by Kadie Scott
“Oh.” She deflated like a week-old birthday balloon.
Residual fury swirled with a release of disappointment inside her. The fury she got. Married men weren’t her thing, and cheating cowboys on the circuit weren’t uncommon. But that swift pang of disappointment, when she’d thought he was married, had her concerned. She hadn’t had feelings, sexual or otherwise, for a man in ages, and she barely knew the guy. Plus, he was rodeo.
Realization struck. “That must be why he tried to talk to me today. He recognized my horse.”
Now she felt like a class A fool, and Rusty didn’t like it. A rare blush heated her cheeks, and she was suddenly glad of the dark to hide it from the hands. Rarely was she put so solidly on her back foot like that.
She sighed as she turned and started walking toward her truck, assuming the other two would follow. Now she’d have to find Will tomorrow and apologize for being so rude. Rude twice. She hadn’t thanked him or introduced him to her hands tonight.
Damn.
*
Will crossed the rodeo grounds in long strides, his boots kicking up the dust, creating a bit of a haze in the otherwise cloudless blue sky. The sun wasn’t quite to its zenith, but today was going to be hot. However, he and his crew wouldn’t be here much longer, and certainly not when the temperatures hit the forecasted upper-ninety degrees.
They’d made it through the rest of the events, he’d collected his pay, quite happy with the performances of his stock. Two of his bulls—the Turtle and the Once-ler—had earned bonuses which more than paid for the trip. Meanwhile, his broncs had done well too, and he’d talked to several folks about providing stock horses or rodeo horses for them.
Successful trip. Hopefully his time would be rewarded more when he talked with Garrett Walker later today.
He needed to check on his hands, make sure they were ready to roll on out to Cheyenne. Luckily, the drive there was pretty short, so they weren’t in a huge rush.
To anyone watching his progress, he hoped he looked his usual steady self, not bothered by anyone around him. In reality, he was scanning the other folks left in the area—like he had been the last few days—looking for a glimpse of deep red hair and chocolate-brown eyes.
He still couldn’t believe he’d kissed Rusty in the bar like that.
He’d seen that jerk bothering her for like a millisecond. At first an oddly protective instinct had come over him, like he wanted to land a solid punch on the guy’s square chin. But then an unaccustomed sense of mischief had short-circuited his brain. Just like every other moment with the feisty woman had seemed to do. He didn’t know what had come over him, going over there to kiss her like that, pretending to be her boyfriend. He didn’t react to women like this… ever.
His odd behavior should be enough to have him thrown off-balance right now, but that wasn’t what had occupied his thoughts lately. Nope. What had him hotter than jalapeno peppers was that damn kiss—the feel of her in his arms, the hitch in her breathing when he’d taken things deeper, the way he’d gotten lost in the sensation of her mouth under his.
It’d taken a monumental effort to pull back and walk her outside. When her hands showed up, he’d left her abruptly—not because he’d wanted to act all cool and indifferent, but because he’d been so shaken up he’d been worried about making a total ass of himself.
So, he’d left.
He hadn’t seen more than a glimpse of her since. Rodeos this size were usually hard places to avoid people, but she’d sure managed it. At least, that was how it seemed to him, and he’d been looking. Not deliberately, but so any flash of recognition had him at attention like a hound on the scent.
No such luck again. He made it to his truck without even a glimpse. She was probably long gone anyway. Although Rising Star Ranch would be at Frontier Days, so maybe…
Will unlocked his car and jerked the tailgate down with a little more force than necessary. Let it go.
Hopping up into the truck, he sat on the edge and fiddled with the lock on the box in the bed. He pulled out the large accordion folder he used to store all his paperwork for tax purposes as well as the small safe he used to store the checks and cash he received as payment.
“Hi, Will,” a husky female voice murmured behind him.
Will paused, then slowly turned to find Rusty Walker standing behind him. Damn, she was gorgeous. He hadn’t imagined that, or the way his body responded, certain parts of him going hot and hard.
