Cowboy Save Me: By Judith Lee (Tiller Brothers Book 1) (10 page)

Now Tammy was crying as hard as Jenny.  It was a happy moment and she was glad she had been there to witness his last official ride.

The last contestant was already seated on his bronc and the announcer introduced him again and he gave the ‘go’ signal.

Tammy knew by how hard the bronc was bucking and rolling and twisting that this was going to be a good ride. At 7.1 second the rider rolled to the left and the bronc twisted to the right almost as if the bronc had anticipated the rider’s move and the rider went flying onto his back.  Everyone held their breaths but he got up quickly.  He waved his hat and walked over to Cody.  Cody jumped down and shook his hand and said something to him.  The rider hugged Cody.

What had just happened?  From the sounds of the crowd and the reaction of his family who were jumping down from the fence and lifting Cody into the air, she just realized that Cody had won.  The rider had been thrown before the buzzer had gone off.  She started jumping up and down, hugging her mom and dad, and his brother and sister. From the corner of her eye, she caught Cody throwing his cowboy hat high in the air.  He jumped down and started running toward the bleachers.

When he got to them he jumped six feet to grab the top metal rail and he pulled himself up and flung his leg over the side of the rail.  He ran up the steps two at a time until he got to Tammy.  She threw herself into his arms and they hugged.

She whispered in his ear, “That was a beautiful ride, cowboy!” and she kissed him on the cheek.  He leaned back and cupped her face with both his hands and looked into her eyes. He was smiling with excitement.  His thumbs ran over her light dusting of freckles.  Her hat fell back off her head. 

“I’ve missed these freckles.”

“Is that all you’ve missed cowboy?”

He smiled at her before he brought his lips to hers in a searing, all-consuming kiss. Minutes, or hours could have gone by, she didn’t know anything except this overwhelming need to hold him closer to her.

Dakota tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey brother the announcer is talking to you.”

“Mr. Cody Tiller, could you please return for the buckle presentation. She is a beautiful redhead but we need to get this show on the road.”

His face was flushed as he pulled back from Tammy.  He quickly hugged Jenny and Dakota, and shook hands with Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and said he’d be back for a proper introduction.  And he gave Tammy another quick kiss before he ran down the stairs two or three at a time and flew over the railing landing on his feet in a full out run to the winner’s stand.

***

While he was waiting for his presentation he quickly texted Dakota and told him to bring Tammy down for the autograph session before he went to get ready for the bulls.

Tammy told her parents she would be right back and left with Dakota.  They went down the back steps and as they were walking behind the stands a beautiful blond walked by Dakota and she smiled at him.  She was holding a saddle on her hips and had a number pinned on her shirt.  Dakota lifted his hat and tipped it to her.

“Howdy ma’am,”

She glanced over at Tammy and her smile disappeared.

“This is Tammy, Cody Tiller’s girlfriend; I’m just returning her to him.”

The smile was back on. “Nice to meet you Tammy, I’m Georgia Cooper.”  She looked back at Dakota.

“I’m Dakota Tiller.  You already ride the barrels?”

“Yeah, not so good today but the competition was tough.”

They stood looking at each other.  Tammy whispered in his ear, “I’ll just leave you here to get to know Georgia while I go find Cody.”

He snapped his attention back to Tammy, “Oh no, I got ya.” 

As they started off, Dakota yelled back over his shoulder to Georgia, “Come watch me ride the bulls.  Its next up and when I get done, I’ll buy you a beer because my competition is going to be pretty tough today too, and we can commiserate together.”

“We’ll see,” she yelled back at him as she turned the corner and headed toward the exhibitors parking lot.

“So that line works, huh?  You better not go getting bucked off your bull just to get to have an early beer with her.  You have a family tradition to uphold.”

“Yeah, yeah, smarty pants.  She’ll wait for me, even if I keep winning.  The bull riders get all the best chicks.  Too bad you didn’t meet me first.”

