скачать книгу бесплатно
Cold. Real cold. So why did the room feel several degrees warmer?
“Jules, this is Tanner O’Brien, champion bareback rider,” Beth said before smiling up at him. “Tanner, meet my oldest and dearest friend, Jules Vandeveer.”
“Ma’am.” Tanner touched the brim of his hat when the blonde raised her head to acknowledge him. His gaze collided with hers, and his mouth went dry. Damn. She sure had an effect on a man.
“Mr. O’Brien,” she said with a nod and the hint of a smile.
He noticed her hesitation when she leaned toward him and offered her hand, but he took it, anyway. A gentleness in her touch caught him off guard. The heady perfume she wore didn’t help matters, either, but a man had to breathe, and breathe it in, he did.
“Why don’t you sit down, instead of towering over us, Tanner?” Beth suggested.
The sound of her voice brought him back to earth. With unusual reluctance, he released Jules’s hand, then lowered himself onto a chair and tried to ignore the pain in his knees. He’d pay for that last ride even more tomorrow.
Beth leaned across the table to speak to him. “Tonight is special for Jules. It’s her first rodeo.”
“Oh, yeah?” Daring to face the silent blonde, he smiled. “How’d you like it?”
With a quick, uncertain glance at him first, she finally gave him a level look. “It was…interesting.”
He didn’t miss the coolness in her voice, and his grin faded. “Not much of a rodeo fan, I guess.”
He held her gaze, prepared to say more, until she ran her tongue over her lips. His pulse quickened. Lips like those were meant to be kissed. And kissed well. It was all he could do to look away.
“You must love what you do.”
It took some effort, but he dragged his gaze back to hers and fought for control. “Love it? Darlin’, it’s my life. Always has been and always will be.” If his body didn’t wear out first.
She offered a tentative smile. “I guess everyone has their calling.”
“Jules is on vacation,” Beth explained.
“How long will you be here?” The question was out of his mouth before he realized it. There was something about her besides her looks that drew him to her. Maybe he’d read her wrong at the arena. She fascinated him, in a strange sort of way.
“About a month,” she answered. “Until after Beth’s wedding. Why?”
It was easy to see that she needed to relax. Hoping it would begin to thaw her, he decided a little flirting would be harmless. “Well, darlin’, I can teach you a lot about rodeo cowboys in a month.”
Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and then she flashed him a killer smile. “Why, thank you, but no thanks. Cowboys aren’t my thang.”
He stared at her, not sure what to think. That smile had almost given him hope, but he wasn’t sure how to take her response. He probably deserved her rejection. She obviously wasn’t the type to fall for the line he’d fedher, and he’d made a fool of himself by using it. Not that it mattered. He doubted he would run into her again, and he sure didn’t need to get tangled up with her. He had better things to do. He had a ranch to run and National Finals Rodeo to qualify for. His summer would be busy.
Filling the awkward silence that followed, Beth laughed and placed her hand on her friend’s arm. “She’s a city girl, Tanner. She’s not used to cowboys like you.”
“You’ve known each other long?” he asked, focusing on Beth.
“We met in the hospital when we were twelve. I was there with a bad case of poison oak, and she was—”
The blonde shook her head. “We learned we lived near each other and became best friends.”
“A city girl, huh?” he asked, as if it surprised him.
Beth nodded. “An attorney, as a matter-of-fact.”
“Beth…” her friend began warningly.
“Well, now, I guess that leaves me out. I’m just a simple country boy who doesn’t know much about highfalutin city girls, let alone a classy lady lawyer.”
He’d meant it as compliment, but it hadn’t come out that way. Maybe it had been more of a reminder to himself not to get involved with her or anyone else. But when he stood and looked down at her, their gazes collided.
“So city girls aren’t your thing,” she said. “I guess that makes us even.”
As an attorney, she was probably accustomed to winning in a battle of wits, but he wasn’t the dumb cowboy she might think he was. She’d thrown down the gauntlet, and he wasn’t going to let her win this one. “I guess it does,” he replied. “Give me a country girl anytime. One who knows a horse’s backside from its front.”
Jules smiled, showing white, even teeth, and a dimple. Devastating. Wicked. “Oh, I know the difference,” she said.
Her voice was so low it was husky, and it rippled through him to settle well below where it should have.
She was good. It was tempting to stay and continue their duel, but he was afraid he’d say something he’d regret later. “Guess we’re even again” was all he said.
She nodded.
Touching his finger to the brim of his hat, he turned to Beth. “Ladies, it’s been a real…interesting time.”
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Beth asked.
He got to his feet. “Afraid I have to. It’s a long drive back, and a full day waiting tomorrow.”
