Midnight Ride (19 page)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The book sat in Janie’s lap, open but unread as thoughts of where Tyler could be and what he might be doing swirled through her mind.

It was exactly one week since she’d found him, pants undone, hiding in her truck. Was he in town right now, jeans open wide, but with someone else? And why?

None of the different scenarios she could come up with gave her any solace, nor would they as long as she was still in the dark.

This was why she shouldn’t have begun anything with him. This crazy, illogical insecurity and feeling of dread as she waited for the day this thing with him—whatever it was—would be over.

Stupid Rene. Telling her she could just have fun with him. Janie should have known better. She wasn’t wired to
just have fun
with a man. The fact that she’d married right out of college proved that.

The idea of enjoying a sweet, good-looking, hard-bodied cowboy for a fling might sound like fun when being thrown around over some wine between girlfriends. The reality was far different.

In fact, she was going to tell Rene that, right now. She grabbed her cell phone and punched in a text.

The phone rang barely a minute after she’d hit SEND. Janie answered and heard her friend ask, “I clearly must have missed something, but what is my fault and why do I have to go to a rodeo because of it?”

“You encouraged me. It’s your fault I let myself fool around with Tyler.” Janie lowered her voice for the last part. She was alone in the house, but who knew if Tim or even Khriste could be close enough to Rene to hear her through the phone.

“Mmm, mmm. You should be thanking me for that.”

“Well, I’m not because now I’m like a crazy woman.” She was lucky she hadn’t given in to one crazy thought she had and gone driving around town looking for his truck and stalking him.

“Just relax.”

“I can’t relax, and now I promised to go to the rodeo he’s riding in tomorrow. You know what that means, don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah. I do. I haven’t been in a while but I surely do remember all those hot cowboy butts. Rodeos are like a Wrangler-and-chaps buffet.”

Janie sighed. That was exactly her fear. That there would be a thousand females of all ages there and, unless they were blind or crazy, they’d be after Tyler. True though it was, that wasn’t what she’d been getting at. “It means you have to come with me.”

She shouldn’t have agreed to go in the first place. It felt too much like she was his girlfriend going to watch him ride. More than that, she knew rodeos and how things worked. The number of pretty young things throwing their boobs at the riders, trying to get their attention, would be frightening. She couldn’t handle being there alone. She needed her friend for support.

“Okay.”

Rene’s answer halted Janie’s panic. “You’ll really go?”

“Sure. It’s about time I took Khriste to her first rodeo. I can’t believe I haven’t before. She’ll love seeing the barrel racing, and once I tell her Tyler’s riding, there won’t be any keeping her away.”

Janie blew out a breath in relief. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Jeez, it’s not like you asked me for a kidney or something. It’s a rodeo. You really need to learn to chill out.”

“Yeah, okay.” Janie rolled her eyes. “I’ll work on it.”

She didn’t see that happening as long as she was sleeping with a man eleven years her junior or while she still had a mountain of bills to pay, or two fields full of cut hay yet to be baled and sold.

“So we good? Can I go now before Tim commandeers the remote and changes to the Hunting Channel?”

“Yes, you can go.” She smiled. “Say hello to your man for me.”

Rene let out a laugh. “Yeah, you say hello to yours, too.”

Janie disconnected the call without comment. Besides his not being there, Tyler was by no means her man. Janie’s curiosity about where he was returned.

A knock on the back door sent her heart racing. She tossed the book aside, hopped off the bed, and let herself hope.

That soft knock, barely loud enough for her to hear it from upstairs in the bedroom, seemed so typically Tyler, she felt to her core that it had to be him. It was his considerate way of saying he wanted to see her while being reluctant to wake her if she was already asleep.

She reached the darkened kitchen and saw his shadow through the glass, the cowboy hat so familiar to her now. She flipped on the lights and got a better look at his hopeful yet contrite expression. No wonder she was powerless against this man. Who could possibly resist him when he was as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside?

She unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Hi.”

“Hey, there.” His smile made her want to forget everything—her doubts, her worry. Tamping down her excitement, she waited to hear whether he’d tell her where he’d been. “I know it’s late, too late to just show up, but I didn’t want to call the house and wake you. And I don’t have your cell number or I would have texted first to make sure you weren’t already asleep.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Good. I couldn’t stand not seeing you. I spent the whole time I was working at the store thinking about you.”

