Lassoed Into Marriage

by Christine Wenger

  “You.”

  The telltale warmth immediately hit her cheeks and started spreading like a pink stain. Her mouth went dry.

  “Whew, that was a surprise,” she said. “Tell me why.”

  “Because we’re good together. I’m not just talking about sex—I’m talking about several things.”

  The waiter arrived with their drinks then. She’d ordered a virgin strawberry margarita, And Sully had ordered a beer.

  Lisa couldn’t wait to get back to their conversation, although the mood was broken.

  Sully held up his beer for a toast. “To Lisa, who I’d love to have with me on a deserted island because we have intelligent conversations, we compromise, we have heated discussions that I enjoy and I think we make a good team—Team Rose. Life wouldn’t be dull on that island if you were there.”

  She smiled. She liked his “several things.” “Thanks, Sully.”

  He leaned over and was about to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned her face so his kiss would land on her lips.

  “I wish I could peel that bathing suit off you and make love to you right in the middle of that waterfall over there.” He pointed to the one on the left. “I’ll meet you here tonight around midnight after the bull riding.”

  Her cheeks couldn’t get any hotter or her mouth any dryer. She sipped her drink.

  “What about Rose? We can’t leave her alone.”

  “I have it covered,” Sully said. “I called a friend of mine. She’ll watch over Rose. Rose will be sleeping anyway.”

  “I can see you have everything all planned. What if I don’t show?”

  “I think you will.”

  “You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you, cowboy?”

  “Sure am.” He winked and tweaked the brim of his cowboy hat. Then he stood and pulled his bathing suit away from his crotch.

  They made eye contact and smiled.

  “I’m going to take Rose on the lazy river. Hopefully, it’ll be cold water.”

  Lisa grinned. It made her feel sexy that she could turn him on.

  “Then I have to get ready and head to the arena,” he said. “Would you like to join us in the water?”

  “I think I’ll stay here and enjoy my drink.”

  “We’ll meet you back here.”

  As she watched him take Rose’s hand and walk through the crowd, Lisa thought about Sully’s proposition. It excited her and made her apprehensive at the same time.

  But what happened to her position that they should be just friends?

  Their first encounter was simply to get rid of the tension. They gave in, it was fabulous and that should have been it.

  If things didn’t work out between them, could they go back to being friends and living under the same roof until Rose was eighteen?

  Fifteen years was a long time.

  They were adults, she decided. They could work things out for Rose’s sake.

  Lisa knew one thing for sure—she’d be waiting under that waterfall at midnight and would deal with the consequences later.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sully bribed the security guards to let them through the locked gates and into the pool area.

  It was worth the two hundred bucks.

  Only a few lights were on, giving the place a surreal look. It was a beautiful evening, warm with a slight breeze. It was a perfect night to make love with a beautiful woman.

  He was glad that Lisa had met him. He had come right from the fan club signing after the event. Earlier, Lisa and Rose had ridden back to the hotel with his friend Barbara Brennan, who worked in the Pueblo, Colorado, office of the Professional Bull Riders. She was going to watch Rose for a while.

  When Lisa slipped off her dress, a type of cover-up, he couldn’t believe his eyes. She wore the hottest red bikini with silver beading on it.

  Wow.

  He took her hand and they walked down the steps into the pool, then over to the waterfall.

  The rush of the falls over the rocks, the noise when it hit the standing water and the spray made it seem like they were in their own little world.

  As the water sluiced over them, Sully couldn’t stop kissing Lisa. She seemed like she was enjoying the moment, too. Her arms were around his neck, and her legs were around his waist.

  She had to feel his erection through the thin fabric of her bathing suit.

  She stood, bent over and then tossed her suit bottoms on one of the rocks. Sully did the same with his trunks. Then he picked her up again. But this time he slid into her and she gasped. He stroked her hard and fast, and she met him move for move.

  He knew he was going too fast, and he slowed down for her to catch up with him.

  When he started to move again, Lisa threw her head back. He kissed her neck, her jaw, her lips.

  “Faster,” she said.

  He obliged.

  He heard Lisa whisper his name, and she closed her eyes and groaned.

  Waves of pleasure washed over him as he let himself go, holding on to Lisa as if she were his lifeline.

  * * *

  Sully walked Barbara out to the lobby, where the bellman whistled for a taxi for her. He went back to the hotel room and joined Lisa in the shower.

  After toweling off, they adjourned to Sully’s room and made love again.

  Later, they spooned together and Sully had never felt so content.

  “Are you happy, Lisa?”

  “Mmm...I am, Sully. I really am.”

  “Have you had any thoughts about us getting married?”

  “Married? Us?” He could feel her tense. “I haven’t given it much thought—if any. No. No. Not at all.”

  He thought she protested too much, or she definitely was repulsed at the idea of marrying him.

  “We can’t get married, Sully. We shouldn’t. There’s too much to consider. There’s too much at risk.”

  “Like what?”

  “What if we didn’t make it and got divorced? How do we share Rose? You’d be the weekend daddy, and I’d be the primary care mommy? Oh wait...you work and travel on weekends. We’d have to reverse those roles. I wouldn’t want Rose to have to go through a divorce after losing her parents.”

