure was.” Walker emerged from the shadows and slapped together a pair of work gloves. Dust flung into the air and hung in the light.
Justin gave him a glare but said nothing. He set out for the barn, hoping Walker would finish whatever he was doing and leave him alone. He followed Justin into the barn, where Ted, one of the best bronc riders the rodeo had ever seen, stood with Landon.
A groan escaped Justin’s mouth. This was going to be a real show. He loved the men he worked with. Ted and Walker were his neighbors, one on each side of his cabin. They all had dogs, like Justin did, and Ted usually strummed a guitar in the evenings on his back porch. Justin kept his windows open anytime the weather was halfway decent so he could hear it.
When Paulette had stood him up on their wedding day, it had been Walker who’d finally pulled Justin from the altar. Ted who’d driven him back to Brush Creek, and Landon who’d given his life purpose. They hadn’t judged him or treated him like he was broken, though he couldn’t remember much that had happened in the couple of months that had followed the incident.
Ted and Landon talked, glancing at Justin as he plodded by with the horse. He acknowledged them but kept going. Walker thankfully veered into the tack room, and a small measure of relief spiraled through Justin. His phone buzzed in his back pocket, but he ignored it. He knew it would be Renee, and he didn’t want to talk right now.
His brain buzzed like a hive of bees. He hadn’t felt so out of control since Paulette’s departure. He didn’t like the feeling of being on a roller coaster. Up one moment. Down the next. Wrench around that emotional curve. He’d grown accustomed to the stability in his life, in finding peace in the simple act of brushing down a horse and putting him away for the night.
As Justin crossed the lane from the ranch to his cabin, he finally landed on the center of his concerns: Renee. He sure liked having someone who didn’t work on the ranch to talk to. At the same time, the woman worked an hour away, and surely she wouldn’t be staying in Brush Creek permanently. She hadn’t said so in those exact words, but she had implied her living situation with her cousin was temporary.
Justin set the coffee maker, a deep weariness for this day in his bones. He tossed his phone on the kitchen counter and washed his hands while he watched the blinking green light indicating he’d missed a call.
Ideas revolved in his head, but he couldn’t seem to grasp onto one and think about it for any length of time. Coffee started to drip and the smell filled the house and calmed him. His mother always made coffee, any time of day or night, when they’d had a problem to solve. With a mug of the steaming liquid in his hands, he headed for his bedroom. One sip, and his tense muscles released. Two sips, and a plan formed.
He’d shower, and then he’d call Renee. He wasn’t really “seeing her,” as he’d told Abby. But they had started something, and he needed to get some things straight before he did see her in the flesh tomorrow.
Justin’s pulse stormed through his veins as he drove down the canyon to the town. Renee lived with Leah on the north side of town, about as far from Vernal as one could get. She had confirmed in real words last night that she wouldn’t be living with Leah for much longer. How much longer, she hadn’t been able to say.
He’d been up for hours following the conversation, the combination of news he didn’t want to hear and four cups of coffee making sleep nearly impossible. He yawned as he pulled into a driveway he’d parked in before. Renee spilled from the house wearing a white sundress covered with large splotches of blue flowers.
She looked amazing with her hair tumbling from her head in those crazy curls. A smile lit her face when Justin slid from the truck, and he reached for her hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world. So maybe he’d thought her immature and annoying the first time they’d met. Maybe she did talk too much. But seeing her, touching her, holding her hand in his, Justin was reminded of all the things he liked about her.
“Hey.” He pulled her to him and took a deep breath of her hair. He stood taller than her. So tall, she could lay her check against his collarbone in an embrace. She smiled up at him and brushed an errant curl from her face with her free hand.
“Hey, yourself.” She stepped back. “Is this okay for the rodeo?”
He scanned her again, curves and all. “You said you’ve been to a rodeo before.” He walked her around the front of his truck and opened the passenger door.
“I have.”
“Then you should know there’s more dirt than people.” He drank in the dress again. “And that dress is white.” He grinned as she looked down at her clothes as if she couldn’t remember what she’d picked.
“I’m not going to be riding a horse or anything.” She looked up at him with a hint of fear in her eyes. “Right?”
He squeezed her hand. “You never know.”
Pure panic raced across her face. “Justin.”
He laughed and nudged her toward getting in the truck. “I was kidding. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He didn’t mention the dirty, dusty bleachers they’d have to sit on to watch the rodeo. If the woman wanted to wear a white dress to the rodeo, he wasn’t going to stop her.
With her settled, Justin went around and got behind the wheel. He reached for his package of Tic Tacs and downed as many as would come out of the container. He offered it to Renee, who shook her head with a small smile.
“What?” he asked.
“You eat those like candy.”
“I like them. They’re certainly not mints.”
“I used to do that when I was a kid.”
He shrugged. “I carry them all the time. Our new horses don’t like the sound, and its my job to get them to become perfectly compliant.”
