Three Weeks With a Bull Rider

by Cat Johnson

  Yup. The other guys thought Tara was with Jace because his arm had been around her. Not a one of them would dare to even look at her, forget about touch her. Jace was certain she’d hate him even more.

  This was fun. Maybe he’d drag his feet and stretch the night out longer, because once they were in that truck, the deal expired. All hell was sure to break loose. Truth be told, he was looking forward to it. Nothing like a little verbal sparring to make the hour-long drive more interesting.

  “I have to get back to work.” Tara leaned away from him.

  “Do I get a good luck kiss before you go?” Jace tapped one finger to his cheek.

  A deep frown creased Tara’s forehead. “No.”

  He laughed. “Oh, all right. Knock ’em dead back in the medical room, darlin’.”

  She raised one dark brow. “Thanks. Hope I don’t see you back there.”

  “Aw, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me. You don’t want me to get hurt.”

  “More like I don’t want to have to take care of you when you do.”

  “No worries. I’m good. I don’t get hurt too often. Though I did have that groin pull last year. You got a special treatment for that?” Jace grinned.

  With a sigh of disgust, Tara pulled away. “See you later. Don’t leave without me.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Jace watched her walk away, then turned back.

  Dillon was laughing. “Yeah, there’s nothing between you two at all.”

  “Whatever.” Jace rolled his eyes. “Which bull did you draw?” Time to get back to business and get his head in the game.

  Bull riding was as much mental as physical. Luckily for Jace, he was good at clearing his mind of everything except the bull beneath him. Tara would probably comment that was because his head was empty.

  Something between him and Tara? Jace snorted. Dillon couldn’t be more off base about that if he tried.

  The amplified voice of the announcer echoed off the walls of the arena. Jace felt the excitement start to build inside him just from the sound. There’d be the presentation of the colors, an opening prayer, and then show time. His body knew what was coming. The adrenaline started to flow, flooding his bloodstream and making it hard to stand still. Every sensation surrounding him—the smell of the bulls, the pounding of the music, the heat building from the crowd—got him primed and ready.

  He’d channel it all for that eight-second battle between him and the bull. And any residual that was left? Well, he could use that for his battle with Tara later.

  Jace grinned and turned toward the arena. Bring it on.

  Chapter Three

  “Hmm.”

  Tara swiveled her head toward Jace where he sat behind the wheel. “Hmm, what?”

  Across the cab of the truck he lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “I thought you’d be a ranting chatterbox during the drive to Stillwater, is all.”

  She shot him a look she hoped would say that she was too tired to bother fighting with him, that at the end of a long night topped off by a long drive with her archenemy, all she wanted to do was go to bed. That reminded her, she had to call Tuck and arrange for a bed. Or at least a sofa and a blanket.

  “I’m tired, is all.” Digging through her bag, she searched blindly for her cell phone. She’d tossed it in there during the team meeting after the event.

  “Oh, poor baby. Are you tired from a little work? No surprise, really. Was it your first time? You know, actually working?” He smirked.

  “Shut up, Jace. You’re an idiot.” It had been a tough night, and Tara imagined it was typical of what she could expect at every event.

  One guy got hung up, had his leg stepped on, and his femur broken. He’d been sent to the hospital in an ambulance. Another guy got thrown off into the rail and was hurting, but nothing was broken. In between were any number of other near emergencies, not to mention all the guys who came injured to the event and rode anyway. They needed ice and bandaging up. Torn ACLs. Bad shoulders. Broken hands. Cracked ribs. Sprained ankles. Those guys rode with it all. They’d grin and bear it for the eight-second ride, then limp back to Tara and the rest of the medical team to be patched up. It was nuts.

  The only saving grace was that Jace hadn’t passed through the door of the medical room. Maybe he was as good a rider as he pretended to be. Whatever. At least she hadn’t had to see him during the event, since she’d agreed to be nice to him. But now that deal had expired, she could say exactly what she felt.

  “I’m the idiot who’s towing your piece of crap car sixty miles from Shawnee to Stillwater, so you’d better be nice to me.”

