Kiss Me Cowboy (Cowboys of Crested Butte Book 3)

by Heather Slade

  “Hey, Blythe,” Lyric came bounding up to them and hugged her hello.

  “Sorry,” Lyric said when Blythe stiffened. “Sometimes I’m a little overenthusiastic. Plus, I don’t know what it is, Blythe, but I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

  Renie was making that face again, the one where she looked like she’d taken a bite of lemon. Blythe elbowed her in the side.

  “Lyric, this is my life-long best friend, Renie. Renie, this is my new best friend, Lyric.”

  The smile Renie had recovered with her introduction quickly faded.

  “You’re the one who’s engaged to Billy Patterson, and a large animal vet.”

  Lyric linked arms with Renie, and from that moment on, the two had one another’s undivided attention. Blythe wondered if there would be any questions left to ask Billy or if Renie had already answered them. The best part of it, though, was that Renie had warmed up to Lyric and she wasn’t mad anymore.

  “Where are ya’ll sitting?” Lyric asked. When Renie told her, she invited them to join her instead. “Mine are a whole lot better than yours,” Lyric held up her press pass. “I can go just about anywhere.”

  Blythe thought their seats were pretty good, considering they’d gotten them from Billy, who was a former NFR saddle bronc champion.

  “Oh, I meant to tell you, when I was walkin’ through the parking lot a few minutes ago, I think I saw your cowboy’s twin. Looked just like him, but with longer hair.”

  Blythe grabbed Renie’s arm and steadied herself.

  “Are you okay?” Lyric asked.

  “She’s fine,” Renie answered for her. “Um, she hasn’t seen him in a while, and I think you surprised her.”

  “But wait, aren’t you datin’ the other one? The one I met you with.”

  Blythe didn’t know where to begin, and even if she did, she wasn’t sure she’d regained the ability to speak. Had Jace known Tucker was going to be here and didn’t tell her? They’d talked about him last night. Why wouldn’t Jace have said something then?

  She looked around the arena, but instead of finding Tucker, she saw Jace. His brow furrowed and he squinted his eyes. “What’s up?” he mouthed. He pulled out his cell phone and held it up.

  Tucker, she texted.

  What about him?

  He’s here.

  Jace didn’t need to answer her text for her to know that he was surprised.

  Tucker was beginning to think he’d made a mistake by not getting in touch with Jace. He was able to get into the stock show, but the rodeo was sold out. He pulled out his phone to text him and saw he’d missed a call and a text from him.

  Where are you?

  Here. Rodeo sold out. Can’t get in.

  Meet me at back entrance near barns.

  Tucker had an overpowering feeling Jace was not happy he was here. As he walked toward the barns and caught sight of his brother’s face, his feeling was confirmed.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “That’s a nice greeting.”

  “Answer me.”

  “What’s your fuckin’ problem, Jace? Jesus—I’m here to see you ride.”

  “Bullshit. Try again. What are you doin’ here?”

  There was no point in answering him. He was right. Maybe in part it was to see his brother, but it was a very small part. He was here to see Blythe, and Jace knew it.

  “Where is she?”

  Jace walked away without answering. When Tucker didn’t follow, Jace turned around. “Did you wanna get into the rodeo or not?”

  Jace flashed his credentials at the cowgirl sitting by the door. The look on her face let them know they could’ve gotten in without any problem, credentials or not.

  “Where is she?” Tucker asked again.

  “What makes you think she’s here?”

  “She’s here.”

  There were so many things Jace wanted to say to Tucker, and all of them would be said in anger. He was as mad at himself as he was at his brother, though. He’d been the dumbass who’d told Tuck that he planned to see Blythe. He might as well have waved a red cape in front of one of the bulls. Of course, that got Tucker on the next plane. Of course. Why had he been so stupid?

  Last night, he’d practically begged Blythe to give him a chance to make her forget about Tucker. Now, the only chance he had was a fat one.

