The Bull Rider Meets His Match

by Jeannie Watt

  “I told Annie I’d deliver that because it’s on my way home,” she explained, even though he hadn’t asked.

  “And you wanted to see me. Straighten out a few things.”

  She frowned at him, wondering when he’d become so good at reading thoughts. “It needs to be done,” she said. “We can’t keep entertaining our friends and acquaintances.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t like it,” she responded evenly.

  His mouth tilted up on one side into a sensual curve. For a moment she thought he was going to say, “I beg to differ—you do like it,” which was an unfortunate truth, but instead he said, “You know... I was trying to figure out the other day how this all got started with me and you. I think it comes down to you taking an instant dislike to me when I started dating Danielle.”

  “No. I took an instant dislike to you when you chose the PBR over her.”

  “But you think she’s better off now, right?”

  She didn’t have an answer to that one. One corner of Grady’s mouth tipped up as he wiped the towel over his neck. She tore her gaze away and focused on the first thing she could find worthy of comment, as she collected her thoughts and prepared for another volley. “The garage looks a lot better.”

  “I’m waiting on the siding. Then a little paint and good as new.” He pointed to the framed-in building a few yards away. “Annie’s new garden shed.”

  “I had no idea you were into construction.”

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

  She met his eyes dead-on. “And things will stay that way.”

  He looked amused. “Is this your way of saying uncle?”

  “Yes. Uncle. You win.” She held out her hand. “Let’s call a truce.”

  He glanced down at her hand, then took it in his calloused fingers and instead of shaking it, held on to it as he studied her cautiously. “This feels like a trap.”

  She laughed in spite of herself. “No trap. I’m tired of being watched. Talked about.”

  “And that’s it.”

  “What else could it be?”

  His eyebrows lifted. “I’m not touching that one.”

  “Because there’s nothing to touch,” she said through gritted teeth. What was it about this guy that instantly set her off, despite having every intention of maintaining an even keel?

  “Yeah. Right.”

  “Where do you find hats big enough to fit your head?”

  “This isn’t ego talking.”

  “I’m done,” she said, pulling her hand away yet still feeling the warmth of his fingers on hers.

  She turned toward the bay door but only managed a couple of steps before he said, “I think we should go out.” She turned back, certain she hadn’t heard correctly. “Instead of playing this game.” He set his hands on his hips, his weight cocked to one side.

  She closed the distance between them in a few short steps, pointing a finger at him. “Maybe you’re playing a game. I’m not.”

  “Yeah you are, and maybe we need to be honest with one another.”

  “Here’s some honesty.” She reached out and yanked the damp towel from around his shoulders, trying to startle the calm expression off his face. Why should he feel calm when she didn’t? He didn’t look massively startled by her unexpected action, but his eyes did narrow a little, so she continued on. “We are not going out. We are not kissing one another. We are going to retreat to our neutral corners and stay there.”

  She wadded up the towel and jammed it back at him.

  “Whatever. If you need me, I’ll be in my corner.”

  “Why would I need you?”

  “One thing I’ve discovered in life, Lex, is that you never know who you might need.”

  “And that’s where you’re wrong. I will never need you.” She meant it from the core of her being. Because needing Grady would put her in a very vulnerable position, and Lex didn’t do vulnerable.

  * * *

  WELL, THAT WENT WELL.

  Grady stalked into the house and tossed his towel into the laundry box as he walked into the utility room. He’d taken the plunge, asked her out. He’d been honest. Lex not so much.

  He told himself it was because she was threatened. Scared for some reason, but it was still hard to swallow. She was brave in all other aspects of life...why not this one? Why not take a chance on him? It wasn’t as if he’d asked for a huge commitment or anything. A date. One lousy date.

  The woman drove him insane.

  He pulled a T-shirt out of the dryer and slipped it on. He still had a lot to do today with the siding and the shed, so he’d wait until Annie got home to shower. A raspy cough sounded from the living room, and he went back into the kitchen, where he opened the paper bag Lex had delivered, took out the medication and used his pocketknife to slit the cellophane holding the dosage cup attached to the top of the bottle.

  “Uncle Grady?” Katie’s call was punctuated by another low cough.

  “Coming, kiddo.” He walked into the living room, where Katie was curled up on one end of the sofa and Kristen at the other, both covered with handmade afghans. No way were they going to spend downtime in bed, where Annie wanted them to be. They wanted to fall asleep to cartoon shows, and Grady wasn’t going to argue with them.

  Katie pushed herself upright, her pinkish hair semi-matted on one side of her head. She coughed again and Grady held up the medication and measuring cup. “I got the cure.”

  She smiled and let him pour the proper dosage, which he checked not once, not twice, but three times, and then she swallowed it. “Cherry,” she said with a wrinkle of her nose.

  “I don’t know if they make blue cough syrup, sweetie.”

  “You should check,” she said as she settled back into her nest and coughed again.

  He looked over at Kristen, who was sleeping soundly, her mouth hanging open. When kids slept, they really slept. He wasn’t going to wake her up to take medicine. When she needed it, she’d wake up.

  “Do you need anything? Water? Crackers?” he asked.