She punched him in the arm. “Horny cowboy and your adrenaline is not even pumping yet.”

They bantered back and forth until she got to Cody.  He had his buckle and check in one hand and he held out his other hand to her.  She slipped her fingers into his big hand and he threaded his fingers through hers.  He swept down to give her a quick kiss. He handed the buckle and check to Matt and asked him to hold it for him.

He pulled her over to the line where the bronc riders were signing autographs.  Lots of women crowded into his line but none of them threw themselves at him as he had his left arm wrapped around Tammy’s waist.  He signed anything but if they wanted a booby autograph he pulled out a program and signed it and gave it to them.

A few pouted their sexy red lips at him, and he said, “Sorry, I’m already taken.”

Tammy was caught up in the excitement and she was smiling from ear to ear. 

“Honey, after I get done here, we’ll go up and meet your parents.  I’ll leave you with them and my family, and I’ll go get a quick shower. I’ll be back in time to watch Dakota. He’s one of the last riders, and then we’ll go eat at the VIP tent my sponsors have set up. Hell, we might need to make a quick stop there before we go back to watch Dakota.  You must be starved. I know I am, but not necessarily for food.”

He looked at her with desire.  His skin was lightly flushed, and his eyes were wide.  If she didn’t know what he had just gone through and the side effect of the adrenaline she would have suspected he was on drugs.  His eyes were gleaming and his pupils were enlarged.

After the signing, he pulled her toward the back stairs.  There was a hallway that led to the medical care center and he pulled her into it out of the bright sunlight.  He swung her against the wall and devoured her lips.  She couldn’t help but rock her hips as he pushed his hard erection into her woman’s core.  They both heard a door slam at the end of the hall and he pulled away from her.

“Soon…this night’s events can’t end soon enough for me.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her back outside.  After stopping and shaking a few hands at the VIP tent and grabbing a few beers, they headed up the stairs to meet her parents.  They said they were going to head back soon and they seemed to like him. 
Good thing
she thought.

Mr. Anderson shook Cody’s hand and leaned in closer to talk to him. 

“I didn’t want to bring her back with that crazy bastard Marcus still on the run, but she promised me you would protect her.  I’m reluctantly handing her over into your care. I do believe you can beat the shit out of Marcus if he gets near her, but you have to worry about Tammy.  She is so stubborn and independent sometimes and occasionally doesn’t use a lick of common sense,” he glared at his daughter.

“Don’t let her tell you she can protect herself.  You didn’t see how bad he wounded her, both mentally and physically.  He broke almost every bone in her body and she was covered in bruises.  To this day, I do not know how she survived.  It looked like she had been run over by a truck.  She was so frail and barely hung on to life for over a week before she gained consciousness. I’m afraid for her.  Take good care of her young man.”  He kissed Tammy and they left. 

“My dad’s a little zealous when it comes to protecting me.  He’ll never forget how I looked.  At least I was unconscious for most of it.”

“We just want to protect you, darlin’.”  She watched him scan the crowd.  She looked around the stands too.  Marcus wouldn’t know she was here so she wasn’t really worried.

“I’m gonna go take that shower.  I’ll be back before you finish that beer. Please stay here and wait for me.”

She nodded her head in the affirmative and he kissed her on her nose.  He pulled her cowgirl hat down lower over her forehead. 

“Don’t want you sunburned.” And he left.

***

He watched her talking with Jenny and Matt as he walked up the steps to sit with them. It felt good having her surrounded by his family.  He had just gotten off the phone with his parents.  His mom had cried and his dad seemed mighty proud.  His voice was stronger than when he had talked to him this morning.  Of course he wished he could have been there.  He had reassured his dad that he was making the right decision.  Hell he was nearing the 30 year mark and the one thing Cody never wanted to do was ride until he’d beaten his body up so much he wouldn’t enjoy returning to the ranch.  He was leaving strong and healthy and with no regrets, which sent his mother into tears again.  He told them Tammy was back and he was taking her back to Gillette.  His mom asked if she was going to be living at the ranch.