  Blythe’s view was unobstructed when she saw Jace come through the door with Tucker, who followed his brother’s gaze and looked straight at her. And damn him, he smiled. She couldn’t help herself; she smiled back.

  The roar of the crowd in the arena had quelled to background noise. Everything else but Tucker faded away.

  “Holy shit,” she heard someone say. It might’ve been Lyric. “Damn, those two are hot.”

  “Mmm hmm,” Blythe murmured. It was precisely what she thought when they’d climbed out of the truck, the first time she saw them.

  They looked so much alike—yet so different. Jace was all cowboy tonight. Tucker, on the other hand, had on a dark turtleneck sweater, which, from a distance, looked rich and soft. He moved with perfect grace in his snug jeans, and while she couldn’t tell from where she was, she guessed he had on the same black boots he was wearing when she met him.

  He looked like an artist, or maybe a writer. At the same time, he fit in perfectly in the rodeo setting. He moved with the ease of a man accustomed to being around rough stock.

  Her gaze shifted to Jace, who looked as though he’d been able to read her thoughts and knew they had nothing to do with him. Disappointment carved grooves in his brow; his eyes darkened and lost their fire.

  Blythe wanted to comfort him, tell him it would be okay, but the man standing next to him made that impossible. Even from a hundred feet away, Blythe was willing to do whatever Tucker asked of her. No one had ever affected her this way. Not even Jace.

  There she was. Not close enough to touch, but almost. Tucker wanted to jump the fence and walk straight through the arena to her, but he couldn’t get his body to move. It was as though a part of him was acutely aware that, once he moved, once he walked to where she was, once he touched her, his life and hers would irrevocably change.

  His face still held a smile. He couldn’t help himself; seeing her made him happy. And she smiled back. How long had they been staring at each other from this distance? Not so long that her eyes showed doubt. They still held his, transfixed.

  He kept his gaze on her while he weaved his way in and out of the crowd. She stood and walked in his direction. God, he liked that about her, that she wouldn’t simply stand and wait. She’d come to him, too.

  It was all she could do not to run. It was too crowded to, but that’s what her body longed to do. The walk to him seemed impossibly long.

  He was still a few feet away when she stopped. What was she doing? This was not a long lost lover or even a dear friend. This was a man she’d had dinner with once, then he left and hadn’t said goodbye. She hadn’t heard a word from him since. What was she thinking? She shook her head and turned to go back to her seat.

  She stopped. Why? And worse, instead of coming to him, she was walking away. Tucker worked his way through the last of the crowd that separated them and grabbed her arm, right above her elbow.

  “Blythe?”

  She jerked her arm away. “I can’t do this.”

  A wall of people trying to move through the coliseum prevented her from getting any farther away from him. Tucker stood behind her and put his hand on her waist. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  He felt her body tense. Her breathing accelerated. “What for?” she asked.

  “Everything,” he answered.

  “Let go of me, Tucker” she cried, but at the same time, leaned back into him.

  When she did, he wrapped his arm further around her waist and held on tight. “Don’t walk away from me,” he murmured.

  “You can’t do this. Jace—”

  “He knows why I’m here.”

  Tucker maneuvered h
er out of the crowd and off to the side, out of the way of the mass of people.

  He spun her around against the tile wall, bringing his hand up to caress her face. He’d been dreaming about this too long. It was time to make his dreams a reality. He looked into her eyes, which were darting back and forth between his and his mouth.

  “Blythe,” he said again before he covered her lips with his. His other arm wrapped around her waist, and he held her as close to him as he could.

  She wasn’t fighting against him—she wasn’t trying to stop their kiss. Slowly, the hands that had been stiff against him held on tight instead. She gripped the front of his shirt, digging her fingers into his chest.

  “Come on,” he said, pulling her toward the door leading outside the coliseum.

  “No,” she might not be able to resist him, but she was not leaving. “I’m here to watch Billy and Jace ride. I’m not going anywhere with you. If you want to see me, you’ll have to stay here.”

