And this rodeo-bunny-wannabe had to bring up his failed career.
In front of Valri, who for some unknown reason, he actually wanted to impress.
Valri's latte-colored eyes assessed him steadily as he shrugged. Conveniently, Brandi's hand fell away from his shoulder.
"And you are…?" he said, desperate for the focus to come off of him.
"Valri North."
He stuck out his hand and enveloped her smaller, cool one. "Nice to meet you, Valri."
She smiled, a real smile. Guileless. Kind.
He had to swallow hard.
"So should we interview each other?" Brandi's voice intruded on the moment that had seemed almost private. He glanced at her, realizing he'd almost turned his shoulder on her.
She was motioning between herself and him, as if she hadn't even noticed Valri's presence.
"That would leave out Valri, wouldn't it?"
He saw the beginnings of a pout in the downturned corners of her lips, and he rushed on to forestall it.
"How about Brandi can interview me, Valri can interview Brandi, and I'll interview Valri. Does that work?"
Brandi seemed to accept the plan with a tight smile and a small huff of air.
Valri flipped open a notebook and poised her pen over the top as if eager to take notes.
He stretched back in his chair, letting its front legs come off the floor. Pretended like it didn't bother him to have to open up to two virtual strangers. Nope, didn't bother him in the least.
Yeah, right.
"So… three things?" He interlocked the fingers of both hands behind his head, trying to look relaxed. "I'm a former bull rider," he said with a nod to Brandi, who looked like she was soaking up every single word he said. Great. He'd have to figure out a way to avoid her over the next eight weeks.
"I love ice cream," he went on. It was a good thing too, with his niece Livy running her own gourmet ice cream business. He, his brother, Maddox, and his cousin, Ryan would likely be thirty pounds overweight if they didn't work it off doing manual labor to keep the family farm operational.
He continued, "And I love Christmas." Also true.
Brandi wrinkled her nose. "Those are the most interesting things about you?"
"Yup." The most interesting things he was willing to share with her, a virtual stranger-slash-bunny.
"Shouldn't you mention you're a coffee aficionado?" Valri whispered.
His eyes darted to her. She was grinning, a private grin, one that he wanted to answer.
There was danger in those brown eyes, that sweet smile. And yet he couldn't resist answering her. "Can you be an aficionado if you've never tried anything but black?"
"What?" Brandi asked, clearly lost.
He turned back to her and shook his head.
The blonde bunny looked like she wanted to say something else, probably ask if he were single. Her mouth even parted, but then Valri broke in. "We only have five minutes left to complete the assignment. Brandi, why don't you go next?"
The blonde huffed, but Valri didn't look like she'd be swayed. She was maybe, what…? A year older than Brandi at the most? But there was something different about her. Something serious, older than her years, behind those eyes.
Whatever it was, it drew him. He locked those feelings down, tied them off as tight as he used to tie his grip hand when he was on the back of a bull.
"I'm a Taurus. I was on the cheer squad all four years of high school." She delivered that with a quirk of her head. "And I was prom queen."
Valri's dutifully made notes, but he saw the corner of her mouth quirking.
Was she thinking the same thing he was? That Bunny Brandi was living in the past, still riding on high school successes?
It made him feel old. And a little sorry for her. He'd learned the hard way that living in the past was a surefire way to miss out on the present.
He heard Brandi's intake of air, as if she were going to throw herself into the conversation again.
He jumped in before she could. "All right, Valri. What are the three most interesting things about you?"
A slight pink tinged her cheeks, and her eyes flicked down to her desk. "I'm the third of ten children in my family."
"Wow." He hadn't meant to speak aloud, but her chin came up, her eyes flashing to him.
"By credit hours, I'm a junior. And I'm going to be a doctor."
She said it with such calm certainty, he was momentarily envious.
He heard her stomach gurgle again, and his curiosity was piqued. She was the most interesting person he'd met in a long time—mostly because he'd purposely avoided situations like this. He tended to stay away from girls that had settle down with me written all over them. And even though she was chasing an ambitious dream, he'd place money on Valri being married before she graduated med school. Some lucky guy was going to snatch her up.
It just couldn't be him.
The prof called the class back to order, and the students on the first row started the introductions. Justin settled his chair with all four legs back on the floor and shifted slightly when the constant ache in his pelvis became too sharp.
When it was his turn to stand up with Brandi and Valri, he was careful to push up from the desk with his arms, surreptitiously steadying himself until he could get his legs beneath him.
Maybe it was egotistical, but Valri had always seen him sitting in his truck. She didn't know he limped like a gimpy old man or that sometimes his legs didn't want to hold him up. And he didn't want her to witness him fall on his face tonight.
There'd been chemistry between them. He didn't want to watch it disappear when she realized how broken he was.
Chapter Three
Justin kicked his booted feet out of the way as Valri rushed into class, with wisps of her dark hanging down into her face. She set that back-breaking load of books on her desk with a thunk and collapsed into her seat.