  Katie yawned and shook her head, then coughed weakly as she picked up the remote. “No.”

  “Okay. Well, I’m going to work on your mom’s shed some more. If you need me...”

  “I know.” She pointed at Annie’s cell phone, which his sister had sacrificed so that they could call Grady in from outside by merely pressing one button.

  She yawned again, and Grady expected her to be sound asleep in a matter of minutes. It was the first time since the cake incident that he’d been absolutely certain of where he’d find the girls when he returned to the house. Tomorrow would probably be a different story, since Annie told him that kids bounced back fast. She’d know, and he was learning.

  Funny thing—he really enjoyed pseudoparenthood. Even the pink-haired emergency parts.

  That was one good thing he’d gotten out of coming home. And he was enjoying the time with his sister. Two good things. He no longer wondered if he and Danielle were meant to be. Three good things.

  And...maybe he’d better stop there while he was ahead. Because if he gave any thought to the Lex matter, he was once again going to start dwelling on the one big negative of his return home. He was falling for a woman who swore she was never going to need him in any way, shape, or form.

  * * *

  LEX WAS BUSILY currying the minidonkeys early Thursday morning when a familiar white utility truck pulled into her driveway and Peter got out of it.

  He smiled that easy smile of his as he approached. “My grandmother wanted me to visit the ducks.”

  Lex laughed as she set down the currycomb and started toward him, the two donkeys and the goat trailing behind her. “They’re doing great.” She gestured toward the pen. “Come and see for yo
urself.”

  They walked to the pen, and then Peter took out his phone, giving her a self-conscious smile. “She wants pictures.”

  Lex simply smiled back. Peter took a few photos, then pocketed the phone. “They look as happy as ducks can look.” Channing waddled by, making a clackety sound with his bill. He looked so serious as he went about his duck business, and the lady ducks did seem to find him incredibly attractive.

  “Your grandma was right. I do enjoy them. I sit on the porch and watch them waddle around and swim. Feed them duck treats and veggie peelings. I’d love to let them out and see them in action on the stock pond.” Which was what she’d do if she got a small flock of her own. Ducks on the pond would be nice. Of course, she was going to get the not-so-exotic kind. Regular ducks were good enough for her.

  “These guys will never taste freedom,” Peter said with a half smile. “Gram is too nervous about their safety. She hatched them all, you know. Raised them from the time they were little puffs of fluff. She’s always been nuts about poultry and as she’s gotten older, she’s really gotten...obsessed?” He smiled again. “I mean that in a nice way, of course.” Lex’s heart melted a little as he spoke. He really was a good guy.

  “It’s nice that she’s able to move to a place where she can keep them.”

  “It was actually a challenge finding a place with enough of a yard to allow her ducks, but not too much to take care of. Another plus is that it’s not that far from the clinic, so I can check on her easily. We only have to wait for the seller to finish vacating the premises.” He started back toward his truck, and Lex fell into step. “Are you going to the Founder’s Day picnic?” he asked as they walked.

  “I hadn’t planned on it.” Danielle was busy, and she wasn’t one to head to public events alone. Nope. She’d rather hole up in her basement and engrave silver. Or cut out copper cowboy boot Christmas decorations—her latest venture. Anything but be stared at as people speculated about her and Grady.

  “I haven’t been since visiting my grandparents as a kid, but I have good memories.”

  Lex tried to remember seeing Peter there at the celebration and couldn’t do it.

  “I was shy,” Peter said, correctly guessing the direction of her thoughts. “And I usually stayed close to my grandparents, because they were nervous about me straying too far afield. But I had fun. Loved the fireworks and the games.”

  “I should have made more of an effort to get to know you,” Lex said. “You only lived about a mile away.” Which was close by rural standards.

  “To tell you the truth,” Peter said with a crooked smile, “you scared me.”

  “Really?” Huh. She’d never tried to be scary back then. Maybe it was simply part of her general personality.

  “Well, you were cute and confident, and I was neither.”

  But he had been adorably awkward, and Lex had always liked him. She had no idea he’d been intimidated by her. Why couldn’t Grady be intimidated by her?

  “So, about that picnic?”

  Lex gave him a frowning sidelong look.

  Pete stopped next to his truck. “What I’m trying to do here is to ask you to go to Founder’s Day with me. As a friend.”

  “Oh,” Lex said on a note of surprise. “Well...yes. I’ll do that.”

  “I’ve been so busy since moving home, starting a practice and helping my grandmother that I haven’t had a chance to develop any kind of social network. I’d like to get out, but I don’t want to go alone.” He gave a self-conscious shrug. “To be honest, I did get invited to be a wingman for one of my associates, but I’m a rotten wingman. This will get me off the hook.”

  Lex laughed. “You know, a lot of time women prefer the wingman. You might want to rethink that.”

  “I’d rather go with you. Takes the pressure off.”

  “I’d love to go as a friend.” Lex smiled easily, and Peter smiled back and she couldn’t help wishing that she felt the same zing for him that she felt when Grady was near. Because if that happened, then she’d have an easier time convincing herself that she was simply reacting to a good-looking guy. Except that Peter was just as good-looking as Grady, and she was not reacting.