  “So you don’t think we can go the distance?” Sully asked.

  “I don’t know. We’re so different.”

  “We have a lot of things in common.”

  “Superficial things.”

  “They’re not so superficial, Lisa.”

  “It’ll be too complicated. Can’t we just go on like we are?” she asked.

  He grunted. She was just making excuses.

  “Yeah, we can go on like we are,” he said.

  He felt mad and then stupid. He’d thought she’d feel the same way he did about them getting married.

  “I know!” He snapped his fingers. “We can raise Rose during the day and sneak into bed the second she takes a nap in the afternoon or goes to sleep at night. We could always have a sitter on standby in case we have an immediate urge for sex. Maybe we should have two sitters on standby. Let’s synchronize our watches. Ready, set, sex!”

  Lisa moved away from him. She didn’t say a word but pulled the sheet off the bed, wrapped it around herself and walked out of his room.

  Sully felt like all his happiness was draining from his body. He didn’t realize he’d fallen so hard for Lisa.

  He loved her, dammit!

  But she obviously didn’t feel the same way about him.

  * * *

  What the hell was that about?

  Lisa slipped into her nightgown and stood in the middle of her bedroom in astonishment.

  Sully and she had just made love a couple of times, and they were perfectly content and
sated. Then Sully asked out of the freaking blue how she felt about marriage.

  What kind of a question was that? Was he asking her to marry him or to think about marrying him? Besides, he never even told her that he loved her. What was he doing—testing the waters?

  Or did he think that their marriage would make Rose more secure or make his parents happy? His parents were old-school. Her hippie parents couldn’t care less.

  She’d told Sully her reasons why they should remain status quo, but he dismissed them without much consideration.

  As she slipped into bed, she decided that she should have told Sully the truth—that she had wondered several times what it would be like to be married to him. That’s how she came up with the reasons it wouldn’t work.

  Then again...maybe it would work. Maybe they should take the chance.

  Aw, hell! She might as well admit that she loved him! Yes, she wanted to marry him. Maybe on some occasion he’d even ask her nicely, but only if he loved her back.

  * * *

  Three days later, Sully stood in Carol’s garden, roping the statue of Athena yet again. He’d been there forever tossing his lasso, going to the statue, pulling off the loop and roping it again.

  He must have something on his mind.

  So he roped Athena.

  After Lisa drained a glass of iced tea, she decided that the garden needed weeding, so she yanked out things that she hoped were weeds and not flowers. She got to the sign that said “Carol’s Garden. Fairies enter here.” She’d always think of it at Carol’s garden and vowed to keep it blooming in memory of her.

  Lisa sat down at the concrete bench to take a break. Sully looked over, wound his rope and walked over to join her. She made room for him, knowing that he had something to discuss with her.

  He grinned. “I have a birthday present for you.”

  “My birthday isn’t until next week.”

  “I know, but I wanted to give you this early so we can plan. We’re going to need babysitters.”

  He pulled a card out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

  Intrigued, she opened it. “Dancing lessons!”

  “Ballroom dancing lessons. Didn’t you tell me once that it was your dream to take ballroom dancing lessons?”

  “You remembered!”

  “Of course I remembered.” He extended his hand to her. “But first things first.”

  He got down on one knee.

  “Sully, what on Earth? Oh my...”

  “Lisa Phillips, I admire you. I love talking to you. We have yin and yang.” He smiled. “I love how we are raising Rose together, and I’d love to raise even more children with you, if we are so blessed. I love you, and I’d be honored if you’d marry me. We can adopt Rose and really make her ours.”

  “Yes, yes, yes! I’ll marry you, Sully. I love you. I really do.” She looked up at all the windows of the big Victorian. “I want to fill those rooms.”

  He pulled a ring out of the pocket of his jeans. “This was my grandmother’s. I’d like you to have it but, of course, if you’d like another ring, we could go to the jewelry store and I’ll buy whatever you like, and—”

  “I’d love to wear your grandmother’s ring!”

  Sully slipped it on her finger. It fit perfectly.

  She helped him up, and they kissed. It was a special kiss because it was in Carol’s garden, and it sealed their promise of love.

  Lisa knew that they’d always compromise and work together. She knew that there would always be laughter in the big, old Victorian thanks to Sully, although she could hold her own with him now.

  Sully knew that there’d never be a dull moment with Lisa. She was one special and smart lady. Besides, she liked his motor home.

  To make the moment even more perfect, Rose burst out of the house, ran right to them and hugged them both.

  “I saw you, Uncle Sully! I saw you kneel down and ask her. And then you kissed Aunt Lisa a really long time!”

  Sully laughed. “Your aunt Lisa said yes. We’re going to get married, Rose.”

  She turned toward Lisa. “Aunt Lisa, am I going to be a flower girl?”

  “You sure are, sweetie!”

  “Yee-haw.”

