Hooked (17 page)

As she turned to lead the way, she couldn’t help but smile. Score one for the old crew. She hadn’t won the war, but this battle went to her. Though at what cost? Joe was probably going to be seriously pissed she’d made Chelsea cry. Oh well. She’d deal with that later.

Annie hovered just inside the entrance to the riders’ dressing room. “Luke? Got a second for an interview?”

He glanced up from tying his rope onto one of the metal bars on the wall, one brow cocked. “For you?”

She smiled. “Yes, sir. For little old me.”

“Then of course I’d be happy to.” Luke nodded. “You ready now?”

“In just a minute. As soon as we come back from commercial break.”

“All right. I’ll be here.” As Luke started to prepare his bull rope, Annie waited for the cue from her boss.

When Joe’s voice came through her earpiece, it was with a bit more formality than usual. In her current victorious mood, she imagined he was treating her with a little more respect after what Luke had done by refusing to let the rookie reporter interview him. Of course, with Blondie breathing down her neck and trying to get her job, it could be that Joe was waiting for Annie to finish the interview with Luke before he fired her.

At this point, she couldn’t care. Luke was back and he wanted to talk to her alone.

The interview went like clockwork, as it should given both of their experience as veterans of their craft, then it was done.

“And we’re off.” Carl lowered the camera from his shoulder and Annie lowered the hand mic she’d used.

“Thanks, Luke. I really appreciate it.”

He waved off her thanks with one hand. “Anytime and you know it.”

She believed that. “Well thanks anyway. I better let you finish getting ready. See you later.”

“You will.” He seemed to give the words extra special emphasis before he went back to his preparations.

Annie walked down the hallway and out into the arena with a spring in her step she hadn’t felt in months…until she glanced up and tripped to a stop. There in the VIP seating was Chris, and seated next to him was none other than Lilly.

To Annie’s horror, Lilly caught her gaze. The girl said something to her brother and then practically bounced down the stairs, headed right in Annie’s direction.

Annie tried to make a break for it, but was waylaid by a group of fans on a behind-the-chutes tour blocking her way. By the time they’d cleared a path, Lilly was beside her. “Annie. Hi. I haven’t seen you since the funeral.”

Plastering on her best fake on-air smile, Annie steeled herself and turned toward Lilly. “You’re right. How are you, Lilly?”

“Good. Happy to be here. You know, have to be here to support my Luke.”

My Luke. Acid churned inside Annie. “Of course.”

Now it seemed quite apparent why Luke needed to talk to her. He needed to get Annie alone to break the news he’d gotten back together with Lilly.

That was something he would do. Even if what they’d had together amounted to not much more than a one-night stand, at best a fling between friends, Luke was the type to want to set things right with her. Well, she would save him the trouble of having to tell her, and save herself the heartache of having to hear it in the process.

“So how have you been?” Lilly smiled sweetly and just as fakely as Annie.

“I’ve been good.” Annie quickly touched her earpiece. It was silent, but Lilly didn’t know that. She feigned a grimace. “Lilly, I’d love to talk more but my boss needs me.”

“Oh, sure. You go on. We’ll have lots of time to catch up. I plan on being at a lot of Luke’s events now that things are back to normal. Nice talking to you.”

“Yeah. Nice talking to you too.” Annie longed to slap the self-satisfied look off Lilly’s face. Instead, she headed for the ladies room where she may or may not have to vomit.

Chapter Fifteen

“Have you seen Annie?”

“You know what? I haven’t seen her in a while.” Mustang glanced around them before grinning at Luke. “You looking for her?”

Mustang and his damn insinuations.

“Yup, that’s why I asked.” With that, Luke strode away before Mustang could pry any further into his personal life. That man’s girl needed to finish up with her degree already. Maybe then Mustang would be busy enough with her he wouldn’t need to be butting into other people’s love lives.

Glancing around the immediate area behind the chutes, Luke searched the sea of faces but didn’t find the one he was looking for. The only one he really wanted to see.

“Hey, we’re gonna be taking off.” Chris’s voice behind him had Luke turning around. “I’d like to get home before it gets too late.”

“Understood. You guys really didn’t have to drive out here for this. I mean, it’s hours on the road for you.”