“Do you like other flavors, or only orange?”
“I figure if I have to carry this container around all the time, I might as well get some benefit out of it. I only like the orange ones. Landon buys them in bulk for me.”
She slid across the bench seat and sat right next to him. His heart tripped as he accelerated on the highway leading out of town and into Vernal. “What do the other boys like?”
Justin sighed, his grip on the steering wheel tightening. “Let’s see. Landon likes the white ones. Walker too. Ted and Grant will take whatever, even this new grape-lime flavor.” He shuddered. “They’re disgusting.”
She giggled, and somehow the sound didn’t worm its way under Justin’s skin and aggravate him. He reached for her hand, glad when she gave it to him. Her fingers felt cool and smooth between his, and his nerves settled further.
By the time they arrived at the restaurant she’d chosen for lunch, Justin wasn’t sure why he’d been so worked up about possibly dating Renee. Their conversations had always been easy. He’d thought it was because of the distance between them while they talked, but it had been just as comfortable in the truck. He held the door for her to go first into the restaurant, and the flirtatious l
ook she gave him as she passed solidified what he’d been wondering about.
They were definitely seeing each other. A smile formed on his face, and he only managed to wipe it away a moment before Renee turned to look at him.
His enjoyment and peace only lasted until they pulled into the rodeo grounds. “Most of this will be boring,” he said, reaching to the seat behind him to grab a briefcase bag. It held a dozen folders, his schedule for the afternoon, and their rodeo tickets for that evening.
“You’re welcome to come with me, but I need a favor.” He withdrew the first folder and extended it toward her. “Will you pretend to be my assistant? These are—” He swallowed. “Business meetings, and I….”
Renee looked at the folder and then him. “You what?”
Justin looked at her evenly, trying not to fall into her gorgeous hazel eyes. “I don’t quite know how to introduce you.”
A blush stained her cheeks, making her even more beautiful, and she took the folder. “I can be your assistant, sure.”
“The date part—I mean, we just went to lunch. That was a date, right? And now we have to work, and then we’ll go to the rodeo. It’s like work sandwiched by a date.”
She grinned. “Does it count as two dates, do you think?”
He had no idea why it mattered. “Sure, if you want it to.”
“Oh, I do.” Her expression went from flirty to sexy, and Justin needed to get out of the truck before he did something he couldn’t explain.
He practically jumped from the cab and took a long drag of fresh air. The oxygen helped infuse some reason into his brain, but the attraction between him and Renee lingered long after he’d finally cleared his head.
Chapter Five
Renee smiled and flounced from appointment to appointment, flipping open folders and shaking hands with the bronc riders and barrel racers as she played the part of Justin’s perfect assistant. No one seemed to think she wasn’t, and no one asked her any questions. Thankfully.
She got distracted by Justin’s beautiful bass voice several times. He could make Appaloosas and pinto horses sound sexier than she thought possible. She schooled her thoughts, sure it was time to stop acting like a teenager and start acting like a college graduate. An adult.
The blonde who seemed to have more hair than humanly possible finally left them alone again.
“All done,” Justin said.
Renee sighed with relief. “Wow, that was a lot of appointments.”
He flipped a page in a folder he’d pulled out himself and had never relinquished to her. He scratched something out and then closed the folder, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth too. He met her eyes and gave her a lazy grin that heated her blood past comfortable.
“Yeah, but I got four new horse deals today.” He stood and gave her the folder to put back in the briefcase bag. “And I’m starving. Let’s walk over to the carnival and get a funnel cake. You want to?”
She slipped the folder into the bag. “Fried dough with sugar and cream? I’m in.” Renee noticed the way his eyes skated down the length of her body, and supreme satisfaction sang through her.
Justin shouldered the bag and threaded his fingers through hers. “You can get all kinds of fried things at the carnival. My favorite are the foot-long corndogs.”
Renee’s mouth watered at the same time her stomach revolted. “That is too much food.”
“Oh, please,” he said, his voice flirtatious. “You ate two bowls of ice cream at the church social.”
She laughed, the pleasure of being here with Justin almost too much. Though she carried a fair few pounds more than normal, her steps felt light as air as they left the rodeo grounds and crossed the street to the carnival.
It was still early, and the crowds of teenagers that would descend at night were still a couple of hours away. Families had likely come this morning right after the parade she’d read about online. At four-thirty, the carnival grounds were mostly deserted, leaving the path to the food alley clear.
Justin ordered two funnel cakes, one with powdered sugar and one with strawberries and cream, and two bottles of water. They’d no sooner settled down on a bench in the shade several paces away from the Ferris wheel when a lithe brunette approached.
“Justin?” She bent a little at the waist as if she needed to get closer to him to make sure he was the man she was looking for.