Today, she was dressed in simple jeans and a white blouse with puffy capped sleeves and a lace edging. Her hair was loose, flowing in lazy curls down her back. The feminine side of her, at such odds with the tough talking attitude, was perplexingly fascinating. Who was the real Rusty?
She raised her eyebrows when he didn’t answer.
Will cleared his throat. “Hi, Rusty.”
With more speed than he’d been moving a second ago, he stuffed all the paperwork into what he hoped were the appropriate slots, then dumped the folder and safe inside the lockbox and hopped down. His actions were more about giving himself a second to think and to force his body under control. He leaned a hand against the truck as he peered down at her.
“Can I help you with something?” She’d come to him after all.
Then he blinked as a soft pink color filled her cheeks. She was… blushing? Somehow, he’d never pictured Rusty blushing. But, since his head was already down an inappropriate path, he wondered what she’d look like with that lovely color all over her body?
Jeez, Will. Get your head on straight.
Rusty tipped her chin up at what he could only describe as a stubborn angle. “I wanted to apologize.”
Now he felt like a first-rate jerk. She was here to apologize, for what he had no idea, and here he was picturing her in his bed. “That’s nice,” he said slowly. “For what?”
She hitched a shoulder. “I was… pretty rude to you when you tried to introduce yourself the other day. And I didn’t thank you for rescuing me from that drunk at the bar.”
Will grinned. He couldn’t help himself. “That was my pleasure.”
Rusty narrowed her eyes, suspicion shining out at him for a flash, before disappearing and her lips twitched. “Not just yours,” she muttered.
Did someone suck all the air out of here? Mountain air was thinner, making it harder to breathe, right?
Will gave her a sideways look. “Ms. Walker, I do believe you’re flirting with me.”
She laughed, the warmth of the sound washing over him and adding to the tension coiling in his belly. “Don’t let it go to your head, Mr. Hill. I must be tired.”
He cocked his head, sure she hadn’t meant that as a challenge. But still…
“Why don’t we put that to the test?” Holy hell. What was it about this woman that had him acting completely out of character?
But the way her eyes widened, then softened, the pink in her cheeks turning pinker, no way was he going to back down now.
Will stepped in close to her, and she didn’t back up, watching him with an expression he couldn’t entirely decipher—something between wary and hopeful. He raised a hand to cup her cheek, moving the heavy fall of her hair behind her shoulder. Slowly, giving her enough time to stop him or pull back, he lowered his head until his lips hovered over hers, just out of reach.
But she didn’t stop him. With a small hitch in her breath, Rusty went up on tiptoe, closing the distance between them.
Electricity shot through him at the contact. He managed to keep the kisses soft, a give and take that only managed to feed the growing desire flooding his system. With soft strokes, he requested entry, and relished how she opened for him. She tasted of peppermint and summer, a scent of vanilla wrapping around him.
Conscious of their very public location, Will eventually slowed them down. He pulled back to gaze into her deep brown eyes, currently watching him with slumberous desire, reflecting his own need back at him.
“Wow,” he murmured.
She took
a deep breath, and opened her mouth like she wanted to say something.
“Ruth Francis Walker, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” A pissed off male voice hit them like the blast of a shotgun.
At least, that was how Rusty reacted. With a gasp, she jumped back from him.
Whipping her head around, she faced the weathered old cowboy stalking up to them. “Daddy? What are you doing here?”
Daddy? Will took a closer look. Sure enough, the man dressed in black jeans and a black button down with a black Stetson pulled low over his eyes was definitely Garrett Walker.
Damn.
Will resisted the urge to drop his head into his hands. He was meeting this man to discuss a potential partnership. Getting caught making out with his daughter was not the best way to start things off.
Only Garrett wasn’t paying him any attention, his focus solely on his daughter with a look that made Will want to step between them, protect her.
“I asked you a question, young lady,” Garrett snapped.
