Dancing With Danger: Book 8: Dancing Moon Ranch Series (17 page)

W
hen her breathing finally became steady again, and her heart rate settled, Genie looked at Josh and said, "I didn't intend for this to happen."

Josh kissed her on the
forehead, and replied, "I know, because now your soul's bound to the soul of a bullfighter for all eternity. Are you going to be able to live with that?"

"I
guess I don't have a choice," Genie said, "but it was untimely."

Josh moved from on top of Genie and
pulled her against him, and said, "What's untimely about two people who love each other consummating their love?"

"
I still have to decide about work," Genie replied. "Before my father left, he offered me a job as his assistant and said he'd put me on the payroll with health and retirement benefits. He knows I'm undecided about returning to the hospital and he said it would give me a break from nursing while I made up my mind."

"But mainly
it would get you away from me," Josh said.

Genie looked at him,
puzzled. "Why would he want that? He doesn't even know you."

"Yeah, but he knows what I do
," Josh replied, "so he's dangling a bigger prize in front of you—healthcare and financial security instead of a badass bullfighter to complicate your life."

Genie
didn't want to think about her father's offer because, like her nursing job, it
would
take her away from Josh. So, going against every argument she'd had with herself about aligning herself with a bullfighter, she kissed Josh, and said, "For now I'll take the badass bullfighter, and if he can slip into bucking mode again and it's as good as before, I'll reveal the thumb trick."

Josh grabbed Genie and rolled her up on top of him, and said, "You want some bucking action, babe, I'm ready to give it to you."
And when he did, it was a fun-filled, rollicking adventure in lovemaking. But after it was over, and their breaths became regular and their pulse rates settled into normalcy, Josh said, "Okay babe, you had a really good ride because the bunkhouse is still shaking from it, so tell me the thumb trick."

Genie looked at Josh, who had the most endearing smile
she could ever imagine, and said, "It was a carrot."

The smile faded, and Josh's brows gathered.
"A carrot?"

Genie
gave him a little kiss. "All I had to do was hold the handkerchief with the carrot inside against my thumb knuckle and hook my thumb around the bottom of the carrot and stick pins through it. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out. But now, I want to know how you know about me and pistachio ice cream and Morkies and
A Tale of the Wind
."

"I never promise
d I'd tell," Josh said. "Besides, I'm holding out until you tell me how your father did the orange tree trick."

"That, I'll never tell," Genie
replied. "It's a trade secret."

"What if we were married?"

"Would you become part of the act? It would mean giving up being a bullfighter."

Josh
eyed her with uncertainty. "Is that an ultimatum?"

"No,
" Genie said, "it's a choice."

It was some moments before Josh said,
"Then to clarify things, I don't plan to give up bullfighting until I'm too old and slow to keep going."

Genie realized Josh had just given her his own ultimatum. If she wanted him, she'd have to accept what he did, which
meant worrying, each time he stepped into the arena, that it could be his last. She wasn't sure she could live with that. Still, she'd keep an open mind until after the rodeo, even though she was finding it increasingly more difficult to keep that pretense going.

***

After quitting time the following day, Genie sullenly looked on as Josh instructed Abby on how to groom Fancy before the riding lesson. She definitely had regrets about the night before. After their lovemaking, all she wanted was to spend every night in Josh's arms. But now it was even more of a pipedream than before because her fantasy of Josh giving up rodeo life for her the way Ryan had done for Annie could no longer be part of the pipedream, no matter how she tried to rationalize things. And in a couple of hours she'd be trailing along with Josh to the buckout, where he'd be confronting bulls...

"Am I
bwushing okay?" Abby asked Josh, as she dragged the brush across Fancy's back, which was only a few inches above Abby's head.

"You're doing fine
," Josh replied. "She's almost ready to saddle up."

"Will I wide by myself?" Abby asked.

"Yes, but I'll be in the corral with you," Josh replied. "You ready to put on your helmet?"

"I want to wear my cowgirl hat
," Abby groused.