"Three minutes to spare," he said.
She folded her arms over the backpack and lowered her head onto them with a groan, burying her face so he couldn't see it. Since the first night, she hadn't been officially late, though she'd rushed into class almost every time.
"I can't do this," she said, her voice muffled by her sweatshirt.
"What, give your speech?"
Two weeks into the class and the first presentation was due. He'd watched the first half of the class give their three-minute speeches during the last class period. He'd been bored to tears—except when he was biting back laughter. The kids were green, all of them.
None of them had been stepped on by the two-and-a-half ton bull of life, not like Justin had.
He pushed the wrapped deli sandwich from his desk onto Valri's.
She looked up at the rattle of paper, then looked at him, tilting her head to the side.
"Finally got tired of hearing your stomach growl all during class."
She turned a pretty shade of rose. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he said. "Seems like you're always rushing in at the last minute."
Brandi slurped her drink, setting the disposable cup on the corner of her desk, just inches from the matching cup in front of him.
"We were at Jay's Deli before class. You should stop by sometime," Brandi said.
He gritted his teeth. The blonde made it look as if they'd been there together. Sure, they'd both been there, but only because she'd followed him in to the deli and then stood too close in line. He'd rebuffed her to the point of near-rudeness so he could eat his sandwich alone.
Valri's eyes flicked between the two of them. She nodded, but her earlier smile had faded. "Thanks."
She tucked the sandwich into the top of her backpack, exchanging it for a stack of three-by-five cards. Her hands were shaking.
"Aren't you going to eat it?"
"Not until after I do my speech. I already feel nauseous."
She did look a little green.
"You're nervous?"
"Aren't you?"
; "I'm not." Brandi inserted herself into the conversation again. She leaned forward, her eyes locked on Justin. "I bet when you've faced down a two-thousand-pound animal, public speaking seems pretty boring."
With Brandi leaning toward him like that, there was nowhere to go. It was like being pinned to the arena railing with an angry animal and no rodeo clown to save your life. Sorta.
He leaned toward Valri. Their eyes met and caught for a long second before the professor began the class. She turned to face the front of the classroom.
Public speaking might not be the adrenaline rush he'd experienced on the back of a bull, but there was nothing boring about Valri. It was why he'd done his best not to notice her for the first two weeks of class, at least not outside polite greetings and goodbyes.
What had possessed him to bring her a sandwich tonight?
That definitely showed he'd noticed her. And that he liked her.
That was dangerous. Not only was he a has-been, but with his history, he was no good for someone like Valri. He doubted she would even give him the time of day if she knew about his womanizing days. Or worse, the addiction he'd fought—and still fought—after his injury.
He'd keep his secrets, pretend that being friendly in class was enough for him when he really wanted more. He wanted to know her.
He probably cared what she thought a little too much, because he'd always dawdled gathering up his things after class, sometimes even talking to Brandi, though he tried to talk to the jock one seat in front of him when he could.
All because he didn't want Valri to see him limp out of the classroom.
Stupid pride.
Tonight it was all going up in flames, because he was going to have to stand up and walk down the stadium-style stairs to the front of the classroom.
And try not to fall on his face.
The prof had been calling students in alphabetical order, so Justin's name was called soon.
He pushed out from the desk and ambled down the aisle toward the stairs. How many times had he done something similar on the rodeo circuit? Pretended he was fine before a ride, when in reality, he'd been full of aches and pains? Once he'd even ridden with a broken wrist.
This was just like that. Except not.
#
Valri watched the long-legged cowboy limp down the stairs toward the podium. For a moment, the anxiety that plagued her was relegated to the back burner as she guessed what possible injury he might have.
Why hadn't she seen him limp before? Because he always remained seated after class, making friends and flirting.
He'd never flirted with her.
She'd noticed, of course, because something had passed between them that first night. He didn't seem to really be interested in Brandi. She couldn't put her finger on it, but when he flirted with the other girl, something felt off. Like he was going through the motions. Like his heart wasn't really in it.
She looked at the sandwich sticking out of her backpack. That gesture had clogged her throat with emotion.
Her family was great. She loved the big, noisy bunch. But someone constantly needed something. Homework help. Supper. A ride to band practice.
Having someone look after her was a nice surprise. A shocking surprise.
Justin lay his single sheet of notebook paper on the podium and looked up at the audience. He spoke with a calm, self-assured presence, telling the class about the benefits of small business ownership, using several anecdotes about his niece and her ice cream.
He kept looking at her. Oh, she knew she was probably imagining it, but every time his eyes roved the seated students, his gaze seemed to settle on her.
The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile, as if they were sharing a secret.
Maybe she wasn't imagining it, because a girl seated in the row in front of her craned her neck back and looked right at Valri.
Her face burned. Like she hadn't been nervous enough.
Thankfully, his three minutes and the weird looks ended, and he slowly made his way back up to their row and slouched in his chair.
Two students separated him and Valri alphabetically. Six minutes...five now before she had to stand up in front of everyone.