“Don’t be silly. I wanted to support you on your first day back. You know, in case you totally sucked.” Chris grinned while Lilly smacked her brother in the arm.

“Stop. Luke did great tonight.”

Luke smiled at the siblings fighting as usual. “Thanks, Lilly.”

“Well, it’s true. I haven’t seen you ride that well in years.”

Luke watched her face closely, not sure if she was really happy for him, or just trying to convince him she could be a good supportive bull rider’s girlfriend so he’d agree to giving them another shot together. It didn’t matter either way, because Luke’s mind was made up. The moment he found Annie, if she was still interested, he’d be making his intentions known with her.

“Well, thanks again. Seriously. Having you guys here for support meant a lot.”

“My parents—your mom too—would have been here with us if there wasn’t that big thing going on at the church this weekend. I know Daddy was really sorry to miss it.”

Luke nodded. “That’s nice to hear. Okay, so you guys drive safely and call me when you get home.”

Chris frowned and glanced down at his watch. “Luke, it’s going to be late. You’ll be sleeping by then.”

With any luck, Luke wouldn’t be sleeping at all, but he would be in bed. With Annie. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Send me a text then, so I know you’re safe. I’ll check my phone when I wake up.”

“You got it.” Chris encompassed Luke in a bear hug, slapping him on the back in the process. “It was good to see you riding again, partner.”

“It was good to be riding again.” And it was all thanks to the man who was now officially Luke’s business partner.

“Goodbye, Luke.” Lilly stepped into the space her brother had vacated.

Luke returned her hug and let her kiss him on the cheek. “Bye, Lilly.”

There was no doubt in his mind, the spark was gone and nothing but affection remained. As he saw the hope in her eyes, he wished for her sake that one day she’d feel that too.

The two turned to go but Chris turned back before he’d taken two steps. “I’ll call you about that new breeding mare I’m bringing in.”

Luke smiled. He’d never seen his friend so excited. It was good. “You do that.”

Once they were gone, his single goal was to find Annie. He spotted her cameraman and decided that was the best place to start his renewed search. “Carl!”

“Hey, Luke. Great ride tonight, man.”

“Yeah, thanks. Hey, have you seen Annie? I need to talk to her.” Luke needed so much more but talking was a good start. They could get to the rest over the next few days, or years.

“Um, actually it was really weird. She ran out of here the moment we were done shooting. She usually hangs out for a while. You know, talking to the guys or brainstorming ideas for the next show with the boss, or at least looking to grab a bite to eat, but not today. Huh. I wonder…”

“Wonder what?” Luke frowned.

“There’s that new girl they brought in. I know Annie’s a little upset about that, but Chelsea wasn’t even around when Annie took off.”

“All right, well thanks. Oh, wait, do you know which hotel she’s in?”

“Yup, same one as me. Right across the street actually. First floor. I’m in room 110 and she’s in 112 at the Harper Inn and Suites.”

“That’s where I am too. Room 112 you said?”

Carl nodded.

“Perfect. Thanks.”

That was exactly what Luke needed to know. He’d find Annie and make her forget all about this Chelsea chick…and work and everything else in the world. He’d be perfectly happy if they could lock themselves up in her room and hash out everything that had happened since the last time he’d seen her.

Then he’d spend all night making it up to her. He’d been an ass not calling her over all those months he’d been retired. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. But tonight required a live conversation, not a phone call. Sure, if he got desperate and couldn’t find her, he’d resort to the phone, but armed with her room number, he wouldn’t need it.

As Luke nearly sprinted across the lanes of traffic to get to the hotel, he pushed aside the notion that perhaps Annie wasn’t in that room alone. He hadn’t heard any rumors of her dating someone. Not even a whisper. And she certainly wasn’t the type to pick up one of the riders for a night. Luke knew he had been the exception, and what they’d had would have been way more than one night if his father hadn’t died.

Even that thought, the memory of that horrible day when Chris had showed up and broken the news to him, didn’t put a damper on Luke’s enthusiasm. It was time to get on with living. Riding again had been step one. Making things right with Annie was the only unfinished business left. Luke didn’t like unfinished business.