Renee volleyed her gaze back to Justin in time to see him flinch. A splash of powdered sugar landed on his jeans, and Renee wanted to brush it away. She fisted her fingers to keep them from touching him.
“Paulette.” Justin’s gaze flew to Renee, something desperate in the way he looked at her. Renee understood desperation, and her excitement grew. She had a part to play here, and she was certain she’d nail the act.
She allowed herself to reach over and swipe at the sugar on Justin’s thigh. He tensed, but she smiled. “This is Paulette?” He’d never detailed his ex’s name, but it was clear that the beautiful woman standing before them—wearing a tight pair of jeans, cowboy boots, and a bright pink western shirt—was the woman he’d wanted to show he’d moved on.
“You didn’t say she was so pretty.” Renee set her barely-touched funnel cake on the bench next to her and clapped her hands together as she stood. “I’m Renee.”
Paulette appraised her, and it was very clear that Renee had been found unworthy. Discomfort squirmed through her. She already felt inadequate to be sitting beside Justin, and she didn’t need this woman’s disdain.
She extended her hand for the cowgirl to shake, which Paulette did with obvious reluctance. Renee almost fell back onto the bench, her confidence completely gone. Justin put his hand on her knee and she curled her fingers around his. Paulette saw every movement, and Renee made a split-second decision. She tucked herself into Justin’s side and tilted her head back, stretching up to press a kiss to his cheek.
She refocused on Paulette like she’d just barely realized the other woman hadn’t walked away yet. She noted how symmetrical her face was, how bright her eyes, how high her cheekbones. She was several years older than Renee, and she carried her maturity and beauty well. Renee could see why Justin had been with Paulette, and something like a cocktail of jealousy and self-loathing stole through her.
“Are you competing tonight?” Renee asked.
Paulette didn’t look away from Justin. “Sure am.” She cocked one hip and flashed him a smile that held more than friendship. “You should come see Daisy May.”
Renee didn’t like the sound of that, but she kept her mouth shut. Justin didn’t even attempt to smile. “We’ll see if I have time.”
Paulette was smart enough to read between the lines, and she nodded, a resigned look on her face. Still, she said, “It was good to see you, Justin,” before turning and rejoining another cowgirl who’d been hanging back.
“Good luck tonight!” Renee chirped, and Paulette looked over her shoulder in surprise. Once the women had cleared the area, Justin’s chest expanded as he took a full breath.
“Wow.” He let the air out in a slow stream.
“Yeah, she’s intense. You dated her?”
“Yeah.”
“For how long?”
“A couple of years. We ran the rodeo circuit together.” He shifted in his seat, and Renee stayed silent—a real feat for her as her mind seemed to whirl at ninety miles a second.
Questions piled up until she finally said, “You must’ve been serious.”
“We were.”
“What happened?”
Justin picked up his funnel cake and tore off a bite. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Frustration erased the questions from Renee’s mind. “That’s…fine, I guess.” But it wasn’t fine. She’d noticed that she spoke much more than Justin did on the phone. He asked her open-ended questions and to tell him about events in her life. She’d happily complied, told him whatever she felt like he’d like to know. Her life volume only had a couple of pages in it, and she was
suddenly realizing that Justin’s contained a lot more.
“I do want to talk about somethin’ else.” He gave her a sideways look from under his cowboy hat, pretty much the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
She swallowed and looked away, the heat from his gaze combined with the summer evening sun, and Renee thought she’d melt at any moment. She picked up her funnel cake, but the fruit topping had soaked into the crispy dough, making it soggy. She tore off a tiny piece on the edge and put it in her mouth.
“Go ahead and talk then,” she said.
“I think you were a great assistant.” He hung his hands between his knees. “And what you did just now with Paulette was pretty amazing.” A haunted smile graced his face. “There was only one flaw.”
Renee’s defenses flew into place. “Yeah? What’s that?”
He turned his head and looked right at her. His blue eyes seared into hers, and his voice came out a bit hoarse when he said, “You missed with your kiss.”
He might as well as have poured gasoline into her veins and then lit a match. An instant smile popped onto her face, and she abandoned her funnel cake again. “We should probably fix that for next time.”
His right eyebrow cocked. “Next time?”
Feeling brave, and wanting to experience the same things Paulette had, Renee tipped herself forward and hesitated when her forehead collided with Justin’s cowboy hat. Only a breath between them, he swept the hat off with one hand and curled the other around her waist.
He closed the distance between them and pressed his lips gently to hers. She drank him in like she hadn’t had water in days. Fire flamed through her whole body, and Renee had an inkling that she’d never again experience such a beautiful kiss. And that was one part of being an adult she was very happy about.
Chapter Six
Justin enjoyed the fruity taste of Renee’s mouth, took his time with the kiss so she’d know his infatuation with her wasn’t a whim or something he played around with. She kissed him back with just as much passion, and for the first time since they’d met, he didn’t second-guess himself.