“You work at a store?” Janie frowned. As confusing as his confession was, his revelation had her spirits lifting. He hadn’t been out with the guys, or out with a girl. He had been working. “What store?”

“I fill in here and there at my neighbor’s shop. He had a stroke last year and needed help—”

He never got to finish. She let out a laugh even as she fought tears. Warmth filled her chest, chasing away the cold fear as cautious hope and pure joy overwhelmed her. The relief she felt couldn’t be contained. It bubbled to the surface as she jumped him.

Janie threw her arms around his neck and crashed her mouth against his.

Tyler pushed the door shut before he wrapped his hands around her waist. Kissing her as they moved, he backed them farther into the room.

“Not that I’m complaining . . .” He kissed her again and then broke away to continue, “But what did I do to deserve this very nice reception?”

“Just you being you. Come upstairs.”

“Gladly.” Smiling, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door leading out of the kitchen and toward the staircase.

She tugged to stop him. He glanced back. “What’s wrong?”

“I have to lock the door and turn off the lights.”

His smile widened. She guessed he knew exactly what she was thinking. That once they got upstairs, neither one of them would be coming back down again until morning.

Just to make sure they were really on the same page, she asked, “Do you have your overnight bag in the truck?”

“I do. You know, just in case.” He smirked while looking adorable.

“You might want to go and get it now so you don’t have to later.”

He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rene sighed and stared ahead. “God, I love horses.”

Janie followed Rene’s line of sight and shook her head. There were horses, all right, but in front of the animals was a line of ropers waiting to move to the other end of the arena, where they’d start their runs.

The cowboys, all dressed in jeans and facing away from the stands as they watched the action of the event before theirs, gave the audience at this end of the arena a perfect view of their backs—and their backsides.

She shot Rene a sideways glance. “Mmm-hmm. Right. It’s the horses you’re interested in. I’m sure.”

“It is.” Rene glanced down at Khriste. “It’s important to teach my daughter all aspects of equine sports. She can be an Olympic jumper, or a professional barrel racer, or even a team roper, if she wants to be. Right, baby girl?”

“When’s Tyler up?” Khriste wasn’t interested in the man buffet her mother still ogled. Only Tyler. Much like Janie. She’d been keeping a close eye on the ropers, just as Rene had, but she was concerned with one in particular.

“I don’t know, baby. Ask your Aunt Janie. I bet she knows all about what Tyler’s doing.”

Janie frowned at Rene, then glanced down at Khriste. “Soon. The tie-down roping is up next.” She decided to get Rene in trouble, since her friend had no qualms about throwing her under the bus. “I think Tyler already rode in the first event. The bronc riding. You know, the one that we missed because we were late.”

Khriste’s mouth dropped open and she turned to glare at her mother.

“Mom.” The girl made the single short word stretch out extra long, clearly showing how annoyed she was. “I told you we were gonna be late and miss things.
Important
things.”

“Yeah, Rene. Important things.” Janie smiled as she jumped on board with Khriste’s indignation.

“Sorry.” Rene wrinkled her nose at Janie, but the damage had already been done, judging by Khriste’s scowl.

They’d arrived after the events had already started because Rene had picked Janie up late. Rene had tried to convince Janie that Khriste hadn’t been ready on time, but after all the years they’d been best friends, Janie knew the truth. Rene ran on her own schedule, and rarely did it match everyone else’s.

Arriving late and not having time to talk to Tyler probably wasn’t such a bad thing. What would they have done in public, and in front of her best friend and godchild? Stood awkwardly, like polite friends who hadn’t been in the same bed just twelve hours ago?

Things were already complicated enough with their relationship limited to the privacy of her house. She should have known being anywhere with Tyler in public would make it even more so. She should have said no to his invitation. Made up some excuse—

That thought halted dead in its tracks as Tyler turned to face her and scanned the stands. She saw the moment his eyes found her. He smiled wide, and even at that distance, she could swear she saw a twinkle in his blue, blue eyes. Her heart pounded harder. She had to bite back a cuss at the realization that she couldn’t even see the man without being affected by him.

It was time for Tyler and the other ropers to move and he had to turn away, but still she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him as he leapt easily into the saddle. If she’d thought he was handsome before, she’d been mistaken. There was no sight more beautiful—though that word didn’t seem appropriate—than Tyler in the saddle.

He was soon lost to her sight in the group of riders moving toward the ropers’ box. Janie glanced at Rene and found she was under scrutiny. Rene’s brows rose but before she could utter even a word, Janie said, “No comments, please.”