After they both bid him good night, he almost regretted leaving them. But he quickly reminded himself that he’d have the blonde out of his head before he reached home. She wasn’t his type. Her neat, white shirt and pants told him she was definitely out of his league. She looked like money. What would a rough-and-rowdy cowboy like him, who spent half his life on the back of a horse, do with a woman like her?
It didn’t take much imagination to answer that question.
JULES WATCHED the cowboy walk away. Wide shoulders stretched the cotton of his shirt tight across his broad back. She could see the muscles move with each step he took. But it was the swagger in his walk that drew her attention to the finest backside she’d ever seen.
“Nice view, isn’t it?” Beth asked.
“What?” Jules blinked and turned to stare at her friend.
Beth laughed. “Back to earth, Jules. It’s obvious.”
Jules suspected it would be wise to ignore the remark. Beth knew her inside out. They’d been friends too long to try to deny an interest. But her little word war with Tanner O’Brien had started her heart pumping, and she couldn’t stop herself. “And just what do you mean by that?”
“Oh, just that spark between you two.”
“He has a quick mind,” Jules replied. “That’s all.”
“That’s all?” Beth echoed, leaning back in her chair. “You keep yourself holed up in that law office too much. You need to get out more. And what’s with you, anyway? It’s not like you to be so…”
Jules grinned, knowing she had taken advantage of the situation. “Rude? Sorry, but the temptation was too strong.”
Her smile faded, and she stared into her drink. She couldn’t be attracted to anyone. Not now. There were too many other things she needed to deal with. Her fear of riding was only one of them. She couldn’t let a good-looking cowboy distract her.
And Beth would never let her live it down if she knew how that cowboy had pulled at something deep inside her.
When Jules looked up again, hoping she hadn’t given herself away, she noted a thoughtful expression on her friend’s face.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tanner so…” Beth shrugged and frowned. “He’s always a perfect gentleman.”
Jules laughed. “Okay, I surrender. He seemed nice, and I shouldn’t have goaded him. Chalk it up to too many hours in the courtroom.”
Beth was silent for a moment, and then leaned forward. “When are you going to relax and have fun?”
“When I find something relaxing,” Jules replied.
“And Tanner and that drawl aren’t it?” Beth shook her head and sighed. “Hon, you do have a problem.”
Jules forced herself not to search the room for the object of their conversation. The instant she’d looked into those blue eyes at the arena, her blood had felt like warm honey pouring through her veins, slow and golden. She wasn’t accustomed to reacting like that to any man. She had never been swayed by anything as simple as cute buns or broad shoulders. Or a sexy drawl accompanied by an equally sexy grin. Even as a girl, she had never been boy-crazy. Horses and hunter-jumping had been her life—until she was twelve years old. When her mount had balked at a jump and everything changed in a blink of the eye. Two weeks in a coma and months of speech therapy had made her look at life differently. Law and the children the law touched were her life now, but she was at a crossroads, even where those were concerned.
“More than you know, Beth. But that’s why I’m here. You’ve always been the one to help me see things more clearly.” By the time Beth’s wedding was over and her month of vacation was up, Jules hoped to return home feeling renewed.
“I’ll do whatever I can,” Beth said.
The face of fourteen-year-old Joey Martin drifted into Jules’s mind. She blamed herself and the system for what had happened to Joey, and she wanted somehow to make up for it. She just wasn’t sure she could. Beth knew that. They had spent an endless amount of time on the phone talking about it.
“To be honest, working on cases in court every day and being a child advocate during my spare time is exhausting. If it wasn’t for your wedding and this vacation…I hate to be gone from my work. I know how much I’m needed, but I don’t want to burn out. At the rate I’ve been going, I’m afraid that’s what will happen.”
“And you insisted we go to a rodeo?” Beth asked. “That can’t be relaxing, considering.”
“It will be, I hope, if I can come to terms with my fear of riding. I can’t help others overcome their fears if I can’t get past my own, especially when theirs are so much worse.”
Beth didn’t comment, just shifted her gaze to Tanner O’Brien.
“Oh, no, Beth,” Jules warned, knowing exactly what her friend was thinking. “Don’t get any ideas.”
Beth turned back. “You’re right. I just want to see you happy, that’s all. You need to get out and have some fun, meet new…people.”
Jules had to laugh. “Now I know why you invited me to Oklahoma when I said I needed a break. Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”
“I don’t know, Jules,” Beth said, looking completely unconvinced. “Like your parents, you’ve been giving to others for a long time. Maybe it’s time to think of yourself.”