Instead of cowering under that gaze, Rusty drew her shoulders back and faced her parent down. “I’m sure Travis and Dave told you about the incident at the bar. This is the man who helped me. I was thanking him.”
Garrett didn’t even glance over, gaze still trained on his daughter. “Then you send a note. You don’t stick your tongue down his throat in the middle of the parking lot where anyone can see. You’re a Walker, dammit.”
Time to intervene. “Sir—”
Rusty put a hand on his arm, stopping him. He glanced down to find her glaring back at her father, jaw working, and, somehow, he knew she was debating whether or not to keep arguing.
After another second, she sent her father a sweet smile that lacked any warmth, her eyes cold as ice. “You’re right, of course. As usual.”
Her sudden capitulation only seemed to anger Garrett Walker further. His jaw worked for a solid ten seconds, before he nodded.
Then he turned to Will, his expression completely different, an affable smile deepening the wrinkles at the sides of his mouth.
He held out a hand. “Williams Hill? Glad to meet you.”
What the hell just happened?
Will stepped forward and shook the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you too, sir.”
Rusty glanced between them. “You know Will, Daddy?”
Now Garrett’s smile reminded Will of a shark before he chomped down on a helpless victim. “Of course. I’m here to discuss a partnership with him.”
The glare Rusty turned on Will was nothing short of venomous. If she’d been a rattler, she would’ve struck, sinking her fangs deep and pumping him full of liquid poison.
For the second time in almost as many seconds, Will could only shake his head. What the heck was going on here?
“You’re trying to partner with my father?” she asked between clenched teeth.
Will raised his eyebrows in question. “Yes,” he answered slowly, sensing a trap.
“You asshole,” she spat. Then she turned on the heel of her hot pink boots and stomped away.
He glanced at Garrett for guidance, but the old man was staring after his daughter, the light in his eyes both speculative and strangely satisfied.
The beginnings of a headache spiked behind Will’s eyes. What had he landed himself in the middle of?
Chapter Three
Rusty didn’t bother to wait for her father or the crew. She loaded up Mischief in her trailer, making sure her pissy mood didn’t mean a shoddy job taking care of him. Her horses were her babies. Then she hit the road. Sure, she and the hands and her dad would all end up at Frontier Days together eventually. In fact, a larger crew with even more animals would end up there, as it was one of the bigger rodeos in the circuit and Rising Star was one of the major stock contractors for it.
Didn’t mean she had to wait for them now.
“Thinks he can get to my dad though me,” she muttered as she pulled out of the rodeo grounds onto the road leading back down the canyon to the highway, and then on up to Cheyenne.
“Can’t believe I fell for it again,” she muttered next, slamming her hand on the wheel for emphasis.
Then she shook out her hand, the fact that it now throbbed only making her more irritated with Will. One would think she would’ve learned by now that any man who showed interest was actually interested in her father.
She proceeded to have a one-way muttered conversation calling Williams Hill every name under the sun, and throwing in a few choice terms for her father while she was at it, all the way down Thompson Canyon.
Her mood had not eased up any by the time she reached Greeley. Only the ringing of her cell phone cut her off.
She glanced at the name that popped up on her dashboard display and debated answering for a long second. Except she’d promised Holly that now would be a good time to talk.
Finally, she pushed the button on her steering wheel that allowed her to take the call hands-free. “Hi, Holly.”
“Ummmm… Is now not a good time? I can call back later.”
Dang. Rusty took a deep breath, trying her best to calm down. “No, it’s just…” She tightened her grip on the wheel, debating what she should and shouldn’t share. “I would love to ring your brother-in-law’s neck about now.”
Rather than take offence, Holly snorted a laugh. “Is that so? Which one?”
Rusty raised her eyes heavenward. “There are more than two Hill brothers out there.” Lord help the women of Texas, because if they looked anything like Will, hearts had to be breaking all over that land.
