The Bull Rider's Homecoming (15 page)

Lex had texted shortly after Annie arrived in Salt Lake City, assuring her that the girls were fine and quite busy cleaning all of Lex's tack. And Lex owned a lot of tack. With her mind eased on that score, Annie focused on her mission.

She parked in the hospital lot and went into the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee before embarking on her mission. It'd been a long drive from Gavin and she needed a minute to regroup. This, she figured, might be her last chance to talk sense into a stubborn man who was scared to death of hurting her. Failing her.

As if.

It had taken time, going over their previous conversations, having several heart-to-hearts with stern and protective Grady before she'd fully accepted that it was probably fear that motivated her man. Fear of losing. Fear of failing those he loved. He hadn't been able to keep his mom alive. He hadn't been welcome at his dad's ranch. He'd moved around, making few friends until he'd started riding bulls. Even the couple who'd mentored him had passed away.

The guy had nothing permanent in life.

Well, he was going to have something permanent now.

After her coffee, which had to be the reason her heart was beating harder than usual, she went to the desk and asked for Trace's room number then took an elevator to the second floor. By the time she approached the room, her heart was hammering to the point that she could no longer blame caffeine. She was scared. Really scared.

When Grady had told her that Trace had been hurt again, she'd almost thrown up. And that had convinced her once and for all that she was not going to let him ruin both of their lives. Not without one heck of a struggle. She pushed the door open, sucking in a breath as she saw Trace lying in the bed closest to the door. The other bed was empty.

Good. No witnesses.

She lifted her chin and moved into the room.

Let the battle begin.

* * *

T
RACE
HEARD
THE
nurse come in and slowly opened his eyes...only to discover that he was hallucinating. It wasn't a nurse who stood next to his bed. It was Annie. His mouth was dry, but he managed to say, “Are you here to prop me up?”

“I'm here to take you home.”

If he'd had a heart monitor on, it would have red-lined.

“I don't have a home.”

“Yeah. You do.”

“I'm not going to be taken in like some charity case.”

“I think you know better than that.”

Damn, but she looked adamant. Trace closed his eyes and wished the pain meds hadn't worn off. At least then he'd be loopy and could blame these feelings on the drugs. But his mind was clear and he had no doubt about Annie's meaning.

She leaned down and took his chin in her hand, holding it as she stared into his eyes. His breath caught at the fierceness in her expression. “I've come for what's mine. Whatever fears you have about not having what it takes to be a decent partner, we'll confront. Together. But the one thing I know is that you are a good man. Wes left because he was worried about himself. You left because you were worried about me. About failing me and the girls.”

Trace swallowed. True. At least the part about him being afraid of failure.

“All right,” he said slowly. “I left because I was scared. Scared of screwing up. Scared of hurting you and the girls. Scared of not being enough.”

“And that's where you got yourself into trouble,” Annie said darkly. “When you have doubts, you voice them.”

“I did.”

“And then I made my mistake. I let you go.” Her expression shifted, softened. “Come home with me, Trace. We need you.”

He looked at the wall over Annie's shoulder. “I think you guys do pretty well.”

“We want to do better. It's better when you're there.”

And he needed them.

“What if it doesn't work?”

“What if it does?”

Annie didn't look as if she had any intention of giving up on him, and it struck him that the last thing in the world he would do would be to give up on her.

“Annie...I'm at a disadvantage here.”

“I know.” She didn't sound one bit displeased. “Bull riders are stubborn, and I have to take every advantage.”

Trace gave a laugh that morphed into a cough that hurt the detached muscles of his sternum.

“I want to come home with you.” The hardest words he'd ever said, but once they were out he knew just how true they were. He wanted to go home.

“This seems too easy,” Annie said, her gaze narrowed suspiciously.

“No,” he said softly. “It's been a while coming. I couldn't stop thinking about you. What I'd given up. My old life didn't seem so good anymore.”

He reached out to take her hand, pain shooting through his ribs, but he barely registered it as her fingers entwined with his. “I'm sorry I put you through this,” he murmured.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” But he could see the glimmer of unshed tears in her eyes, and it killed him. “We both had lessons to learn.”

“I want out of this bed.”

“I want you out of that bed, too. In the worst way.”

He squeezed her hand. “How are the girls?”

“Resilient. But they miss you.”

“I miss them. I worry about them.”

Annie smiled softly. “I think that's a pretty universal feeling, in our small universe.”

“Annie...I'm not afraid of a half-ton bull, but I'm afraid of failing you.” He swallowed hard. “I love you and I left because of that.”

For a moment Annie simply stared at him, then she blinked, as if trying to hold back tears. Oh, but he hoped they were happy tears. It would kill him to have hurt her more than he already had. Her grip tightened on his hand and he pulled her closer.

“And now you'll come back for the same reason?” she asked softly.

“If you'll have me.”

She wrapped her arms around him and it hurt. He didn't care. He kind of liked the pain because it reminded him that he was alive. “I didn't come all this way because I didn't want you,” she murmured before finding his lips, kissing him deeply. “'Cause you know what? I love you, too.”

Trace's chest tightened and he brought his hand up to thread through her silky hair, bringing her mouth back down to his and apologizing for everything in the best way he knew how.