"
Sorry, honey, you have to wear a helmet to ride," Josh said. "How about we'll put your cowgirl hat on top of your helmet?"

"Like
the man with all the hats on his head in my monkey book?" Abby asked.

"Yep,
like in
Caps for Sale
." Josh replied.

Genie looked at
Josh, curious. "How do you know that book? It doesn't seem like one you would have read as a child."

"I didn't intentionally," Josh replied. "E
veryone in the family from my dad on down the line had to read it to Maddy, over, and over."

"Daddy makes the monkey hats disappear," Abby said.

While Josh seemed to be mulling that over, Genie explained, "Our dad bought a stuffed monkey and several tiny hats, and when he reads the book to Abby, the hats disappear and reappear somewhere on her."

"
Yeah well I can't make things disappear," Josh grumbled, looking annoyed, and Genie realized he was jealous of her father… jealous because Josh wanted the love of a little girl who'd become special to him, and her father was now a reality, whereas before he arrived he'd been an absentee father whose place in Abby's life had been filled by Josh.

Abby, seeming to understand, looked up at Josh and said, "Daddy
can't make ponies."

Josh's sober face
lifted with a smile. "No, I don't suppose he can." Taking the brush from Abby, he said, "Okay, time to saddle up." He lifted a child's saddle and blanket from a saddle rack and tossed it over Fancy's back, and while he explained to Abby what he was doing, he fastened the cinch then put Fancy's bridle on her. After showing Abby how to mount, he lead Fancy to a corral and handed over the reins to Abby, and said, "Hold the reins like you did on Ferdinand and Dewey and give Fancy a kick and tell her to walk."

Abby
followed Josh's instructions, and when Fancy started walking, Abby looked back at Josh and grinned. Genie couldn't help noticing the look of pure pleasure on Josh's face as he watched Abby, like he was a proud father.

While Abby
continued walking the pony along the perimeter of the corral, Josh backed up to where Genie was standing on the other side of the surrounding pole fence, looked askance at her, and said, "I hope you don't have regrets about last night because I know I don't."

Genie felt her breath quickening
in memory. "Of course I have regrets," she said. "It was everything I imagined it would be, but now that my fantasy's a reality, I want more."

"Honey, that kind of talk isn't helping right now," Josh said. "It's making my pants tight and it's still a couple of hours
till the buckout when I can get rid of some excess testosterone. But if last night is the norm for us, if we were married I could get rid of a lot of excess testosterone that way and probably cut down to thirty rodeos a year and still keep my sanity, and with earnings from bullfighting, along with a few commissions for horseshoe sculptures, we could get by until the bucking bull business got going."

"What bucking bull business?" Genie asked.

"It's something I'm interested in doing long range," Josh said.

Genie didn't know how to respond because it was the first time Josh had
mentioned anything about raising bucking bulls. It was also the first time he'd talked outright about marriage, as in planning a life together. But while she was trying to justify marrying a man whose job was as foolhardy as Cal's had been, Josh said, "Okay, you said you'd give me until after the rodeo and I'm pushing you, so I'll let things ride for now. You will keep an open mind about this though, won't you?"

"I said I would," Genie replied, "but you have to understand that if we did get married, you'd have to be prepared to live with a lot of
tears and shot nerves and crabbiness every time a rodeo came around because that's what a rush of that kind of adrenaline does to me."

Josh reached over the top rail, cupped his hand behind Genie's head, and said, "Come here."

Genie looked toward Abby, whose back was to them as she made her way around the ring on Fancy, then raised her lips to Josh, who kissed her long enough to accelerate her heart rate and quicken her breathing and have her trying to rationalize why it wouldn't be so bad being married to a bullfighter, who now wanted to raise bucking bulls, because first and foremost she'd be married to the man she loved...

When the kiss came to an end, Josh said, "Thank you
, honey, for giving me a chance. Tonight when we return from the buckout, will you come to my place again?"

Merely thinking about
their lovemaking triggered a host of erotic reactions that made Genie anxious to be with Josh again, even knowing it was foolish. "I suppose, since Abby will already be in bed."