  He grinned. “Oh yeah? You puttin’ your foot down?”

  She smiled. She didn’t want to, but when Tucker did, she couldn’t help herself. When he went from thundercloud broody to hot as the summer sun, there was nothing she could do but melt under the heat of him.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “I am.” She shimmied away from him but took his hand as she did.

  “Where you takin’ me, girl?”

  “We have an extra seat. It’s your lucky night,” she murmured.

  He released her hand as they merged into the crowd and planted his hands on her hips. He held on tight, and when she turned, his hand cupped her bottom. When she swatted at him, he squeezed tighter.

  “You want my hands all over you, don’t you, Blythe?”

  “I see you didn’t leave your arrogance in Spain.”

  He laughed. Blythe pushed his buttons, every one of them, in all the right ways.

  “You remember Renie,” Blythe said when they got to the seats. “And this is Lyric Simmons.”

  Tucker was polite and said hello, but his gaze lingered on Blythe. Even when they sat, he couldn’t look away. He’d pictured her in his mind; he’d painted her from his memory, but now she was next to him. He wanted to do nothing but soak in the sight of her.

  “You’re making me uncomfortable,” she whispered.

  “I don’t care.” His eyes trailed from hers, over her body. “You wouldn’t leave with me, so you’ll have to deal with the fact that I can’t take my eyes off of you. I thought about you every minute, Blythe. Every minute.”

  Her eyes closed, longer than a blink. Her cheeks flushed. He leaned over and put his lips where he watched the pulse of her heart beating, stronger and stronger the more he said.

  “Oh my God,” she groaned. “You’ve made your point.” She moved away from him. “I told you I’m not leaving until Billy and Jace have ridden. The minute they have, we can go. Good enough?”

  He answered her with a kiss—deep and hot enough that he was sure he was making everyone around them as uncomfortable as he was making her. He didn’t care.

  7

  Jace wanted to slam his hand into the nearest wall, but it was concrete, so he pulled his punch right before it made contact. Goddamn Tucker.

  Part of him wanted to storm out, throw his hands in the air, and quit. But that wasn’t who he was. He’d wanted to ride for Blythe tonight, show her how hard he’d been working at this. Make her proud. Now he doubted she’d be paying attention anyway.

  What was wrong with him? Why had he told Tucker he planned to see her?

  “How ya doin’ there, Romeo?”

  “Fuck off, Billy.”

  “Couple rabbits over there checkin’ you out.”

  “I mean it, Patterson, leave me the hell alone.”

  Billy slugged him. “We gotta get you a woman, Rice. You’ve been strikin’ out on yer own. I’ll see if I can help ya out.”

  Tucker felt Jace’s pain strongly enough that he eased away from their kiss. Worse, though, Blythe had seen the look on his brother’s face, and it had devastated her. He knew the minute, the very instant, she realized how much they’d hurt him.

  She’d gotten up and hurried off before Tucker realized what was happening. By the time he got up to follow her, she was far enough ahead of him that he couldn’t catch her before she slipped into the ladies’ room.

  He’d been standing near the door long enough to worry she’d stay in there the rest of the night. He thought about asking one of the women going in, to check on her, but what could he say? He was tempted to go in after her himself.

  “Hey,” she said, finally coming back out.

  “Hey. You okay?”

  “No. I’m not. What’re you gonna do about it? Anything?”

  He laughed. He couldn’t help it.

  “It isn’t funny, Tucker. You know what else? You’re a shitty brother.”

  He shrugged outwardly, but inside he knew she was right.

  “This is Jace’s night, not yours. Is this the way it’s always been with you two?”

  Tucker didn’t know what to say. He didn’t think so, but maybe it was.

  “You know how I feel, don’t you?” she asked.

  “I think so,” he said, but he wasn’t sure exactly what she was referring to. Was she talking about how she felt about him or about the situation with Jace or something else?

  “Why did you leave?”

  He was afraid that was what she meant, as much as he hoped she wouldn’t go there. “It’s complicated.”