An amused chuckle came down the line. “Cash has three brothers and a sister.”
Will was one of five? As an only child, at least since she’d been eleven, Rusty couldn’t begin to picture how that worked. “Well, the one I’d like to bop on the head is Will.”
“I figured, since I knew he was up at the Rooftop Rodeo. But why? Of the five of them, he’s by far the most laid-back. I couldn’t imagine him doing anything—”
“He kissed me. Twice. Before meeting my father to discuss a business deal of some sort.”
Silence greeted her declaration. “Oh,” Holly finally said.
“Exactly.”
“I’m sure Will didn’t kiss you to get to your father, if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s not the type.”
Rusty wasn’t so certain. That sexy grin couldn’t be sincere. Still, she wasn’t going to argue with his sister-in-law about it.
She gave a little sigh. “I’m sure you’re right.”
Not that it mattered anyway. Hopefully, she wouldn’t see much of him. After all, they hadn’t crossed paths before this. Although if her father offered him some sort of deal…
“I’m glad you agree,” Holly murmured. “Because otherwise what I’m about to ask might not work.”
“Oh?” Dread and curiosity made for an interesting mix as they churned in her stomach.
“I’d like to offer you a job.”
“A job?” Hell, she sounded like a freaking parrot. But a job?
Holly didn’t seem to pick up on her misgivings at least. “Yes. At High Hill Ranch, working for Will actually.” She gave a nervous chuckle.
No flippin’ way was that gonna work out. But she managed not to say that out loud. “Shouldn’t Will be offering me the job, then?”
Holly chuckled. “It’s my job that I’m offering. I promised to partner with him, training barrel racers and other rodeo horses, and I love it. But between my full-time job as a large animal vet and my new family… which is about to get a little bigger…”
Rusty gasped. “You’re pregnant?”
A happy giggle drifted through the phone. “Only nine weeks. Please don’t tell Will. I want to let him know as it impacts some business decisions. We’re going to tell the family when we get them all together.”
“Congratulations, sweetie. That’s wonderful news! And I won’t tell a soul. I promise.” Despite her own foul mood, Rusty still smiled. Holly w
as good people, and deserved the happiness so clear in her voice.
“Thank you. I’m still in shock honestly. This came along a little faster than we’d anticipated. Those Hill men are potent.”
Tell me about it. All she’d done was kiss one, and she was still reeling. A fact she now resented.
“Anyway, I was hoping to be able to tell Will I had someone in mind to replace me. Honestly, he needs more help than I can give anyway. That side of the business is growing fast, but so is the rodeo stock side, so he’s traveling a lot. He needs someone there full-time.”
“I appreciate the offer, Holly—”
“Don’t say no!” Holly wailed. “You’re the best person I’ve found. Look at what you’ve done with Mischief.”
Rusty scrunched up her face. Dang, she hated disappointing people. “I’d love to say yes, but I can’t. Dad’s going to retire someday.” Soon, she hoped. “If I’m going to take over Rising Star, I need to…” She paused. She couldn’t very well say something like keep proving myself, even though that was the truth.
“I understand,” Holly said before Rusty could think of a better way to put it.
“The position does sound right up my alley,” Rusty offered. “I’m sorry to have to say no.”
“I know. It would’ve been perfect.” But Holly’s voice held only chagrin, no condemnation.
“I’d still be happy to take on a horse or two, here and there.” That was the best Rusty could offer.
“Thanks. I’ll let Will know. Is there anyone you might recommend instead?”
Maybe Maggie? She’d have to ask her friend first though. “Let me think about it and get back to you.”
“Sounds good.”
Nothing much to say after that, and, following the usual round of pleasantries, Rusty hung up. At least talking to Holly had managed to get her mind off Will and her father, letting her temper cool down a bit.
Holly might think her brother-in-law hung the moon, but the School of Been There Done That had taught Rusty if a man had career ambitions in rodeo, she was suddenly considered a ticket to their free ride to success.
