by Cat Johnson
“For bringing us down here. Making sure we can see.” Making sure they didn’t get trampled to death . . . She shrugged. “For everything.”
“My pleasure.” The dimple in his chin was so tempting, she found herself staring at it. She imagined nibbling on that and more of him. She yanked her gaze away and tried to get hold of herself.
“Hey, you girls want a couple of beers?” Jace’s question broke into her naughty imaginings about what parts of Tucker she’d like to bite.
“Thanks. That would be great.” Emma answered for both of them, just as Becca had opened her mouth to say no. Stone-cold sober, she was already picturing her mouth all over Tucker. She hated to even think what would happen if she had some alcohol in her.
“You be okay while we’re gone?” Tucker squeezed her shoulder as he asked the question.
He touched her so easily, so casually, yet it still had her swallowing hard. “Uh. Sure.”
“Okay. Be right back.” He winked and turned on one boot heel, treating her to the tempting view of the back of him.
Tucker Jenkins sure did wear his jeans well. He should probably be the spokesmodel for the brand. Come to think of it, the name of a jeans company was embroidered down the arm of his shirt. He probably was a spokesmodel.
This was all so different from what she had expected when Emma first declared they were going to a rodeo in Oklahoma. She let out a breath and tried to absorb it all.
“Oh, my God. He is so hot.” Emma’s eyes were opened so wide, Becca was afraid her sister’s eyeballs might pop out and roll after the two cowboys walking away.
“Which one?” Not wanting to give her sister the satisfaction of knowing she was melting inside from five minutes in Tucker’s presence, she played innocent.
“You know very well which one.” Emma screwed her mouth up into her usual annoyed expression. “The one who’s been holding your hand and looking at you like he wants to eat you for dinner.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, there are two of them, and the other one seems to like you just fine.” She cocked a brow at her sister. If she was going to be devoured for dinner, then Emma was going to be right there on the table next to her.
“Can’t blame him, really.” Emma grinned. “I’m a very likeable person, you know.”
She ignored Emma’s joking. “You’re really okay with hanging out and drinking with two strange men we only met a few minutes ago?” She might be very interested in getting to know Tucker a little better, but she’d be damned if it was because her sister had decided it for her.
“Of course, I am. And they’re not strange, they’re just strangers. There’s a difference.”
“Emma Hart, sometimes you scare me. Strangers are just as bad, or are you forgetting all those stranger-danger assemblies we had to sit through back in middle school? You really need to be a little more selective about who you’re willing to go out with. What do we know about these guys?”
“We know we’re not up in the nosebleed seats anymore, thanks to them. They’re polite. We know they’re paying for our beer. What’s not to be okay with? I even hope you’ll have breakfast with one of them in the morning.”
“Emma!” Okay, the idea had already crossed her mind, but still, Emma was her older sister. Her job was to talk Becca out of having casual sex with strange men, not talk her into it.
“Come on, Becca. You were living like an old, boring, married lady while you were with Jerry, and since breaking up you’ve been living like a nun. It won’t kill you to have a little fun.”
“It might. What if they’re serial killers who stay one step ahead of the law by traveling with the rodeo?” She tried to imagine a string of bodies and missing persons strewn across the country, coincidentally matching up with the rodeo circuit, but she couldn’t. That image didn’t fit with the man who’d asked with genuine concern whether she’d be okay if he left her for a few minutes. The same guy who’d just stopped on the way to the concession stand to take a picture with a little boy all dressed up in miniature cowboy gear to match Tucker’s big-boy outfit.
She watched Tucker take a marker from the boy’s mother and sign the boy’s cowboy hat, before tipping his own and turning toward the beer vendor to join Jace there. Okay, maybe she was being ridiculous and these cowboys weren’t serial killers on the lam, but that didn’t mean she was going to give Emma the satisfaction of knowing.
“You like him.”
Becca turned to see her sister’s smug expression. Crap. Emma knew her so well, she could read her face like an open book. It was true. Stranger she’d just met or not, she did like Tucker.
