BUCKED Box Set: A Bull Rider Western Romance (21 page)

Jack nodded
vigorously. Yet another surge of affection for Noah hit me right in the heart.
Exactly
why
I thought it was such a
wonderful thing for him to be so protective and explain that my cousin could
get seriously hurt, I don’t really know, but something about it just made me
want to hug him tight and never let him go. It was nice to know I didn’t have
to let go.

I guessed
Noah saw the way Aunt Sara’s face blanched at the mention of injuries he had
witnessed
because he turned to the control
panel and started twiddling the knobs. “Now, since this is your first time, I’m
turning things down a bit. It’s not going to get nearly as fast or crazy as it
was for me, alright? You ready?” At this point, even my guts twisted into a
knot. Having already saved Jack once this summer was enough for me; I didn’t
want to have to bound into action again for
at
least
another year. Ideally, not at all. Regardless of any apprehension
Aunt
Sara and I had, Jack seemed to be more than
eager to get on the
bull
because he
jumped up and down a few times before taking off at a sprint to the center of
the mats.

He perched
himself on the saddle, gripped the handle, raised one arm, and nodded at Noah.
“I’m ready!” he said.

“You sure?
Make sure you keep your eyes on the eyes like I told you.”

“It’s a
machine, smart guy,” my cousin
sassed
.
“There’s no eyes.”

I adored
that kid even more when he
was
a smart
ass.

“You know
what I mean!” Noah shot back. When Jack nodded again, Noah pressed the button
and stood there with his hands on the control panel in case he needed to hit
the emergency stop button for any reason. The rocking started, and then when it
kicked into high gear, I was at least slightly relieved to see that Noah had
really
turned down the setting so it
wasn’t even remotely close to being as violent as it was for him. Jack held his
own and lasted a solid six seconds before falling off and landing facedown with
a slight “oof.” Both Aunt Sara and I gasped, and Noah turned off the machine,
then we all ran up to him to check and make sure he was okay. He rolled over so
he was on his back and looked up at us.

“You
alright, bud?” Noah asked.

“That was
totally wicked!” Jack exclaimed. Aunt Sara blew out a lungful of air as he
asked, “Can I go again?”

Then, Sara
gasped again. “You’re bleeding!” she said, pointing to his hand, which was
indeed seeping a small amount of blood. “What’d you cut yourself on?”

“Not
sure,” Jack said, examining his cut. “I didn’t feel it.”

“Adrenaline’s
a pretty cool thing,” Noah chimed in.

“Well,
come on!” Sara fussed. “We have to get to the first aid kid and patch you up!”
She shunted him toward the door, much to Jack’s chagrin.

Noah
turned to me. “He did a pretty great job! Looks like he’s got it in him, after
all!”

“He’s a
tough kid,” I nodded. “Anyway, can I have a go?” The question popped out before
I had the chance to stop myself. He looked at me like he wasn’t expecting me to
ask. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting me to ask, but here we were.

He raised
an eyebrow and said, “You sure you can take it on without the same level of
training Jackson had?” He twisted his lips into a shit-eating grin, and I had
to prove to him that I could do it—
at least,
I hoped I could.

“I think I
can manage. Even
without
the protective
gear. Bring it!” I commanded, striding to the bull and hopping on. I threw one
hand in the air and told him to turn it on. I have no idea how long I lasted,
but it seemed to be a pretty long time before my shoulder started to get sore.
Remembering the very strict command Noah had given Jack about dismounting the
second anything started to hurt, I used one leg and pushed off to the side and
rolled away from the bucking mechanical bull. I sat up to hear a slow clap
echoing off the walls.

“Impressive
work, Princess. You held your own.”

“Huh,
maybe I should be a bull rider, after all.”

“Stick
with acting, honey,” he said, stepping forward to kiss me. “You looked like
that dismount was pretty intentional; everything okay?”

