The Bull Rider's Cowgirl. April Arrington

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СКАЧАТЬ Hell, yeah. This one was a damn deal feistier.

      He glanced around the arena, taking steady breaths and visualizing a successful scenario on the dirt. But his eyes snagged on a cream-colored hat and red hair in the stands.

      In the front row, Jen no longer sat, but had shot to her feet, eyes on the bull banging around in the chute below him, and face creased with apprehension. Tammy and another woman he recognized as a barrel racer—Karla, was it?—stood at her side, looking equally dismayed.

      Colt turned away, started wrapping tape around the glove on his left hand and did his best to ignore the warm satisfaction rippling through him. Pissed though she was, Jen had not only stuck around for over an hour to watch his ride, she was worried about him.

      “Told you this joker could spring,” Judd shouted over the hard rock music. “You ready to get slung?”

      “Yep.” Colt bit the tape off, handed the roll to one of the spotters at his side and jerked his chin. “So long as it’s after eight seconds.”

      A buzzing in Colt’s back pocket rattled through the denim of his jeans. He yanked his cell phone out, glancing at the lit screen. Mead Enterprises.

      Colt shook his head. Friday night. Approaching 10:00 p.m. No doubt his father, John W. Mead, would still be holed up in his high-rise Atlanta office closing another deal. It was always about business with John W. Mead. Never personal. And never about actually building a relationship with his son. That had become especially true after Colt’s mother died.

      Nope. His old man probably wanted the same thing he’d been hassling him about for the last year.

      Time to get your ass home, Colt. You’ve played long enough and there’s work to be done.

      Colt rejected the call with a rough swipe of his thumb and shoved his cell toward Judd. “Mind hanging on to that till I’m through?”

      “Sure.” Judd shoved it in his pocket, then firmed his grip on the rope.

      Colt scrutinized Sonic’s movements and regained his focus. He shoved in his mouth guard, grabbed the opposite rail and climbed into the chute, placing a boot in the center of the bull’s back. He waited a couple seconds as Sonic shifted and stomped, then slid his legs down around the bull’s muscular sides and sat.

      The rich scent of musky hide filled his nostrils and the tang of dirt drifting on the air touched his tongue with each breath he took. He grabbed hold of the rope Judd stretched up, and yanked his gloved hand over it briskly, tapping it with his fist when he finished to cue Judd to hand it over. Hooking his gloved fingers through the handle laying over the bull’s back, he set the rope, then wrapped the long end of it around his palm. He closed his fist, opened it, then curled it again.

      Satisfied with his grip, Colt secured his position, then nodded.

      The gate clanged open and Sonic catapulted into the arena, his back end twisting and lifting vertically several feet into the air on a vicious kick. Colt stretched his right arm high above his head as they rose up. He leaned back and the muscles in his left forearm seized with his strained grip on the rope.

      Sonic’s hard haunches slammed against Colt’s shoulder blades. The bull’s long tail whipped over Colt’s head and smacked across his face, the coarse hairs stinging his eyes and knocking his hat off his head.

      Gravity snatched them back down and Sonic’s front hooves hit the dirt, yanking Colt forward. Colt jerked his head to the side, his cheek missing the sharp point of a horn by inches.

      Sonic lurched again, lifting them both so high so fast that Colt’s gut swirled on an intense wave of panicked excitement. A shout exploded from deep within his chest and blasted through the smile stretching across his mouth guard.

      Hot damn! This beast could fly.

      Clenching his thighs to counteract each of Sonic’s moves, Colt held on with his left fist, but let go of the world around him. The spectators’ cheers dimmed to barely discernable echoes and the violent thrashings of the bull rattled away every care or concern he’d ever had.

      They soared, spun, then thudded hard against the earth. Over and over. Each of their grunts and harsh breaths flooded Colt’s senses as he pitted his will against Sonic’s.

      A buzzer sounded and reality struck, ripping his attention away from the battle and back to survival. He wrestled his hand free of the rope and leaned to the side as Sonic writhed in the air, allowing the momentum to sling him from the bull’s back and tumble him across the dirt.

      He sprang to his feet and ran. Sonic followed, charging twice before the bullfighters distracted him and directed him back toward the pen.

      Colt spotted his Stetson in the dirt. He scooped it up, settled it back on his head, then tipped the brim at Sonic. The bull snorted, kicking the metal gate one more time as he bulldozed his way into the pen.

      Colt pulled his mouth guard out, shoved it in his pocket and laughed. “Nice meetin’ you, too, you big bastard.”

      He waved at the cheering crowd, then made his way out of the ring, rubbing a hand over the sore muscles of his lower back and grimacing at the sharp ache in his left ankle.

      Judd met him at the gate, handed him his phone, then slapped his shoulder. “I think you just locked this one down, man. No one’s going to pull off a better ride than that tonight.”

      “Let’s hope not,” Colt said, breathing hard. “That bull made me earn it.”

      Judd laughed. “I gotta get back and spot another rider.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder as he left. “Your fan club’s calling.”

      Colt glanced toward the stands. Tammy stood on the floor beside the front row, laughing and waving her hat wildly. Karla was at her side, whistling through two fingers and making catcalls. Jen stood nearby with a blank expression, clutching a beer.

      Colt made his way over but slowed when Jen’s dark eyes ran over him, hovering on the slight limp of his left leg. His grin widened and that tingle of satisfaction returned.

      “That was fantastic,” Karla yelled over the noise in the arena.

      “Fantastic?” Tammy threw her arms around his shoulders and squeezed. “It was phenomenal!”

      A chuckle escaped him despite the painful twinge Tammy’s snug hold caused. “Glad you thought so.”

      “Are you all right?”

      Jen scrutinized his left leg. Her eyes lifted and locked with his, the gentle concern shining there sparking an unwelcome yearning in his chest. It made his palms itch with the need to reach out and tug her to him. Made him miss the friendly banter they used to share.

      “Why?” Colt slipped out of Tammy’s embrace and flashed a cocky grin, teasing her like he used to. “Worried about me, baby?”

      Jen didn’t respond in kind as he’d hoped. Just scoffed, her mouth flattening as she cut her eyes away.

      He wasn’t sure what got under her skin more. The suggestive tone he’d used or the arrogant smile he’d adopted. Though it could’ve been the wink he’d thrown in, too.

      What he did know for sure СКАЧАТЬ