  He was throwing the favor he was doing for her in her face again. Was it her fault the stupid scrap yard closed early so they had to take her car back to Stillwater with them?

  “I have to call Tuck and tell him I’m coming.” Changing the subject, she scrolled through the numbers on her phone.

  “You didn’t do that already? Good God almighty, Tara. You should have taken care of that earlier. He’s probably sleeping by now. What the hell did you do all night long?”

  “I worked! I told you I was busy.” Jaw clenched, Tara listened to the ringing on the phone line. “It’s ten o’clock on a Saturday night. Why would he be sleeping?”

  “Because he’s a pussy-whipped old married man now, that’s why.”

  Tara scowled at Jace’s use of that nasty term in relation to her brother and at the ridiculous notion that Tuck could be in bed at ten on a weekend.

  “Hello?” Finally, Tuck answered, his voice gruffer than usual.

  Tara had to admit, he didn’t sound very awake. “Why didn’t you call me back? I left a message for you hours and hours ago that my car broke down in Shawnee.”

  “I didn’t see any message.”

  Nice. Good thing she hadn’t been stranded on the side of the road. Or kidnapped, tossed in the trunk, and using her one and only chance to call for help before the bad guys found her phone. “How could you not see it? I left it when I got here. Before the event started.”

  “Tara. Shh. Stop yelling at me. Becca got me drunk at that tasting thing and I have a headache. Frigging wine. Never drinking that shit again.”

  Good. Tara was glad he had a headache since he’d totally let her down. “Whatever. I’m on my way there. Lucky for you, I got a ride with Jace or you’d be here picking me up.”

  Hung over and all, Tuck managed to laugh at that. “No, you’re lucky you got a ride with Jace. No way I could have driven anywhere tonight, forget about Shawnee, to get you. Emma had to drive us all home from the winery in Drumright.”

  Emma. The woman who’d married Logan. It would be too soon if Tara had to ever hear her name again, much less ask her for a favor. Unfortunately, Emma was Becca’s sister, so for better or worse, their paths were bound to cross. Maybe Tara should move out of state after school.

  Somewhere in the back of her consciousness she was aware of Jace’s phone vibrating on the dashboard, and him reaching to answer it. He should be using two hands to drive this monster vehicle of his before he killed them both. She’d have to yell at him about that later. At the moment, she had to deal with her brother.

  “Anyway, Jace is taking me to your place. I need to crash there tonight.”

  “All right. I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.” There was a rustling on the line, most likely Tuck getting out of bed to go unlock the door. Jeez. Jace was right. Tuck was an old married man, asleep before ten on a Saturday night.

  “You’re not even going to be awake when I get there? I wanted to talk to you.” How was she going to ask him to borrow his truck for the next three weeks if he was asleep?

  “I doubt I’m gonna make it ’til you get here. Just let yourself in. We’ll talk in the morning.”

  “Fine. I’ll be there in an hour.”

  “ ’Kay. Night.”

  Unbelievable. Tara disconnected the call and was about to rant to Jace when she noticed he was still on his ph
one. A closer inspection revealed he wasn’t acting like his normal cocky-ass self, either. He pressed the cell close and was talking in such a soft voice, she could barely hear him over the radio. Resisting the urge to reach over and turn the volume down so she could eavesdrop better, Tara went very still and listened.

  “It’s nothing. I’m just doing her a favor. She’s nobody to me.” Jace let out a huff of breath. “Jacqueline, I swear to you I’m telling the truth.”

  Tara got the distinct impression the nobody Jace had referred to was herself, although she was more intrigued than insulted by that. Jace’s ex-girlfriend was seriously jealous? And of her and Jace? What a joke. The woman was crazy.

  “Stop. Please.” Jace shot Tara a glance. “Look, I’m driving. I gotta go . . . No, not so I can concentrate on her. So I don’t crash my freaking truck. I’ll call you back when I get to Stillwater.”

  There was no good-bye, just Jace glancing down at the display and hitting END CALL before he put the phone back in the console. Had the former little Miss Rodeo Queen Jacqueline hung up on him or had he hung up on her?