Josh smiled broadly
. "I'll need a long hot shower after the buckout so maybe you could scrub my back. I'm not so good at reaching it."

"Is that all I get to scrub?" Genie asked.

"Babe, you can scrub anything you want. Meanwhile, I'd better round up our little cowgirl and put the pony away so we can get on over to the buckout."

Genie couldn't help taking note of the way Josh said,
our little cowgirl
, like a decision had already been made. But even if she could come to terms with Josh's profession, they were still a hundred miles from the nearest town big enough to support a job for a nurse, and except for ranch work, there were no jobs of any kind for miles in any direction. But as she watched Josh walking alongside Abby, and saw them talking and laughing, she wanted desperately for things to somehow work out, unrealistic as it seemed.

CHAPTER 15

Josh pulled his truck
onto the mowed field where other rigs were parked for the buckout, and after changing into his football cleats and putting on his protective vest, he wrapped his arm around Genie's shoulders and they made their way between the parked rigs. As they were walking, Genie slipped her arm behind Josh's waist, which prompted Josh to smile at her, and say, "This is the first time I've felt like you're really my girl. At the ranch there are too many eyes on us, but here, we're just a rodeo couple making our way through a parking lot."

"Except that
I'm wearing pass-along western wear and I can't ride a horse very well."

"That's okay,
honey, you're still the best looking buckle bunny here." He pulled her close and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"What's a buckle bunny?" Genie asked.

"A chick who makes herself available to cowboys who win competitions," Josh replied. "You need a championship buckle to wear though. I'll have to dig one out."

"You
actually have one?" Genie asked.

"Sure, I have several," Josh
replied. "I rode bulls a lot of years before I switched to bullfighting. The thing is, when a cowboy gives a bunny his buckle, he expects her to stay the night in his rig."

Genie
snuggled against him, and said in a low, suggestive tone, "Sorry, cowboy, I can't stay the night, but give me an hour and I'll make it worth your while."

Josh
stopped long enough to kiss Genie square on the lips, and say, "Babe, you make it worth my while just breathing." When he straightened up to continue, instead of walking on, he stood where he was and stared straight ahead.

Genie
followed the direction of his gaze and saw, smiling at them, a tall, dark-haired man, who was cowboy from head to toe—Stetson, western shirt, jeans, chaps, a wide belt with a big oval buckle, and boots with spurs. Except for the shadow of a mustache and the stubble of a trimmed beard on his chin, he looked identical to Josh, and she knew it was Jeremy Hansen.

Josh
eyed his twin, and said in a voice that held a hint of irritation, "I didn't think you were coming until the day before the rodeo."

"
That was my original plan," Jeremy replied, "but when I heard about the buckout I figured I could use a few more rides under my belt before the rodeo, so I decided to come early. The place is pretty rundown though, and that sign over there… the guy's got to be kidding." He pointed to a huge hand-painted sign on the side of the stock barn, with the words: BILLY BREE'S BUCKING BULLS. FOUR TIMES THE BAIL, BUCK, BLITZ AND BELLIGERENCE IN EVERY BULL.

Josh eyed the sign with skepticism.
"No one around knows anything about the guy or his bulls, but according to Matt, the place was abandoned for a number of years and a guy named Fitzsimmons moved in recently. It's my first time here, but it beats driving eighty miles to the next nearest practice pen. Do you remember Genie?"

"
Sure, we all remember Genie," Jeremy replied. "Good to see you again, but you cut out of the wedding reception before all the fun began."

Genie gave Jeremy a tentative smile. "I
had… things to do."

"We all figured that
out," Jeremy said. "Josh was a pitiful mess back then because you wouldn't give him the time of day, but I see he's managed to get it all together."

Genie glanced up at Josh, who looked perturbed
, as he said to Jeremy, "Where do you plan to stay while you're here?"

"With you in the bunkhouse," Jeremy replied. "Ryan said you were the only one there."

"I am, but you might have run it past me in advance."