Annie sighed against his lips when she finally moved away. “I'm so glad I came. It wasn't an easy decision.” She smiled a little. “But I want to make a life with you.”

“Do you want me to give up bulls?”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Do I want you to give up breathing?”

He started to smile. She got it. She well and truly got it. And he had her. For his own. He lay back against the stiff hospital pillow, grimacing a little at the deep ache in his side before reaching out to take Annie's hand in his.

Did life get any better than this?

Epilogue

Brick shook his massive head and kicked his back foot, making the metal panel behind him ring.

“You know what?” Trace muttered to the bull, “I feel the same way.”

He shot a quick look at the crowd, knew that Annie and the girls were there, somewhere, and that brought on a swell of determination. One, he couldn't get hurt in front of his girls, and two, he was going to take Brick down. The bull hadn't been successfully ridden by anyone in over a year, and it was time.

The bull's muscles bunched as Trace eased himself on, scooting his butt around to find the proper spot to grip with his thighs, push the weight down through his feet before dealing with his rope and glove. The strangest calm settled over him. He usually felt the pump of adrenaline, heard the crowd, but things became oddly silent. The sharp smell of bull sweat still stung his nostrils and he felt the power of the animal between his legs. It was just him and Brick and the contest between them.

Nothing personal, big guy, but I have something to prove
.

The gate opened. Brick didn't move, then, just when Trace concluded that his contest was a bust, the bull exploded out into the arena, spinning first left then right. He changed it up with an ass over ears high buck, then started spinning again.

And Trace countered every challenge, his body moving fluidly, despite the jerking, jarring action of the bull beneath him. Oh, yeah, he had this. The buzzer sounded and Trace, for once, disembarked without a face-plant. Only then did he hear the crowd and he raised a hand, pumped his fist. Smiled broadly. Brick continued to buck around the arena until the safety man moved him to the gate, and then the bull trotted out with an until-we-meet-again shake of his horns.

Trace walked to the main gate, feeling...satisfied. Yes, that was the word. He'd be in the money tonight—he was sure of it—but even better, Annie and his girls had been there to witness his triumph.

* * *

I
T
SEEMED
LIKE
forever before the show ended and Annie was able to herd her excited girls to the area where she was to meet Trace. She saw him instantly, moving a little stiffly as he walked toward them, but she knew that the stiffness came from the previous week's injury. Tonight's ride had been gold.

Kristen and Katie instantly attached themselves to Trace, each taking a hand.

“You were great!” they said in unison. Annie's heart swelled at Trace's answering smile. He knelt down to look them in the eyes, still holding their hands in his.

“I was aiming for great,” he said. “Old Brick isn't very happy with me.”

“But we are!” Katie said. “Mom thought we might not want to watch, but I wasn't scared at all!”

Annie had been scared. A little. Common sense scared, but that was part of being involved with a bull rider. They'd been together over six months and it just kept getting better...to the point that when Trace offered her the ring that she'd accidentally come across when he'd asked her to get the tire gauge out of his glove compartment, she knew exactly what her answer was going to be—an unequivocal yes. She'd told him she wouldn't sign up for anything too permanent before a year had passed and he was honoring her wishes.

She was seriously considering pushing the deadline up, especially since Trace was now in partnership with Jasper and working to increase the quality of his bucking stock.

“We can get pizza now, right?” Katie asked.

“Anything you want,” Trace said, getting to his feet and pulling Annie into a warm embrace. “Thank you for being here. I couldn't have done it without you.”

“There's Lex!” Kristen said, pointing to the walkway leading to the exit.

“You guys can go see her,” Annie said. The girls raced off and Annie brought her hands up to frame her bull rider's face, smiling up into his hazel eyes. “I'll just stay here and congratulate the champ.”

Her champ leaned down to take her lips and Annie allowed herself to melt against him until she heard the happy laughter of her daughters.

“Yes,” Lex said drily from behind them. “I agree. To-tally mushy.”

Trace just smiled and leaned down to kiss her again.

* * * * *

Be sure to check out the first book in Jeannie Watt's
MONTANA BULL RIDERS
miniseries,
THE BULL RIDER MEETS HIS MATCH
, available
now from Harlequin Western Romance. And look for
a new
MONTANA BULL RIDERS
story,
coming in 2017 wherever Harlequin books are sold!

Keep reading for a sneak peek of
SUNRISE CROSSING
,
the latest captivating novel in the acclaimed
RANSOM CANYON
series by
New York Times
bestselling author
Jodi Thomas!

Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!
Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards
http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010003

Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!

Do you want to earn
Free Books
and More?
Join
Harlequin My Rewards
points program and earn points every time you shop.

You can redeem your points to get more of what you love:

Free books
Exclusive gifts and contests
Book recommendations tailored to your reading preferences

Earn
2000 points
instantly when you join—getting you closer to redeeming your first free book.

Don't miss out. Reward the book lover in you!

Click
here
to sign up
Or visit us online to sign up at

http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010001

We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Western Romance story.

Do you love small towns and cowboys?
Harlequin® Western Romance
books are contemporary stories of everyday women finding love, becoming part of a family or community—or maybe starting a family of her own.

Enjoy four new stories from Harlequin Western Romance every month!

Connect with us on
Harlequin.com
for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!

Other ways to keep in touch:

Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com