  “Why did you leave?”

  “I already answered that question.”

  “No, you didn’t. You have serious problems, Tucker. If you’re unwilling to talk to me about them, then I can’t get involved with you. I mean, you just got up and left in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. What the hell?”

  “It was what your dad said.”

  “Now this is my dad’s fault.” She turned to walk away.

  “Wait,” he grabbed her arm. “That isn’t what I meant.”

  She pulled her arm away. “I’m getting tired of you grabbing me. Don’t do that. If I walk away, you can either let me go, or you can follow me, but quit grabbing at me.”

  He held both hands in the air.

  “I don’t even know you,” she stammered.

  “Yes, you do. And what’s more, you want to know me better.”

  “I don’t think I do, and I’m not being a smart ass when I say that.”

  “You can’t help yourself any more than I can.”

  “I don’t know, Tucker. It would be so much easier to walk away, find another guy who doesn’t have a twin brother, for one. Someone who doesn’t have so many damn problems.”

  Tucker and Blythe’s phones both pinged at the same time. If they hadn’t, neither might have looked. But it was Jace and he was getting ready to ride. He wanted to know if either one of them were still there.

  Blythe stormed off, leaving Tucker unsure of which way he should go. There was one thing she’d been right about, he was a shitty brother. Instead of following her, Tucker went in the direction of the chutes.

  Blythe got back to her seat in time to see Jace lowering himself on the back of the bronc. She held her breath as she waited for him to signal that he was ready for his crew to pull the door of the chute open.

  Lyric leaned over. “Marking out is the first step. Do you know what that is, Blythe?”

  God, she could kiss Lyric. That would certainly solve some of her problems, but this was for a different reason. Blythe had no idea what to look for, and Lyric was going to explain it to her.

  “He has to have both spurs touching the bronc above the point of the horse’s shoulder on its first jump out of the bucking chutes. If he doesn’t, he won’t get a score.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then he has to time his movements with the horse’s jumps. He’ll need to move his feet in an arc from the horse’s shoulders back to the saddle skirt. The more even and accurate his movements, the
more points he’ll earn. Course, he’s gotta stay on for eight seconds, if he gets bucked off, none of the rest matters.”

  “Thanks, Lyric.”

  When the chute opened, Jace looked like he was in the right position based on what Lyric told her. Blythe couldn’t tell if he was doing the rest of what she’d said; she only watched the clock. Six, seven, eight seconds…the pickup men scooped him off and he was on the ground, celebrating.

  Blythe jumped up and down, clapping her hands. Renie let out a loud whistle, and Lyric was hooting and hollering. He saw her, she was sure of it. He knew she’d watched him ride.

  Tucker made her blood boil, but Jace—he melted her heart. She’d never feel about him the way that she did about Tucker, but it didn’t matter. In that moment, she knew exactly what she had to do.

  By the time the excitement died down and anyone was paying attention, Blythe was gone. They’d assume she went to see Jace, or to find Tucker, but she wasn’t doing either.

  “What do you mean she’s not with you, Renie?”

  “I thought she was coming down here.”

  Jace ran his hand through his hair. Where in the hell had she gone? She wasn’t with Tucker, he was standing right next to him.

  “Call her,” Jace barked at Renie.

  “What do you think I’ve been doing? I called her, I texted her. She isn’t answering. And you can stop yelling at me now, Jace Rice.”

  “What’s goin’ on?” Billy put his arm around Renie’s shoulder and scowled at Jace.

  “Blythe left. We don’t know where she is.”

  “Call her dad.”

  “You think she would’ve called him?” asked Jace.

  Billy shook his head. “Why the hell would I tell you to call him if I didn’t think so?”

  Renie had her phone to her ear and was walking away. A couple minutes later, she came back, no longer on the phone.

  “He said she’s fine, but that’s all he’d tell me.”

  “Where is she?”

  “He wouldn’t say, but he’s coming to get her.”

  “How does he know for sure she’s okay?”