She struggled with herself before finally giving in and rolling her eyes. “All right. I’ll admit he seems nice. On the surface.”
“Ha! I told you so.”
With a groan, she shook her head. This was why she didn’t want to admit anything to Emma. “What did you tell me?”
“That you should apply for the job because Oklahoma could be a nice place to live and work. That you’d have fun here at the rodeo. And that cowboys were hot.” Emma let out a sigh of appreciation. “Mmm, mmm. Look at all these strapping, handsome men, and they’re all gathered for you under one roof right here in Perkins, Oklahoma. Which I might add is conveniently located a short drive from Stillwater, where you have a job interview tomorrow and will be living if—when—you get the position.”
She ignored Emma’s self-satisfied tone. “Anything else you’d like to add to your I-told-you-so?”
“Nope.” Emma shook her head and shot Becca a grin.
“Good. Now it’s my turn. First of all, I didn’t get the job yet, and who knows if I even will? Furthermore, I have yet to be convinced Oklahoma is such a great place to live or work. It’s only been a few hours since we landed. We’ve seen nothing but the airport, our hotel room, and this arena. And lastly, the rodeo hasn’t even started yet, so how do you know it’ll be fun?” Becca crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze at her sister, but all Emma did in response was smirk.
“That all?” Emma asked.
“Yes. Why?” She frowned, already exhausted from both the travel and all this banter. How long would it be before the guys got back with their beers? Maybe then Emma would leave her alone.
“I notice you didn’t deny my third point. That cowboys are hot.” Emma’s brows rose with a challenge.
Becca’s gaze hit on Tucker and Jace, walking toward them now, each with two big plastic cups in their hands. Tucker’s long legs ate up the distance between them, the cowboy boots making him swagger just a bit. His hat was drawn down low enough over his eyes that it emphasized the strong line of his jaw. She let out a breath. “Fine. I’ll concede these two particular cowboys happen to be hot, but nothing more.”
Emma sighed, loud and long. “You won’t give even an inch, will you?”
“Nope.” She finally broke her gaze away from Tucker’s tempting form to glance at Emma.
A small smile bowed her lips as she saw Emma watching the two men’s approach as well. Her sister finally glanced her way. “That’s okay. Time will prove me right.”
Becca had a bad suspicion it might, but she couldn’t worry about things like Emma gloating right now. She was too busy wondering, and worrying, what her nosy sister might do or say next to embarrass her.
“And when they get back here with those beers, you drink up. You need to relax. You obviously forgot how to flirt during all the time you were with that ass Jerry.”
“I can flirt just fine.”
“You’re doing a pretty shitty job of it tonight.”
“That’s because . . .” Becca couldn’t say. Maybe she had been out of the dating world too long. Maybe Tucker was just so far removed from any man she’d ever been attracted to before she was out of her comfort zone. It wasn’t like she could talk Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, or Broadway shows with him. The fact was, she was so attracted to him in a raw animal kind of way, she’d be happy to not talk at all. She let out a sigh but refu
sed to tell Emma any of that, so she gave up. “Oh, be quiet. I flirt fine.”
“Whatever you say. Just drink some beer. You need it.” Emma kept her voice low as the men descended the stairs toward them.
Becca couldn’t reply to Emma’s suggestion she get drunk so she’d flirt better, because there was the hotter-than-hell cowboy handing her a cupful of beer. She took it, needing two hands to do so it was so big.
“Thanks.” She glanced up into those eyes hidden in the shadow of his hat, making them look even more sultry.
“You’re welcome.” His lips curved, looking soft in comparison to the dark stubble covering his cheeks and chin.
Jerry had gone an entire week without shaving once when he’d taken vacation time from work, and he still didn’t have stubble nearly as thick as what she suspected was Tucker’s five o’clock shadow. She’d never known she’d been into the rugged-type of man, but this look was sure doing it for her tonight. Becca took a sip of beer, hoping the icy-cold foam sliding down her throat would cool the parts lower that were really starting to heat up.