  Wow. Hell of a temper as well as a jealous streak on that one.

  Tara bit her lip as she waited for Jace to say something about what had just happened. The silence in the car stretched between them for a couple of highway miles. Finally, Jace glanced at her across the dark cab. “Go on. I know you want to.”

  Tara chose to play dumb. “Want to what?” Oh, yeah. She totally should have been an actress.

  “Spout whatever smart-ass comments you’re dying to make about that phone call.”

  “Honestly, Jace, I’ve got nothing to say.” Tara shrugged.

  “You? Don’t have anything to say? Sure.” Jace snorted.

  “I don’t. I feel bad for you.”

  “Bad for me? Why?”

  Why did she? Tara had to think on that for a second. “I guess because if she’s jealous of me of all people when you’re broken up, I can imagine how bad it was during all the years you two were dating.”

  A muscle jumped in his cheek as his jaw clenched. Tara got the feeling she’d hit the nail right on the head.

  “I think I’d have rather had your insults.” Jace reached out and spun the volume on the radio up.

  Tara wondered exactly how bad it had been.

  The hour drive felt more like ten hours as the darkened scenery passed by the window. He didn’t talk to her again. The only sound in the cab was the radio. She hated to admit it, but bickering with Jace would have made the trip feel shorter. It definitely would have been less awkward.

  Of all the many times in the past she’d insulted him, calling him everything from a pervert to a drunk to an idiot, now he got upset? When all she’d done was show him some compassion?

  Finally, they pulled in front of Becca and Tuck’s place. Tuck had left the light on, and Tara hoped the door was unlocked as he’d promised. If it wasn’t, she’d just bang the door down knocking until he woke up, but she sure wasn’t going to ask Jace to wait to see if she got inside safely. Not in his mood.

  Silent and stone-faced, Jace parked alongside the curb. He got out and went directly to the back of the truck and unhooked her car from the trailer hitch. Tara stood by and watched. She sure as hell didn’t know how to help, and in his mood, she was afraid to offer.

  That done, he knocked off the dirt from his hands against his jeans and adjusted his hat. “Well, that’s it. Good night.”

  “Good night, and thank you.”

  He nodded and started toward the driver’s door.

  “Wait. Jace?” When he stopped and turned back, Tara said, “I’m sorry if I said anything out of line. I didn’t mean to.”

  Jace shook his head “It’s not about you, Tara. But do me a favor. Next time I see you, can you please go back to treating me like shit? I prefer it to your pity.”

  “All right.” Tara watched him get in the truck before she turned toward the house.

  She made her way to the front door, passing her dead car parked along the curb where it would stay until Tuck helped her dispose of it. Tomorrow, she’d worry about the car, and how she was going to finish her internship, and what was up with Jace‘s strange behavior. Right now, she couldn’t think much past a bed for the night.

  Jace drove to the next block, and then pulled to the side. Letting the truck idle, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Jacqueline. He was tired. Bone deep exhaustion began in his heart and had nothing to do with the competition tonight.

  Jacqueline answered on the second ring. “It’s after eleven o’clock.”

  “I told you I’d call when I got to Stillwater so I’m calling.”

  “It doesn’t take that long to drive from Shawnee. What did you do? Pull over and fuck her?”

  “Yeah, Jacqueline. I fucked her nine ways ’til Sunday, right here in the truck. Then I dumped her off with her brother—my best friend—and told him what a great lay she was.” Jace’s heart pounded as hard when he fought with Jacqueline as it did when his hand was strapped to the back of a ton of bucking bull. That kind of stress couldn’t be healthy.

  “Then why did fifty miles take you over an hour? I know how fast you like to drive.”

  “It’s closer to sixty miles and I was towing her car behind the truck. I had to drive slow. Then I had to take the time to unhitch it when I got to Tuck’s place.” Jace gripped the phone tight and tried to maintain calm.

  Maybe she’d believe he was telling the truth. Maybe not. That was always up in the air when it came to Jacqueline. He heard the sniffle and the shaky intake of breath.