"I didn't think I needed to
." Jeremy's gaze shifted to Genie, then back to Josh, and he said, "Okay, I get it. Don't worry. After the buckout I'll head for the pub in Pine Grove. How late does it stay open?"

"
Till around two," Josh replied.

"Then you have until two
so make the most of it," Jeremy said. "On the other hand, I might end up staying in my rig for the night; there's an interesting crop of buckle bunnies here who plan to head for the pub. Meanwhile, I'd better sign in and pick out a couple of bulls. See you in the dirt." He tipped his hat to Genie and turned away.

As
he walked off, a woman wearing glittery boots, hip-hugging jeans and a halter top knotted at her midriff and dipping low to expose an ample amount of cleavage, strolled over to intercept Jeremy and started up a conversation, to which Jeremy responded by scanning her torso, winking at her, and squeezing her arm, like they'd made a connection. Jeremy continued on after that and the woman hung back and smiled to herself.

Josh
let out an ironic laugh. "There's your buckle bunny," he said. "If her luck holds out she'll be wearing that prize buckle of Jeremy's when she leaves his camper in the morning."

"You sound pretty happy about it," Genie
said.

"I'm not worried, if that's what you mean. I said
if her luck holds out
, which it won't. Jeremy's onto these women, but he still enjoys the fringe benefits."

"Speaking of which,
our love fest is off. You'll have to scrub your own back."

"Why?
" Josh asked. "Jeremy won't be back until late."

"I
know, but I'd be mortified if he came back early."

"He won't," Josh said. "He knows what's up."

"I know," Genie replied, "which is another reason why I won't be coming. I loved what happened last night, and there's nothing I'd like more than a repeat of it when we get back to the ranch, but watching Jeremy with that woman, and knowing what they'll be doing later, seemed to cheapen what we had planned because we haven't made a commitment because we still have a major problem to resolve, so until that time, we need to let things cool off."

"
I am committed," Josh said, "but we'll talk about it later. Meanwhile, I have to get on over to the practice pen and let them know I'm available." He gave her one last kiss and walked over to a group of men who were gathered around several time-worn chutes with weathered side boards and slatted wooden doors that hung slightly askew.

C
owboys wearing protective vests, chaps, and boots with spurs, lined the outer perimeter of the pen, which was made of tubular-steel livestock panels, clamped together, end to end, to form an arena. On the opposite side of the pen from the chutes stood the old wooden bleachers with seats that looked splintery at best, evident by a couple of people sitting on it, who'd brought cushions, like they'd been there before.

While waiting for
the bull riding to begin, Genie stood at the fence surrounding the pen and eyed the surroundings. Not only were the chutes derelicts from the past, but the small house looked like it hadn't seen a coat of paint in a quarter century and the covered front porch had a definite slope to it. The barn and bull pens were in better shape. The tin roof of the barn was still intact, the wooden structure looked like it could withstand a sizeable wind, and the bulls were contained in large enclosures made, like the arena, of individual livestock panels that looked new. In fact, the bull pens were the highlight of the place.

"Okay men, line up and select your bulls," an
older wrangler with a white beard, long scraggly hair, and wearing a floppy leather hat, called out from his perch on a platform above the chutes. "Bulls with yellow ties on their horns are jump-kick practice bulls for beginner and intermediate riders, and red tags are the turn-back spinners for the pros. Several bulls have been brought in by ranchers around so you'll have to ask them about their stock."

Glancing across the arena,
Genie saw Josh and another bullfighter standing on either side of a chute that had a bull and rider in it, and a man stood ready at the gate. A couple of seconds later, the man opened the gate and the bull vaulted out of the chute, with the rider clenching the rope with a gloved hand, and the other hand waving in the air, all the while a dull-sounding bell attached to the bull rang out repeatedly. An instant later, the rider was on the ground, while Josh and the other bullfighter waved their arms at the bull to get his attention and send him running for the exit. Not long after the downed cowboy had climbed the fence, the next bull was released. After a series of spins and bucks, that rider was off, and Josh and the other bullfighter again danced around the bull, distracting him, while the rider ran for the fence.

