The Twins' Rodeo Rider. Tina Leonard

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      “I’m not that out of it.” In fact, not only was he in pain right now, he was good and rattled. “Wait a minute, you’re not here on a baby-making mission, are you? Because that’s what Jade did to Ty, you know, and before he knew it, he was...”

      She looked at him and his words trailed off. “He was what?”

      “Well, married. First he was a father, of course, which he was the last one to know about, and then he was married.” Now that he thought about it, that string of events actually had a nice ring to it. “Hey! I didn’t like you kissing Squint! It looked a little enthusiastic to me, especially for a girl who’d just swum a race and should have been lacking oxygen.”

      She gave him a look he would distinctly term as disbelieving. “Don’t be an ape. I don’t ask who you kiss.”

      “I haven’t kissed anyone! Not since Ty dragged us all to BC for brides.” He frowned. “Now that I think about that, that’s unnatural. Kiss me.”

      “I don’t think so. Eat.”

      “You kissed Squint.” He didn’t want to eat. What he wanted was Suz’s mouth, and she didn’t seem too inclined to share those sexy lips of hers. “That doesn’t seem right. You would have kissed me, if I’d been at the finish line.” He experienced some serious regret that he’d had such little faith in his blue-streaked bombshell. “And you didn’t seem too pained about kissing him, either.”

      “It was like kissing a big old gummy bear. Soft, and kind of sweet.” She dug a brownie out of the bag for him. “You weren’t at the finish line, so you forfeited.”

      This didn’t sound promising. “So why are you really here?” Maybe she’d pursue the baby angle again. That at least sounded like it might culminate in some kissing.

      “Because the committee has decided that a third race is going to have to be run.”

      “What?” Frog put down his brownie. “Why?”

      “Because you cheated the magic, and Daisy’s raising the roof. Says you didn’t operate under good faith and then ran off like a scared dog.” Suz looked at him and shook her head. “As much as I like to disagree with Daisy about anything and everything, she has a right to her grievance.”

      “I don’t get it.” What was the deal with this town and their competitive streak?

      “Daisy did win you fair and square the first time. I challenged for you, but you cheated the magic, so the committee has decided that the tie must be broken.”

      “How?” He was agog by the fact that Suz would have come this far to tell him all this, which let him know the situation was serious. “What if I don’t want to come back?” This was going to start the whole you-didn’t-believe-I-could-win thing with Suz, too, and that was trouble he didn’t want between them right now. After all, he was in a comfy bed, and she was sitting on it, and romance could happen if a man was patient, right?

      “If you don’t come back, I’m afraid Squint will never get Daisy.”

      “Daisy doesn’t want Squint. He’s not the catch he thinks he is,” Frog groused. “I appear to be said catch.”

      “And we can’t figure out why.” Suz shook her head, shooting his confidence chock-full of holes. “You certainly haven’t proven yourself on the field of battle.”

      His jaw dropped. “I most certainly did!”

      “BC’s field of battle,” she said. “Our battles are different.”

      “I’ll say.” He was entirely disgruntled now. “Jeez, a guy makes a little mistake, and he pays. Let the wrong woman decide he’s sex candy, and he’s toast.”

      “Cisco,” Suz said, and he perked up, realizing that he was Cisco again and not the hapless Frog, “it really hurt my feelings that you didn’t believe I’d win the race.”

      There was the crux of the matter. He’d been a real heel, and he knew it. “I’m sorry about that, Suz. I really am. I was trying to make life easier for everyone.”

      “We’re not about easy in BC. We’re about the magic.”

      “I just don’t believe much in airy-fairy stuff.”

      “It’s because you don’t let yourself feel it.”

      “I don’t know. I got dragged to those Twilight movies. I’m telling you, I laughed at all that supposed angst. I think I’m a straight-line kind of guy, no deviating.”

      “It’s probably a SEAL thing,” Suz said.

      “No, Squint’s superstitious as hell. And Sam, whoa. He won’t even pet a black cat.” He bit into the brownie, which was very good, but not as good as Suz’s mouth would be, he was quite certain. “I wore a saint medal in Afghanistan that Squint gave me. Saint Michael.” He pulled it out of his shirt to show her. “I think it saved my life.”

      She smiled. “Why don’t you get some rest?”

      He glanced around the blue-and-white room. Suz was right: there were a few delicate doilies in the smallish room, but it was a comfortable place. The bed comforter was soft and puffy, the sheets clean and soft. The bed itself was large, but not too large that he couldn’t envision himself eventually wrapping himself around Suz’s cute, sexy little bod. There was an en suite bath, and two lamps with stained glass on either side of the bed. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said, more gruffly than he intended.

      “I’m glad I’m here, too.” She got up, pulled a blanket from the large closet and an extra pillow from the shelf, tossed them onto the floor. “Get some rest. You’re going to feel the pain by morning.”

      He set the brownie down, put the sack of food on the nightstand. “What are you doing?”

      “I’ve been driving all day to find you. I’m going to sleep. Good night.” She snuggled down into her pallet, which did look quite comfy, but which wasn’t his bed.

      “Get in bed. I promise I won’t touch you.” He wouldn’t like keeping that promise, but he couldn’t bear the thought of her sleeping on the floor.

      “I’m fine. I was in the Peace Corps. This is heaven compared to some of the places I’ve slept. Will you turn off the lamp when you’re ready?”

      Cisco leaned back against the pillow. This was not good. She belonged up here with him, in his arms.

      But as she’d so gently pointed out, he hadn’t proved himself on the field of BC battle. In fact, it sounded like the town thought he had some ground to make up, some refurbishing of his reputation.

      Which he had a feeling meant he was getting none of Suz until he performed said miracle. “Hey, Suz,” he said, leaning back over the bed to stare down at her.

      She was tucked nicely into her nest of covers. She looked up at him. “Yes?”

      “What kind of race are they wanting to run this time? And when is it?”

      “It’s in СКАЧАТЬ