  * * *

  It was Sunday. Yesterday they had all flown commercial to Indianapolis for three days of bull riding. Today, the bull riding was at two o’clock. They had time to have a nice breakfast buffet and to attend Cowboy Church in the arena before the event.

  Sully left to get ready for the event, and she and Rose took a walk around the event center. They stopped for cotton candy, and Lisa made Rose sit down to eat.

  What a mess! They had to spend a half hour in the ladies’ room getting the cotton candy out of Rose’s hair and off her face and fingers.

  Lisa heard the arena come to life, so they hurried to their assigned seats. The riders were introduced, the national anthem was played and the bull riding was set to go.

  Sully was going to be the last to ride because he’d won yesterday’s event. It was a long wait for Sully, and Rose was very fidgety in her seat and getting cranky and tired. She just wanted Uncle Sully to ride, and there was nothing Lisa could do to get her to calm down.

  Lisa asked Rose to sit on her lap, and Lisa rocked her to sleep. The tired little girl just needed an afternoon nap.

  Finally, it was Sully’s turn. Lisa debated whether to wake up Rose, but in the end she decided to let her sleep. She’d probably get a hash mark against her name in the Bad Mommy Hall of Fame, next to the hash mark for “forgot Rose’s special DVD to watch on the plane.”

  Sully drew a very rank bull, Bullistic, who had never been ridden and who had been out more than forty times. The arena announcers were in awe of Bullistic, calling him “the meanest bull on four hooves.”

  The gate opened and Bullistic jumped in the air as if he were in Swan Lake. He twisted and turned, and Sully went flying, but not before he smashed his face on the bull’s horns. Sully lay on his back on the arena dirt, out cold.

  As the bullfighters tried to keep Bullistic away from Sully and get the bull back behind the chutes, Sully lay unprotected in the arena. The sports medicine team couldn’t get to him while a bull was loose.

  Bullistic spotted Sully and took off after him. He rolled him several feet with his horns. Sully looked like a rag doll being tossed around. He was still out cold, his face was bloody, and Lisa thought that he’d lost some teeth.

  Lisa held her breath. She was about to scream, but she didn’t want to wake Rose. She was thankful for her decision not to wake her for Sully’s ride. Seeing Sully hurt and bloody would upset their niece.

  Just when the bull was about to go into the gate, he made another charge at Sully. He threw him in the air with his horns, and Sully landed yet again on the dirt.

  Finally, Bullistic was roped and back behind the chutes.

  The sports medicine team rushed out. The lead doctor examined Sully as a hush fell over the arena. Sully wasn’t able to answer any questions presented to him.

  They strapped him onto a board and carried her fiancé out of the arena.

  The announcers said that they were rushing Sully to an area hospital and that he was still unconscious.

  Lisa needed to know which hospital Sully was being taken to. She’d take a taxi there.

  Lisa woke up Rose and they both left their seats. Lisa tried to get to the back where the contestants were, but she was stopped. Then Security took one look at the tears running down her face, her drippy nose and a sleepy girl in tow, and they rushed her to Sully’s ambulance.

  Barbara Brennan appeared, thrust a wad of tissues into Lisa’s hand and offered to take Rose back to the hotel room and watch her.

  Lisa could have cried harder for the kindness. Instead, she blotted her f
ace, blew her nose and squatted to her niece’s level.

  “Rose, Uncle Sully got hurt riding his bull. He’s going to the hospital to see a doctor. Will you go to the hotel with Mrs. Brennan while I go to the hospital with Uncle Sully?”

  “I wanna go with you!” She started to cry. “I wanna see Uncle Sully.”

  The ambulance attendants were motioning for Lisa to get into the ambulance.

  “Please, Rose. Do what I ask. You’ll see Uncle Sully soon enough, but not now, sweetie. Go with Mrs. Brennan.”

  “No!” she screamed.

  “Just go, Lisa,” Barbara said. “She’ll be okay.”

  What could she do? She had to go with Sully.

  In spite of Rose’s screams of anguish, Lisa hurried to the ambulance.

  Once she was in the ambulance and Rose’s screams were replaced by the howl of the siren, Lisa looked at Sully. She couldn’t see much because he was been attended to by the EMTs, but what she did see brought a fresh bout of tears to her eyes.

  She looked down at her engagement ring. It sparkled when the ambulance lights hit it just right.

  “Sully, wake up. Please, wake up and be okay,” she whispered. Then she prayed.

  * * *

  Sully tried to smile at Lisa when he first woke up in the emergency room. She wanted to hold his hand, but she didn’t dare—he was so broken and bloody.

  “You should see the other guy.” Sully could barely talk, and she could barely understand him. He had an IV with three bags dripping into him and gauze in his mouth and towels under his chin to sop up the blood from his missing teeth.

  “Sully, how can you joke at a time like this? You were almost killed.”

  “It goes with the job.”

  “Time for another job, don’t you think? You have a daughter...I mean, you have Rose to think of.”

  “She is our daughter. She really is...our daughter.”

  Whatever was in the IV bags was lulling Sully to sleep.

  Lisa leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. Then she whispered in his ear. “Yes, she is our daughter, and we’re a family.”