A bone-weary tiredness swept over Jules. She knew she might be facing a major career decision. Because of Joey, she had become disillusioned. She wasn’t sure anymore if she could handle both her career and her volunteer work. She’d hoped that getting away from it would help with a decision and also give her time to work on facing her fear.
“Can we leave now?” she asked, pushing her half-finished drink aside. She hoped they wouldn’t run into the cowboy again. When that hat had landed at her feet, something strange had happened. She’d begun to feel things she’d never felt before. Whatever they were, she didn’t want to deal with them. She had enough to think about.
And a blue-eyed cowboy to forget.
Beth gathered her purse and stood. “It is late, and I don’t have the luxury of sleeping in tomorrow. I’m on emergency call until Friday for Doc Waters. With my luck, somebody’s dog will chew up a rope and swallow it.”
“Dr. Anders,” someone called out as they walked toward the door.
“Go on,” Beth told Jules. “I’ll meet you at the car.”
Jules nodded and continued on. Stepping outside into the balmy summer night, she worked her way through the jammed parking lot toward the car. Suddenly, she noticed a certain bronc rider arguing with a teenager who bore a striking resemblance to him. The boy, who looked about fourteen or fifteen, stood with his fists balled on his hips and his chin jutting out. Their voices rose in the darkness, but Jules couldn’t make out what they were saying. When Tanner O’Brien reached out, the teenager threw up his hands and backed away. Jules wondered if she should ignore them or see if she could help. Considering what had happened with Joey Martin, although one had nothing to do with the other, minding her own business might be the wisest course.
TANNER FACED Shawn under the bluish lighting in the parking lot. He hated being the bad guy, but the situation with his nephew was getting out of hand. If he didn’t find a way to deal with it soon, he’d lose Shawn the same way he’d lost Shawn’s daddy.
He drew in a breath of the humid, night air. “You were supposed to get a ride home, Shawn.”
The boy crossed his arms and glared at his uncle. “I don’t see you gettin’ in early.”
Shawn was right. But it didn’t excuse the fourteen-year-old standing in front of him, ready to do battle.
Tanner had promised himself he wouldn’t lose his temper, something hard to stick to lately. “I’m an adult, Shawn. That gives me the right to set my own hours. But that’s not the point. You told me you had a ride back home after the rodeo. Why are you still here?”
Even Shawn’s shrug was antagonistic. “Just hanging out with my friends.”
It wasn’t so much what Shawn said as it was his attitude that riled Tanner. “And all of them are at least three years older than you. Why don’t you hang out with someone your own age?”
With narrowed eyes, Shawn’s lip curled in contempt. “They’re kids.”
And so are you, Tanner wanted to say, but he mentally counted to five, instead. “I guess you can’t be trusted to get home when you’re supposed to. No more rodeos until I see some responsibility.” He stood watching the boy, expecting an explosion.
One young shoulder raised and lowered. “Whatever.” Shawn dropped his hands to his sides and walked in the opposite direction of Tanner’s pickup.
“Get in my truck,” Tanner called to him. When the boy didn’t slow his steps, Tanner went after him and took hold of his arm.
Shawn spun around. “I’d rather walk,” he growled, trying to pull away.
“Excuse me.”
Tanner turned at the sound of the soft voice behind him. Jules Vandeveer was standing a few feet away. “This isn’t your concern,” he replied as politely as he could, and turned back to his nephew.
Her voice, still quiet and calm, reached out in the darkness beyond the lights. “You’re right, it isn’t, but maybe I can help.”
Tanner reluctantly released his nephew, expecting him to take off. Instead, Shawn retreated a few steps and stopped, watching them. Tanner took a deep breath and faced Jules. “I don’t know why I should listen to a woman who thinks I’m a horse’s—”
“I apologize. Truly,” Jules said, cutting him off. “I was very rude, and I’m sorry.”
The anger drained from Tanner at the sincerity in her voice, the caring he saw in her eyes, until he reminded himself she was butting in where she didn’t belong. “I can handle this.”
She drew closer. “I’ve seen hundreds of kids go through the court system,” she said, “and I work with those who have slipped through the cracks. There are better ways to handle problems than arguing. And better places to do it than a tavern parking lot.”
“Now, hold on.” Tanner planted his feet in the gravel of the lot and stared down into her eyes. “I’m trying to get him into the truck so we can go home. If he’d done what he should have—”
“Try talking to him.”
Tanner opened his mouth to tell her he’d been trying to do exactly that. Instead, he shut it, his anger gone, replaced by something that was close to admiration. She was gutsy enough to stand up to him. But hadn’t he realized that earlier?
She laid a hand on his arm, and he felt a warmth go through him like a shot of whiskey before she jerked her hand away. Apparently she’d felt something, too.