  “There’s nothing to cry over.” He was safe, back in Stillwater and alone. What the hell more could he offer her? Still, the tears always did him in. It seemed more so now that they were broken up. “Hey, you know what else? I came in second. And even better, I didn’t get hurt.”

  Jacqueline let out a snort. “Too bad.”

  Jace smiled at that. She’d stopped with the accusations about other women and resorted to insulting him. He knew they were on the upward slope of the fight. “This should make you happy. A young kid riding injured beat me out of first.”

  “That’s because you’re old.”

  “Pfft. Those young guys don’t know shit. You know that. Now me, I’m old enough to know where everything is and how to use it.” Jace’s voice dipped down, low and suggestive.

  “Do you have to work early in the morning?” Jacqueline’s tone had softened.

  “No.” He never scheduled jobs for the morning after he rode. There were times he needed the recovery time, or a visit to the hospital. Either way, he didn’t want to leave a customer expecting him and then not show up.

  “Can you come over?”

  His cock heard the invitation in her voice and immediately rose to the occasion. The damn thing was like his parents’ dog when he was growing up. Buster could be at the other end of the house, hear the can opener and come running, thinking it was time to eat. Like a reflex reaction, Jace’s dick heard Jacqueline’s voice and figured it was time for some lovin’. Truth be told, he hadn’t taken it out for a spin since the last time he’d been with her.

  He drew in a shaky breath. “All right. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  Jace had taken his time on the drive from Shawnee to Stillwater, but he didn’t on the way over to Jacqueline’s apartment. He risked a ticket and sped down the dark, deserted streets as the clock on the dash told him it was getting closer to midnight. He wouldn’t stay the night. It would be too painful. How could he hold Jacqueline all night, wake up next to her in the morning in the home they used to share, and then get up and leave to go back to his empty apartment?

  This was self-destructive behavior, and yet he was pulling his truck into her driveway, throwing it in park, and heading for the door . . . and her bed. They needed to talk. He needed to stop this. She needed to stop inviting him over. They both had to get on with their lives.

  But not tonight. He’d come over tomorro
w in the light of day when he wasn’t so tired and needy. They’d talk like adults and agree to be friends.

  Jace felt satisfied with his plan as she opened the front door. He was good with it right up until she grabbed his shirt and pulled him inside and her mouth crashed into his. Then all rational thought was lost. He thrust his hands beneath the silky fall of platinum blond waves that hung nearly to her ass. She’d been the local rodeo queen the year he’d met her, and he had no doubt she’d still be able to take the title all these years later.

  Yanking her head back, Jace took possession of her mouth. Without breaking the kiss, he backed her inside, kicking the door closed behind him.

  Jacqueline wiggled both hands between their bodies. Blindly, she unhooked the buckle on his belt. After seven years of being together and a year of having sex while broken up, it was no surprise she could maneuver his belt as well as he could. She went to work on the fly of his jeans as he anticipated what would be next—her hands on him. Them on the bed. Him inside her.

  He tugged the bottom of the tank top out of her pajama bottoms. Sliding his hands beneath the elastic waistband, he felt the bare skin of her ass. He loved how she slept commando. No underwear. Nothing beneath those PJs but his warm, smooth woman . . . except that she wasn’t his. Not anymore.

  But for tonight—for the next hour or two—she’d be his.

  Jace hoisted her up and she wrapped her legs around his back as he carried her to the bedroom. As he cleared the doorway of the room so familiar to him, he noticed she’d gotten a new lamp and painted the walls. The changes were physical reminders, like a fist to the gut, that they weren’t together. He tossed her onto the bed where she landed with a bounce on the mattress. He followed her down and knew with certainty they shouldn’t be doing this.

  Yanking his T-shirt off over his head, Jace tossed it to the floor, realizing it wouldn’t remain there long. He’d put it on after they were done and drive home. In the morning, he’d wake up alone in his own bed. Tomorrow, he’d go back to wondering when the next phone call or text would come from her. When she’d ask him to come over again. And he’d do it, knowing it would hurt like hell afterward.