“My
shoulder started to twinge,” I said, rubbing the joint. “And, I’m not feeling a
dislocated shoulder today, thank you very much.”

“Well, I
am
an expert at massaging sore joints,”
he said, wrapping his fingers around my shoulder.

“Funny, I
thought you were an expert bull rider.”

“That,
too.”

I was
definitely not ready for moments like this to end. I wanted to feel his fingers
kneading into my shoulders for as long as I could, but unfortunately, two days
from that point, I had to leave if I wanted to film the movie of a lifetime and
believe me, I did.

***

It wasn’t
actually as hard to say goodbye as I thought it would be. Sara, Jack, and Noah
all piled into the car with me, and we made the
forty-five-minute
drive to Chattanooga. I hugged Jack and Aunt Sara and promised we’d Skype soon
before I could miss them too incredibly much. They agreed, and then I turned my
attention to Noah.

“Remember,
you promised we’d make this work. I’m not letting you go without a fight, Noah
Tucker.”

“You won’t
need to,” he said with a smile. “I’ve already got a plan, Laci Daniels.”

“I love
you.” With a kiss and a turn on my heel, I marched to the terminal and boarded
the plane.

Filming
started two days after I returned home, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to
spend catching up with Emily. Not that we needed it. The set was in the city,
so it was only a half-hour train ride from my parents’ house, and I was easily
able to stay at home and commute to the set every
day,
though some nights I just stayed in my trailer.

Before I
had left for the summer, I couldn’t be in the house by myself, it was too
fresh. But things had changed, I had a stronger sense of appreciation for the
place and if I
was being
honest with
myself
if
home
was where the heart was. That house didn’t feel as much like home anymore.
Without Mom and Dad, it still had all of the belongings it had before, but it
wasn’t the same. My time at the ranch had made me see that it wasn’t just about
the building, it was about the people. Being back home—and in many ways, it
would always be home—started to feel more nostalgic than sad. It still had its
tough moments, but I barely had time to acknowledge them with the grueling
filming schedule.

Besides,
staying there was only temporary. When the paychecks started to come in—and
believe me, between Dad’s agency business and my acting, it did—Emily and I got
an apartment in the city together.

***

Before I
knew it, two years had flown by.

Life had
thrown us a few
curveballs
, but Noah and
I were still going strong. At least, we were until I started my role in an
off-Broadway production of
Romeo and
Juliet
. Between his schedule on the PBR circuit, my filming two movies
earlier in the year, and only have a couple of weeks off in the summer, then
having to jump straight into rehearsals for
Romeo
and Juliet
, I hadn’t actually seen Noah in eight weeks.

He was
supposed to have made it to opening night, but one of his sponsors changed the
schedule on a photo shoot and he had to cancel. Being apart has definitely not
been easy, but I thought we were doing pretty damned well with it. I had to
confess, though,
lately,
I’d been getting
a little worried. Noah hasn’t been acting like himself in the last few weeks.
So, when he called and said we needed to talk, I didn’t think it was a good
sign. I prepared myself for the worst.

My life
was about to change.

Chapter Eighteen - Noah

Before I
knew it, two years had flown by.

It seems
that nothing ever really goes quite as expected. One thing was certain, I never
expected to fall in love with that city girl I picked up at the airport
terminal as a favor to my neighbor. But I did.

And,
things were going great, too. Life had thrown us a few
curveballs
, but Laci and I were still going strong. At least, we
were until my career really took off and the sponsors started to pour in, which
meant my time was less my own. Laci’s career did, too. After being nominated
for a Golden Globe for her first film, the offers started to roll in. It didn’t
matter that she didn’t win—I’d have hated to see how busy she’d have been if
she had.

She filmed
two movies earlier in the year and only had two weeks off in the summer to
spend at the ranch before she had to head right back to New York to start
rehearsals for an off-Broadway production of
Romeo and Juliet
. I hadn’t actually seen her in eight weeks.