“If I can talk her into it, I’ll bring her back to the ranch, but if she is too stubborn, one of us is going to be guarding her at all times.”

“Let me know how Dakota does.  Fox Sports is covering the rodeo but the broadcast is delayed by an hour.”

“Will do dad.  You take care.  I love you both so much.”

“Love you, too, son. We’re so proud of you.”

And Cody hung up.

He sat down next to Tammy.  She smiled up at him and leaned in to smell him and run her fingers over the snaps of his clean shirt.

“Oh I like…you smell nice and these snaps are going to be very interesting to play with later.”

He playfully pinched her arm.  “Easy there woman or we’re leaving right now.”

“Okay.” She looked up into his eyes with the same desire written all over her face.

Cody was leaning down to kiss her when he was taped on the shoulder.  Fox Sports Network announcer, Gabriella Parker, was holding the mike to him and the camera man was behind her shoulder.

“Cody, sorry to interrupt, but can I get a quick interview while we’re waiting to start the bull riding event?”

“Sure Gabriella.  This is Tammy Anderson, by the way.  Tammy you’re meeting one of the most famous rodeo announcers in the business.”

They shook hands and she asked the camera man if he was ready.  He told her he was checking the white balance and it would just take a sec.

“So looks like this little Filly has finally taken down the toughest bronc rider in the world.”

“Something like that.”  He put his arm around Tammy’s waist, and slipped his fingers inside the back of her jeans caressing the bare skin above what felt like silk lace panties.  He turned to look at Tammy and whispered for her ears only, “I’m excited I get to remove your panties myself.”  Tammy blushed.

“You know Tammy I have seen a lot of cowboys pawing all over the ladies who flock to the rodeos but I have never seen Cody this possessive with anyone before.  Take good care of him.  The girls are going to miss this cowboy.”

The camera man indicated he was ready and the red light went on.  Gabriella sat next to Cody so she could be in the close up shot. 

“We’re here tonight with Cody Tiller from Gillette, Wyoming, who has just won the bronc saddle riding contest. I want to congratulate you on your fine ride tonight.  You have certainly been on a winning streak, but how does it feel to go out at the very top of your game?”

“Thank you, Gabriella. That’s always been my goal.  Not every cowboy gets to end his rodeo career that way.  Most of us end up with a bad injury and we’re forced out before we’re ready to hang up our spurs.  I was lucky that this is just how I wanted it to end.”

“We also heard that your father, Josh Tiller, long time steer roping champion, has been ill and our people at Fox Sports and his fans want to wish him a speedy recovery.”

“Thank you, ma’am.  We’d sure appreciate your prayers.  He’s watching tonight and I know he really wanted to be here.  I talked with him on the phone a few minutes ago and we are all positive this is just a little set-back for him.”

“I know your brother Dakota is also heavily favored in the bull riding contest tonight.  How do you think he’ll do?”

“Of course, it all depends on the bull.  He drew a tough one, Super Fort Knox, but that’s how you get the big scores.  You ride the meanest bulls and you stay on for eight seconds.  Sometimes you win and sometimes the bull wins.  It’s never the competition with the other riders.  If he does his best, and stays on for the count, the scores will take care of themselves.  Dakota’s got a good attitude and he won’t go down without a good fight.”

“Congratulations also to your brother, Cameron, who got third in yesterday’s steer roping contest with his new partner Sam Brown.”

“Yeah, our family is having a good run here at Cheyenne Frontier Days and we appreciate all the support of the fans that make this one of the best rodeos in the world.”

“Just one more thing, did I hear you have a little brother, Matt, who is following in your footsteps at the University of Wyoming, and he’s going to be on the Wyoming Rodeo Club?”

“Yeah, he’s the last one.  Looks like we’ll be taking lots of trips to UW and to all the other collegiate sights to see him compete.”