Her gaze hit upon Tuck’s big hand wrapped around his own cup, and the tingle deep inside her increased twofold as she imagined what those long, thick fingers would feel like running over her body. God, she’d gone so long without good sex. She’d probably never even had the kind of sex Tucker could offer. The getting-thrown-down-and-sweaty kind. Becca’s attention moved to his biceps, straining the fabric of his button-down shirt. Yes, sir. He could definitely pick her up and throw her onto the bed. No problem.
She watched the cup press against his lips as he took a sip and then frowned at the dark liquid and ice cubes she could see through the plastic. She glanced at Jace’s cup, and it, too, contained the same colored drink.
“That’s not beer,” Becca accused.
He swallowed and then smiled. “No, ma’am. It’s pop.” She couldn’t help smiling, too, at how Tucker called soda pop, as he continued, “I admit I’ll ride hung over, I won’t lie to you and say I haven’t, but I’m not crazy enough to drink before I sit my butt on a bull.”
“A bull?” Her eyes opened wide at his revelation. “That’s what you ride?”
Next to Tucker, Jace laughed. “Yup. What did you think we did?”
“I don’t know. I mean I saw the bulls over there, but I guess I thought you rode horses or something. Or maybe you, like, herded the bulls and roped them.” Becca shot Emma a glance and saw her laughing and shaking her head.
“I told you bull riding was one of the events. I read the entire schedule to you right off the rodeo web page the day we booked our flights. Remember?”
Becca remembered the day. She just tended not to listen too closely when Emma started talking incessantly about things that didn’t really interest her. Though she sure found Tucker interesting—and now he was smiling at her.
“Roping bulls.” Tuck grinned wide as he captured her in his gaze. “You’re absolutely adorable.”
“Um, thanks.” Her cheeks heated at the compliment.
Um, thanks? She stifled a groan at her reply. Dammit, Emma was right. She couldn’t flirt for anything. She took another sip of beer.
“And to be fair to your sister, Miss Emma”—Jace tipped his head in Emma’s direction—“Tuck and I do occasionally ride horses and do some roping, too. We rope calves, or steers. Not bulls.”
“You do?” Becca asked.
Emma’s attention turned to Jace now. Becca was happy to see her sister wasn’t exactly immune to cowboy charm, either. “Calves and steers? That’s really interesting.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Tucker dipped his head in agreement. “Jace and I competed in team roping for a few years once upon a time.”
“Until someone backed out on me.” Jace shot Tucker a look.
Tucker’s brows rose in response. “Circumstances beyond my control and you know it. And you could have found another header if you wanted to.”
“Yeah, yeah. Like just any other header would do.” Jace scowled at Tucker and then glanced at Becca and Emma. “I’m a heeler, you see.”
“Ah, of course.” Becca nodded and tried to look as if the entire conversation about headers and heelers hadn’t gone right over her head. She knew about headers and footers and other document formatting–type lingo, but this rodeo reference was totally new to her.
Tucker laughed, deep and low. A sound that went right through her core.
“I’ll explain the different events to you while we watch.” He shook his head, still grinning. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to explain rodeo to a city girl.”
She got a twisting of irrational jealousy in her belly, not that she’d ever assumed she was the first woman this cowboy had charmed. “Oh, really? Have you had to explain this stuff to a lot of city girls?”
That elicited another hearty chuckle from Tucker. He leaned lower, closer to her ear. “Never one as cute as you.”
He straightened again right after he spoke, but the warmth where his breath had wafted across her skin remained. It intensified and spread through her. Becca swallowed hard. She glanced at Emma, who luckily was getting a lecture from Jace about something rodeo related, judging by how he was pointing out things to her in the arena. Good. She didn’t need Emma watching her. She knew there was no hiding from her sister the blush creeping across her cheeks. After the big serial killer stranger-danger rant a moment ago, she was in for a big I-told-you-so from Emma for letting Tucker get to her.