  “Can I pick you up tomorrow at, say, three?”

  “Three sounds great.”

  * * *

  THE NEXT DAY Lex found herself looking forward to going to the Founder’s Day Picnic with Peter. If she was going to be the object of gossip, why not spice things up by showing up with someone who wasn’t Grady? The thought made her smile. Tiffani could take this and run with it.

  She did her chores early, corralled everyone who needed corralling during her absence, then went in to shower. Afterward, she dried her hair and left it loose, slipped on a white eyelet sundress and cowboy boots, added a strand of turquoise and silver beads and a silver bracelet. Not bad.

  And then the phone rang. Peter.

  “I just got hit with a horse emergency. Barbed wire and a whole lot of stitches. If you still want to go, do you mind meeting me at the park?”

  “Not at all.”

  “I understand if you’d rather not—”

  “Peter. I’m happy to meet you there.”

  “Great. I’ll keep you posted,” he said, a smile in his voice. “And hopefully see you relatively soon.”

  “Good luck with the horse.”

  Feeling a twinge of disappointment, since she honestly did not want to attend the picnic alone, Lex opened the cupboard where the keys hung. After a moment’s hesitation, she plucked off the key to her father’s restored ’56 GMC truck, which she’d started driving a few months before. Another small step in the healing process, and one that made her feel closer to her dad. They’d had such great times in the truck and when she was behind the wheel, she had a sense of him being there with her rather than a sense of loss. One small step forward.

  When she got to the park, a van pulled out of a space near the rear of the packed parking lot, and Lex pulled in, hoping it was a sign that, despite her date being waylaid, it would be a good afternoon. She walked into the park as the line for barbecue was forming and Lissa Scott, Peter’s vet tech, waved at her from a picnic table a few yards away.

  “Peter told me to be on the lookout for you,” she said as Lex approached. “He’s not certain how long this will take, and he didn’t want you to have to sit alone.”

  “That’s really nice.” Lex wasn’t used to people doing things like that for her. Lissa patted the seat beside her and smiled. She was short and curvaceous and totally comfortable in her skin, which made Lex feel comfortable, too.

  “I thought we’d sit a bit and wait for the line to shorten, unless you want to—”

  “Not at all,” Lex said. “So, did you know Peter back in the day?”

  “I did not,” she said. “Being a townie and not a rural kid.” She tilted her head. “I really wanted to be a rural kid. I wanted horses and dogs and cats and pigs and chickens.” She laughed. “What I got was a gerbil. Not that I didn’t love Mr. Bill,” she added hastily. “I did. But he wasn’t the same as a dog.”

  The table shook then as two large bodies settled on the opposite side, both carrying heaping plates of barbecue beef, potato salad, corn bread and green salad.

  Well, dang.

  “It’s good to see you, Alexa.” Todd flashed a smile at her before taking a long drink of beer.

  “Likewise,” she said coolly. So much for the parking spot being a harbinger of good fortune.

  “Hey,” Todd said, “let me introduce Brandon Ledford. Old college roomie here for the festivities. Brandon, this is Lissa and Lex.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Lex and Lissa said almost simultaneously, Lissa sounding pleased and Lex sounding stony.

  “Glad we could find two good-looking women to share our meal with,” Brandon
said.

  “Except that we don’t have meals,” Lex pointed out.

  “We’re going to take care of that now,” Lissa added. “See you soon.”

  “Not,” she breathed as they got up from the table and headed for the line.

  “Hurry back,” Brandon called.

  “Two of a kind,” Lissa muttered. “I dated Todd once.”

  “I didn’t. He thinks I missed out.”

  “You didn’t. Pushy with a capital P. He thinks that his money and killer looks give him some kind of special rights.” Lissa shot a look over her shoulder at the table they’d just vacated and then let out a small breath. “We’re in luck. The table just filled up.”

  “Excellent,” Lex said as they approached the line. “Should we hang back and wait for Peter?” She’d hoped he’d get there before they hit the serving area.

  “He told me he wanted us to eat.”

  “Then I guess we’ll eat.” Kristen and Katie raced by with a pack of kids, and Lex smiled and waved then slowly lowered her hand as she caught sight of Grady standing near the outdoor bar with Jess and Ty Hayward, a beer in his hand. The bull riders had attracted several college-age women, and one of them intercepted Lex’s gaze. The girl lifted her chin in a smug your-loss, my-gain look before turning back to Grady and the Hayward twins and taking hold of Grady’s arm. Lex let out a small breath. As if she cared.

  After she and Lissa had loaded their plates with beef, salad and corn on the cob, Lex purposely chose a table far from Todd and sat on the side that put her back to the bar so she didn’t have to watch the women fawn over Grady and the Hayward twins. The table soon filled, and Lex found herself relaxing and talking to people she hadn’t spoken to in ages.

  “It’s good to see you out and about,” Lex’s former English teacher said, and she realized that perhaps she had spent too much time in hermit mode. It had started when her father had died and somewhere along the line had become a habit. She ate slowly, enjoying the conversation and the company. Peter called as she finished her last bite of cherry cobbler.