Rene pressed her lips together. “I wasn’t gonna say a thing.”

Somehow, Janie had trouble believing that. There was nothing Rene could say anyway that Janie hadn’t already thought herself as she debated the future of this thing she had with Tyler, including how maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she just gave in and let herself fall for the man.

The wide swing of the pendulum when it came to thoughts of him only proved to her she was crazy. Being with him made her so. Yet here she was, breathless from a smile and craving another.

“I see Tyler!” Khriste’s excited exclamation dragged Janie back to the event. “He’s getting into that little cage.”

Janie raised a brow. Born and raised in Oklahoma and the girl knew nothing about roping. “Rene, you really should have taken her to a rodeo before now.”

“Sorry. I had other things to do. You could have done it.”

“I had a few things to do of my own.” Erasing her scowl, Janie put an arm around Khriste. It was partially her fault. She should have taken it upon herself to bring her godchild to an event. She’d just have to correct that oversight now. “It’s not a cage, sweetie. It’s more like a starting gate where the ropers have to wait until the calf is let loose and they can rope it.”

When Janie had been in college and riding barrels, she always had liked the tie-down event the best, but she’d never given in to the lure of dating a roper.

The fact that Tyler was a roper and she’d always had a weakness for them wasn’t helping her confusion one bit. All the old triggers from the past came back with a vengeance, resulting in a visceral reaction based on a long-standing attraction to the men in the sport, right along with her caution regarding getting involved with one.

But she was already involved, wasn’t she?

Ironic how she’d managed to get through her teen years and her college years, right up until her meeting and marrying Tom, all without falling for a roper. Not until she was thirty-six had she fallen victim to a rodeo cowboy’s charms.

Her, and who knew how many other females. She hadn’t missed the number of women—girls, really—who were watching Tyler just as closely as she was. God, how she hated that.

The calf was released into the arena, and it took off in a crooked path across the dirt. Seconds later, Tyler and his horse were in hot pursuit. With the piggin’ string held between his teeth, and his legs controlling the well-trained cutting horse, Tyler swung the rope above his head and let it fly.

Even aimed from the back of a horse at full gallop, the loop of the rope landed true, sliding over the calf’s head to settle around his neck. Tyler leapt from the saddle. As the horse came to a dead stop, the man ran at full speed to where the calf was held by the rope tied to the saddle horn.

She’d always wondered whether the horse could reason out what he was doing and why, or if he just knew the steps so well he repeated them without thought. Either way, it was a beautiful thing. Man and horse worked in a well-practiced synchronicity that had always fascinated Janie.

The gelding took a step back to keep tension on the rope, holding it secure and taut around the calf’s neck until Tyler could get to him. Tyler lifted the two-hundred-plus pound calf and flipped him onto his back on the ground. He took the string from between his teeth, wrapping it around three of the calf’s legs, securing it in a half hitch before he thrust his hands into the air to stop the clock.

The entire thing, from Tyler leaving the box to the time he threw up his hands to tell the judges he was done, took only seconds. Eight point nine seconds to be exact, according to the announcer. It was a good time that would possibly put Tyler in the lead. He must have realized it, too. He grinned as he released the calf. It rolled to its feet and took off running as Tyler gathered up his rope and headed back to his horse.

“Aunt Janie, did Tyler do good?”

Janie realized she should have been explaining things to Khriste, but Tyler had been too much of a distraction. Not a surprise. “He did very good, sweetie.” The next rider took his position in the box. “Want me to explain the rules to you so you understand?”

“I understand. The cowboy catches the cow and then lets him go.”

“You’re right. That’s exactly it.”

Rene smiled. “Can’t argue with her there.”

“I guess not.” Janie laughed.

Leave it to a child to break things down to their simplest form. She could learn something from the girl. Maybe things didn’t have to be so complicated all the time.

The rest of the ropers took their turns, but Janie didn’t see a whole lot of them since she kept watching for Tyler, who was still at the other end of the arena.

“Mom, I have to go to the bathroom.”

Rene glanced at Janie. “I guess we’re heading to the Porta-Johns. Lucky me. You want to come?”

Janie laughed. “As tempting as it sounds, no, thanks. I’m good.”

“Yeah, I figured. We’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

As Rene and Khriste headed off to the facilities, the condition of which would no doubt be pretty horrendous, considering the event grounds were packed and it was a hot day, Janie decided she’d be waiting until she got home.