“Your sister said you flew here. From where?” Tucker was asking Becca a question, so she couldn’t worry about Emma’s imminent lecture anymore.
“New York.”
Tuck nodded. “Yeah, I shoulda guessed that.”
“Why?” Her brows knit in a frown. She’d worked very hard to make sure she didn’t have any sort of regional accent. She was certain she’d done a good job of keeping any New York influence out of her speech.
“That wasn’t an insult, sweetheart. Just an observation. All the New Yorkers I’ve known have a certain . . . way about them. I would have recognized it, if I wasn’t too busy noticing other things, I suppose.”
“Oh, really? You get a lot of New Yorkers in this part of Oklahoma?”
“No, not so much. But I do know a few folks who weren’t born in this state. You know, one or two.” Grinning, Tucker continued on, either oblivious to or just plain ignoring how she had reacted to his comment. “So, how long you here for?”
“We leave tomorrow.” Emma, suddenly back in the conversation with Becca and Tucker, answered for them both.
“Really? Well now, that’s a real shame. I guess we better make the most of tonight then. Don’t you think, Tuck?” Jace asked his friend.
“I guess so.” Tucker tipped his head in agreement and took another sip of his soda, but his attention never left Becca as his gaze held hers over the rim of his cup.
“I agree. We definitely should.” Emma shot Becca a look heavily laden with suggestion, which she tried her best to ignore.
“There are some good bars around here. Some of them have live music on weekends. How would you ladies like to go out after we’re done here? Maybe you’ll get to experience a real live Oklahoma honky-tonk while you’re here.”
“We’d love to go out afterward.” Once again, Emma answered for them both.
“You up for that?” Tucker looked specifically at Becca, making direct eye contact.
The problem wasn’t Tucker. It was her. She’d been miserable and monogamous for so long, she was afraid she’d forgotten how to let loose and have fun. If she’d ever really known how to begin with. Looking at Tucker, she realized he was the perfect guy to relearn with.
She swallowed hard and gave in to temptation. “Okay.”
“Good.” He smiled wide. His eyes twinkling beneath the brim of his hat captured hers and made her heart beat faster. She could picture those eyes holding her in their trance as he leaned in for a kiss . . . or more.
Damn. She was in bi
g trouble. She and Tucker could have one hell of a crazy night together. The kind of memories that would last her a lifetime. Then she could fly home and never see him again.
This plan wasn’t like her at all. She didn’t do one-night stands, but right now, after all she’d been through recently with Jerry and the job loss, the idea of throwing caution to the wind in favor of some mind-numbing fun seemed a little too tempting to pass up.
Becca took another long swallow of beer. She needed all the courage she could get.
“Another?” Tuck’s gaze dropped to the increasingly low level of the beer in her cup.
“Um.” Oh, what the hell. She nodded. “Sure. Thank you.”
Chapter Five
“You like her.”
“What? Who?” Tuck stoically did not respond to Jace’s question. Instead he kept his gaze on the concession stand attendant as the kid poured two more beers.
“You know damn well who. So how we gonna work this?”
“Work what?” This time Tuck wasn’t playing dumb, but knowing his friend, he was almost afraid to find out what Jace was talking about.
“Getting them alone. They must have a hotel room nearby since they’re not local, but I’m thinking they’re most likely sharing one room. So one of us is going to need to get another room.”
“I think you need to slow down and not put the cart before the horse.” Tuck shot Jace a warning glance.
“What?” Jace’s eyes opened wide. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You can’t assume we’ll be giving those two anything more than a couple of beers.”
“The Tuck Jenkins I know would never say something like that.”
“No, probably not.” Tuck let out a snort.
The man he used to be a year ago, right after the divorce, would have been fine with screwing a girl behind the building or bending her over the sink in the men’s room. In fact, that had happened in the restroom of this very arena. He’d been pretty shitfaced and it was all a little hazy, but he was sure it had been here. Which meant it had also been exactly one year ago during the Independence Weekend Rodeo.