I was
supposed to have made it to opening night five weeks ago, but one of my
sponsors had a schedule conflict and had to change a photo shoot. You should’ve
heard the disappointment in Laci’s voice when I had to cancel. Being apart has
definitely not been easy, but I thought we were doing pretty damned well with
it. I confess, though, lately things have had me a little concerned and I
wanted to make sure Laci knew how I was feeling, so, I called and told her we
needed to talk. The tone
of
her voice
didn’t feel like a good sign. So, I decided it was time for a new plan.

Chapter Nineteen - Laci

There’s no
better feeling in the world than standing center stage as a torrent of applause
roars through the crowd. Kind of like my last night on stage as Juliet in my
first
off-Broadway
production. At least,
I thought there wasn’t. But seeing the man you love walking across the stage
when the lights come up after the cast has taken its final bow, holding the
biggest bouquet of flowers you’ve ever seen…well, that feeling trumps the
applause. Especially, when he’s
dressed as
though he stepped out of the pages of
GQ
magazine. The only other times I’ve seen Noah in a suit were the nights he
accompanied me to my movie premiers. And even then, he wasn’t nearly as
handsome as he was walking toward me holding flowers. It was odd enough that he
was even on stage. So, when my co-star handed Noah a mic, things really got
interesting.

“Good
evening, everyone,” Noah began, addressing the audience. “If you wouldn’t mind
giving me you attention for a moment. I have a bit of an announcement I’d like
to make regarding the lovely Ms. Laci Daniels here.”

I stood in
shock. I wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but if this was Noah’s idea of
having a talk, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to talk. He approached me, holding the
mic by his side so that the audience didn’t hear what he said next to me.

“Hey,
babe. You look stunning. And, you were amazing tonight.” He leaned in and
planted a soft kiss on my cheek, then turned back to the audience who had
quieted and was staring and waiting for his announcement. Just as I was. He
smiled his devilishly handsome crooked smile and began speaking into the mic
again.

“I’m sure
many of you have seen me accompany this beautiful woman to movie premiers and
seen a few photos of us together in a tabloid or two. And, you’ve probably
wondered how a guy like me, who gets thrown off of perfectly good bulls for a
living, ever got lucky enough to capture the attention of someone so amazing.”
Noah then turned and looked at me, his gaze holding mine and causing my heart
to leap into my throat. “Well, I’ve wondered that myself,” he continued.

“What I
haven’t wondered was if it would be possible to love her with every breath I
have, for as long as I have them. Lace, if you would be so kind as to take
these?” Noah handed me the bouquet of flowers. “Actually, Em,” he looked around
until he caught sight of my best friend who was sitting on the front row.
“Would you mind? I didn’t realize how large they were going to be when I
ordered them,” he chuckled and stepped to the front of the stage to pass the
flowers off to Emily. The audience laughed along with him. I just stared at
him, wondering what on earth he was going to say next. I felt like I needed to
interject something, so I did what came
naturally
:
I tried to use humor to calm my nerves.

“Don’t be
running off with those, Em. I know where you live.” It didn’t work. I turned my
attention back to Noah. Waiting. He joked again.

“She looks
a little concerned, doesn’t she folks?” he chided to the crowd. I nodded my
head in agreement. “There’s no need to be, babe. It’s not like I might get down
on one knee,” he said as he did just that. “And tell you that you are the
single best thing that has ever happened to
me
and that I can’t imagine my life without you by my side.”

Tears
welled in my eyes as he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a
small, black velvet box.

“But what
it is like, is this…” He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful square cut
diamond ring I had ever laid eyes on. “You are my world, Laci Daniels. You’re
the lifeline I will forever be anchored to. Your smile lights up even the
darkest of my days and I want to be the man who always makes sure that smile
stays on your lips. Would you do me the honor of making me the happiest man
alive and becoming my wife?”

I thought
I had my life all planned out. But as it so happens, it was time for a new
plan.