By the time several more
riders had been bucked off without incident, while Josh did little more than jump around the bulls while the riders were on them, and wave his arms at the bull until the riders were safely on the fence, Genie began to wonder if most rodeos were this uneventful, although this was not a rodeo, she reminded herself...

"This is a pretty disappointing
showing," a voice came from behind.

Genie turned around to see Jeremy approaching.
He had on a protective vest and was holding a braided rope with a bell on it, so she assumed he was about to ride. "Why do you think it's disappointing?" she asked. "No one's gotten hurt."

"No one's had much of a
challenge either," Jeremy said. "I don't know who's been working with these bulls, but they're not very rank."

"
Because they're not mean?" Genie asked.

"No, because they don't
have much action. The only reason most of those guys went off before the timer is because they're inexperienced. You ever see Josh working a rodeo with pro cowboys and rank bulls?"

N
o," Genie replied. "This is the first time I've watched him at all."

"
He's one of the best bullfighters out there. If he keeps going the way he is, he'll make it to the National Finals," Jeremy said. "As long as he's one of the bullfighters when I ride I know I'm in good hands, and not because I'm his brother. He's the same with any cowboy. One time I got hung up and couldn't get my hand out of the loop, and when I tried to free it the bull hooked me with his horn and threw me to the other side. The next thing I knew, Josh was on the bull's back. He managed to release my hand and when I hit the ground he threw himself on top of me and stayed there, taking a hell of a beating from the bull."

Genie tried to digest
everything she'd just heard, but it was like trying to swallow liver. "Didn't you worry that Josh could be seriously injured?" she asked, wondering what kind of man would want his brother out there risking his life.

"Sure I worried," Jeremy replied. "When I was pinned under him I told him to get
the hell off, that I was fine, but he wouldn't budge, and since I was flat on my face, and he's as big as I am, I was stuck."

"How badly was he hurt?" Genie asked.

"You should know," Jeremy replied. "He landed in your hospital."

Genie looked at Jeremy with a start. "He was protecting you when…"
She paused.

"He got rear-ended by the bull," Jeremy completed Genie's thought. "Yeah, that made me feel pretty shitty too when he came home from the hospital walk
ing bowlegged because he'd gotten nailed in the nuts to keep me from getting the same treatment. I figured if he couldn't make kids after that I owed him big time."

"He can make kids," Genie said, then realized she needed to qualify that
comment. "That is, when he was in the hospital he had no trouble… umm. He needed ice packs… there… and..."

"That's okay," Jeremy said. "He told me about it."

Genie looked at Jeremy, wide eyed. "He did?"

"Sure. He wanted me to know he was still a functioning male. He said it happened every time you walked into the room."

Genie felt her cheeks grow hot with memory. "That's because I was the one who had to apply the ice packs. Obviously that wasn't enough to make him give up bullfighting though."

"Challenging bulls, whether on top or on the ground, gets in your blood," Jeremy said.

"Did you ever get injured badly enough to think about quitting?" Genie asked.

Jeremy laughed.
"No, but that's because bull riders have short memories. Our brains get scrambled every time we ride. When we get bucked off, no matter how busted up we are, the first thing we want to know is how long before we can get back on again. There's also prestige that goes with bull riding. We're like the rock stars of rodeo except instead of groupies we have buckle bunnies, and there are lots of those to go around, which makes it pretty much fun."

"Getting
busted up doesn't sound like much fun to me," Genie said, thinking that Jeremy had a lot of growing up to do, while wondering if he ever took life seriously.

"Like I said, we have short memories.
It's all about making the National Finals, which is where the money is. I know a rider who had his bull-riding spurs plastered into his cast so he could ride with a broken leg, that's how important it is. "

"Then you plan to be a professional bull rider?" Genie asked.

"For the rest of the summer," Jeremy replied. "It's paying off my college loans and it's a lot more fun than working. I’m not looking forward to growing up. I’m enjoying myself too much right now and it's all about riding bulls and having fun. And speaking of having fun, I'd better hike my buns over to the chutes and get ready to ride." He turned and headed toward the chutes.