Her stomach gurgled, and not in an I'm hungry kind of way. She pressed a trembling hand into her gut, but it didn't help. Her other hand tapped on her notes. The slight noise just agitated her further, but she couldn't seem to stop.
"Don't worry."
Justin leaned toward her, his wide hand settling on the edge of her desk.
She couldn't even speak to tell him to be quiet. Her stupid fingers tapped faster.
"Everyone is nervous," he whispered.
She wasn't one to talk in class—always afraid of getting in trouble. But she hissed, "You weren't."
"Sure I was. Why do you think I kept looking at you? Prettiest girl in the room distracted me enough that I got over it."
He was lying. He had to be. She definitely wasn't the prettiest girl in this class. She wasn't even wearing makeup.
But then his hand closed over hers, stilling her fingers from tapping.
His hand was warm. Heat slid up her arm and then flamed into her face.
He'd said she was the prettiest girl in the room. What if he hadn't been kidding?
Belatedly, she registered her name being called. She jerked her head up to see the professor staring at her with a hard look in his eyes.
Justin let go of her hand, and she stumbled up from the desk.
Somehow she made it down the stairs.
And then as she stepped off the last step, her trembling fingers dropped the index cards.
There was an audible gasp from someone on the front row.
Fire streaked through her, burning up her neck and face as she knelt to gather them up.
There were twenty cards, and as she held the jumble in her violently shaking hands, she stepped behind the podium.
She tried to sort them, but somehow her vision had blurred.
The professor cleared his throat.
Her mind was completely blank. She was going to bomb this speech.
#
"The usual?"
The next morning, Justin sat in his truck at the Coffee Hut, his breath fogging the space between his truck and the drive-up window. It was colder than usual for late-October in Oklahoma.
Valri's usual sparkle was missing, her greeting subdued. He could tell she was still upset about what had happened last night with her presentation.
Last night she'd trudged back up the stairs with her shoulders hunched and had practically ran out the room at the end of the class period. He'd seen the tears pooled in her eyes.
Obviously, it was still on her mind.
"I was thinking about trying one of those caramel what's-see-do-hickeys."
She'd already taken a cardboard cup from the stack. She turned back toward the window in shock. "A macchiato? You really want to try one?"
He let the corners of his mouth tip up. "Nope."
She rolled her eyes, but her shoulders had lifted slightly.
"You weren't that bad," he said.
She shot him a scathing, skeptical look. "I was horrible."
It hadn't been that bad. She'd started out shaky, her voice trembling and too quiet, but then she'd found her feet and finished fairly strong.
"Some of the other kids messed up, too," he offered, wanting to console her. "Brandi didn't do so hot—"
"Brandi doesn't want to be a doctor."
He laughed, but she was as steamed as the coffee that gurgled in the machine in front of her.
What was the big deal? This was just one part of the grade. And even if she had to retake the class, which he thought was very doubtful, it wasn't that big a deal, was it?
"Flubbing one presentation isn't going to ruin your entire academic career."
She just shook her head, passing his black coffee through the window. When their fingers tangled and he would have normally backed off, he grasped them.
&
nbsp; Her eyes flew to his, and the hint of vulnerability in their depths hit him like a punch in the guts. "It's going to be all right."
She pushed the coffee cup into his hand and drew back, then blew a breath upward to dislodge a wisp of hair that had stuck to her forehead. She shook her head slightly. "I wish I could believe you, but I'm afraid this is going to mess up my plans."
He let his eyebrows rise slightly. "You've got a master plan, huh?"
She looked slightly sheepish, but when she spoke it was with a distinctly determined air. "The plan is to apply to med school this spring. If my GPA tanks because of this class, I won't get into the school I want."
"I doubt your GPA will tank if you make a C for Comm 2."
She shrugged, now avoiding his gaze. "I need to pull a B or better. I don't know if I can recover from last night's disaster."
He didn't know what to say. The longer this conversation went on, the more it ventured into friend territory. And he needed to keep her in the acquaintance zone. Friend was only one step removed from dating, and that was a place he definitely couldn't go.
But then she hiked her chin. "I'm going to pull my grade up," she said firmly. "And I'm going to follow the plan."
He had to smile at her insistence.
But later, long after he'd driven off and was back at the farm, when he was repairing a torn section of barbed-wire fence, he couldn't shake the memory of her passion and determination.
What was that like, having such a firm destination for your life?
He didn't know what he would be doing next week, other than more of the same. He had no idea what he wanted out of life.
Except for more time with her—the one thing he couldn't have.
Valri was like one of the bright red cardinals that soared out of the woods behind the barn. She was on an upward trajectory, spreading her wings and flying.
And he was grounded. Too afraid to take a risk again, too afraid that his past was going to catch up with him. What if he hit rock bottom again? He didn't know if he had the strength to pull himself up all over again.
Mistletoe Cowboy: A Cowboy Inspirational Romance Page 2