“Did you see Tyler’s run?”

The question had her turning, her mouth opening to answer automatically until she realized the stranger was asking the question of her friend. Both girls stood close to the rail, but Janie hadn’t noticed them until just now when she’d heard his name.

She hadn’t heard the announcers speak about another cowboy named Tyler, which meant they had to be talking about her Tyler. Except, judging by the familiarity with which the girl spoke about him, he wasn’t Janie’s Tyler at all.

“I did. Isn’t he the guy you fooled around with last year?”

“Yup. The very same. Damn, he looks good today. I wonder if he’s entered in the team roping, too, or just in the bulls.”

“OMG, I hope he is in the team roping. I love ropers. They’re so freaking hot.”

“Yeah. Me too. But there’s nothing hotter than a hot guy on the back of a bucking bull.”

“Heck, yeah.”

The inane conversation between the two girls, both so young they probably were college-aged, had Janie’s insides twisting.

“Oooh, look. He’s coming back this way.”

That got Janie’s attention and had her glancing up. She could feel the excitement coming off the girl as he approached. The blood drained from her face from the impending collision of worlds—the girl from his past and Janie from his present. She felt cold in spite of the hot day.

Rational thought seemed impossible—she was one big emotional ball of nerves—but the one thing Janie could be sure of as she stood shaking next to these girls was that she didn’t want to be there to see them and Tyler together, even if all they did was talk to him. She shouldn’t have come here.

He was on his way to this end of the arena now. She knew as soon as he walked his horse to the grassy area by the parked stock trailers, he’d be back to say hello to her. He’d already seen her and knew she’d seen him. He had to come over, even if his former fling was standing right next to her.

What a mess. Like her nightmares come to life. She dared to glance at the girl he’d chosen to be with. Young, and barely clad in the heat. Bleached blond hair that hung down to her ass. Big, bouncing breasts that seemed to defy gravity even without the support of a bra. Legs that reached a mile long out of her cut-off short shorts.

How in the world had Janie ever thought she could hold Tyler’s interest for more than a night or two? She couldn’t. Not if this was an example of the girls he usually went for. Of the temptations he was surrounded by constantly. In bars. At rodeos. Hell, probably even at that store where he worked.

“Tyler! Hey.” The girl’s sickeningly sweet greeting was suggestive enough that Janie didn’t even have to look at her to know what her expression would look like. She’d be smiling at Tyler, hopeful for a repeat. Thrusting her breasts at him to ensure he took notice.

To his credit, all he did was nod to the two girls before he turned to face Janie. There was no reaction or sign he recognized the blast from his not-so-distant past. Either he had the best poker face she’d ever seen, or he didn’t remember the girl. Janie didn’t know which option was worse.

That this girl standing right next to them had probably been a one-night stand was hard enough for Janie to swallow. The thought that Tyler could have had so many girls he couldn’t remember them all was horrifying.

Would he not remember her in a year, either?

“Hey, darlin’.” He smiled wide and looked at Janie as if she were the only female there. Another time, another place, she might have let herself believe that was true. “I’m glad you made it. When you weren’t here before the opening ceremony, I got worried.”

She forced herself to respond, even though what she wanted to do was sneak behind the stands and hide. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. Rene was late picking me up.”

He nodded. “I saw that Khriste is here, too. Where’d they get off to?”

“Bathroom.”

“That’s good. That means I can do this.” Grinning, Tyler wrapped one hand around her arm. She felt the warmth of his touch against her bare skin as he leaned in for a kiss. She leaned away, which halted his forward progress and brought a frown to his formerly smooth brow. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She scrambled for a reason why she’d avoided his kiss. There were many to choose from, but only one she thought they should discuss where they currently were. “I just don’t think we should do that here.”

“Why not? I don’t care who sees me kissing you.”

Her brow rose and she fought with all her might not to look toward the girl and her friend. “Are you sure about that?”

Frowning, he nodded. “Yeah. Very sure.” His answer was firm, sounding almost defensive.

His second hand came up to grip her other arm. He pulled her close and planted a big kiss on her lips. The kiss wasn’t romantic, or even sexy. It felt more like him proving a point, that point being when he wanted to kiss her, he was going to, no matter where they were or what she said about it.

When he pulled back, Janie dared to glance past him. She got a look at the girl’s surprised and angry expression as she stood behind him.