His heart began to pound as he stood in the elevator, waiting for the doors to close. Her room was only one floor above the lobby. He wondered if he should have taken the stairs, then finally the doors slid shut at such a lethargic speed he prayed he would make it that one floor. If he got trapped in this damn thing and couldn’t get to Annie, he’d absolutely lose his mind.

Hell, he’d pry the doors open bare handed if he had to.

As the doors finally swooshed open on Annie’s floor, he realized he was holding his breath. What if she wasn’t in her room? Maybe she’d gone to grab something to eat. All the worry made him pause a beat to absorb the information on the signs on the wall in front of him. Room 100 through 109 were to the left, room 110 through 120 to the right.

He followed the sign that led to room 112 where hopefully Annie would be.

Then, there it was. The tiny plaque to the right of the door announcing he had arrived. Luke swallowed away his nerves and felt them stick on the lump in his throat as he knocked.

She didn’t answer right away and in his impatience, he brought his fist up to the door to try again just as he heard the locks slide. Then he was face-to-face with Annie. It took Luke a second to realize she looked less than thrilled to see him standing at her door.

“Um, hey. I’m sorry. Is it too late to just show up at your door like this?”

She drew in a deep breath, then shook her head. “No. It’s okay. Come on in.”

Okay. This was not the reception he was expecting. He moved into the room and she closed the door behind him.

“Sit down.” She settled on the very edge of the sofa and then motioned to the chair facing her.

He ignored the chair and saw the surprise on her face as he sat next to her on the sofa.

This was strange. She’d been fine during the interview. Even fine when the camera was off and they’d just been talking.

“I’m sorry to just show up.”

Annie shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I suppose I can’t avoid this conversation forever. Go on. You wanted to talk. Let’s talk.”

His brows rose. “You’re upset. I can see that. If you want to talk about Courtney or Chelsea or whatever her name is, we can. Believe me, I know what it’s like to see the younger guys vying for my position in the ranks. I can only imagine how you feel with the network bringing her in and giving her your interviews.”

She smiled but it somehow looked sad as she shook her head. “Luke, the network is either going to replace me with Chelsea or not. I don’t think there is really a whole lot I can do about that. I’ll just keep doing my job as best I can and whatever happens, happens. That’s pretty much how I have to approach this thing with us too.”

At least she’d said “us”. That made him feel moderately better that there was even an “us”.

“Annie.” He raised his hand and cupped the side of her face. She didn’t pull away, which he chose to read as a good thing. Luke leaned in. “While I was away—”

She turned her head, looking off into the room rather than at him. He’d hurt her by not calling all those months. He could see that and he didn’t blame her one little bit for being upset.

He gently turned her face back to him. “Damn, I’ve missed you, Annie. I knew I had but it wasn’t until I saw you face-to-face that I realized exactly how much.”

There were tears in her eyes when she said, “Luke, don’t…”

Luke wasn’t the kind of man who relied on his words. Never had been. He was much better showing his feelings. He’d show Annie how he felt. How sorry he was. How much he needed her. Wanted her.

She watched him as he brought his head nearer, until they were just a breath apart. Then she sighed, a shaky, breathy release. He took that as her giving in to him. Luke didn’t wait any longer to do what he’d come here to do. He closed the small remaining distance and tasted those lips he’d dreamed about every night. He’d tried to not think of her while he’d been away. It had hurt too much knowing they’d always be apart. All that pent-up frustration and feeling came pouring out now into that kiss.

She drew in a ragged breath and then her hands were in his hair.

As he claimed her mouth, he toppled them both over until she was beneath him on the tiny sofa. His hands roamed her body, remembering every curve and valley of her shape. He slid his fingers beneath her shirt and felt the warmth of her skin. He felt her trembling beneath him, with wanting him, he hoped.

It had been too long. Far too long for him without a woman, but any woman wouldn’t have done. Only Annie.

He pulled her shirt over her head, then popped one breast out of her bra. With a groan he couldn’t control, he drew that rosy peak into his mouth. Her heart pounded against his fingertips, raising his pulse rate to match. Her breathing came in gasps as he exposed the other breast and treated it to the same attention as the first.