The Rodeo Rider. Roxann Delaney

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      JULES WATCHED the cowboy walk away. Wide shoulders stretched the cotton of his shirt tight across his broad back. She could see the muscles move with each step he took. But it was the swagger in his walk that drew her attention to the finest backside she’d ever seen.

      “Nice view, isn’t it?” Beth asked.

      “What?” Jules blinked and turned to stare at her friend.

      Beth laughed. “Back to earth, Jules. It’s obvious.”

      Jules suspected it would be wise to ignore the remark. Beth knew her inside out. They’d been friends too long to try to deny an interest. But her little word war with Tanner O’Brien had started her heart pumping, and she couldn’t stop herself. “And just what do you mean by that?”

      “Oh, just that spark between you two.”

      “He has a quick mind,” Jules replied. “That’s all.”

      “That’s all?” Beth echoed, leaning back in her chair. “You keep yourself holed up in that law office too much. You need to get out more. And what’s with you, anyway? It’s not like you to be so…”

      Jules grinned, knowing she had taken advantage of the situation. “Rude? Sorry, but the temptation was too strong.”

      Her smile faded, and she stared into her drink. She couldn’t be attracted to anyone. Not now. There were too many other things she needed to deal with. Her fear of riding was only one of them. She couldn’t let a good-looking cowboy distract her.

      And Beth would never let her live it down if she knew how that cowboy had pulled at something deep inside her.

      When Jules looked up again, hoping she hadn’t given herself away, she noted a thoughtful expression on her friend’s face.

      “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tanner so…” Beth shrugged and frowned. “He’s always a perfect gentleman.”

      Jules laughed. “Okay, I surrender. He seemed nice, and I shouldn’t have goaded him. Chalk it up to too many hours in the courtroom.”

      Beth was silent for a moment, and then leaned forward. “When are you going to relax and have fun?”

      “When I find something relaxing,” Jules replied.

      “And Tanner and that drawl aren’t it?” Beth shook her head and sighed. “Hon, you do have a problem.”

      Jules forced herself not to search the room for the object of their conversation. The instant she’d looked into those blue eyes at the arena, her blood had felt like warm honey pouring through her veins, slow and golden. She wasn’t accustomed to reacting like that to any man. She had never been swayed by anything as simple as cute buns or broad shoulders. Or a sexy drawl accompanied by an equally sexy grin. Even as a girl, she had never been boy-crazy. Horses and hunter-jumping had been her life—until she was twelve years old. When her mount had balked at a jump and everything changed in a blink of the eye. Two weeks in a coma and months of speech therapy had made her look at life differently. Law and the children the law touched were her life now, but she was at a crossroads, even where those were concerned.

      “More than you know, Beth. But that’s why I’m here. You’ve always been the one to help me see things more clearly.” By the time Beth’s wedding was over and her month of vacation was up, Jules hoped to return home feeling renewed.

      “I’ll do whatever I can,” Beth said.

      The face of fourteen-year-old Joey Martin drifted into Jules’s mind. She blamed herself and the system for what had happened to Joey, and she wanted somehow to make up for it. She just wasn’t sure she could. Beth knew that. They had spent an endless amount of time on the phone talking about it.

      “To be honest, working on cases in court every day and being a child advocate during my spare time is exhausting. If it wasn’t for your wedding and this vacation…I hate to be gone from my work. I know how much I’m needed, but I don’t want to burn out. At the rate I’ve been going, I’m afraid that’s what will happen.”

      “And you insisted we go to a rodeo?” Beth asked. “That can’t be relaxing, considering.”

      “It will be, I hope, if I can come to terms with my fear of riding. I can’t help others overcome their fears if I can’t get past my own, especially when theirs are so much worse.”

      Beth didn’t comment, just shifted her gaze to Tanner O’Brien.

      “Oh, no, Beth,” Jules warned, knowing exactly what her friend was thinking. “Don’t get any ideas.”

      Beth turned back. “You’re right. I just want to see you happy, that’s all. You need to get out and have some fun, meet new…people.”

      Jules had to laugh. “Now I know why you invited me to Oklahoma when I said I needed a break. Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”

      “I don’t know, Jules,” Beth said, looking completely unconvinced. “Like your parents, you’ve been giving to others for a long time. Maybe it’s time to think of yourself.”

      A bone-weary tiredness swept over Jules. She knew she might be facing a major career decision. Because of Joey, she had become disillusioned. She wasn’t sure anymore if she could handle both her career and her volunteer work. She’d hoped that getting away from it would help with a decision and also give her time to work on facing her fear.

      “Can we leave now?” she asked, pushing her half-finished drink aside. She hoped they wouldn’t run into the cowboy again. When that hat had landed at her feet, something strange had happened. She’d begun to feel things she’d never felt before. Whatever they were, she didn’t want to deal with them. She had enough to think about.

      And a blue-eyed cowboy to forget.

      Beth gathered her purse and stood. “It is late, and I don’t have the luxury of sleeping in tomorrow. I’m on emergency call until Friday for Doc Waters. With my luck, somebody’s dog will chew up a rope and swallow it.”

      “Dr. Anders,” someone called out as they walked toward the door.

      “Go on,” Beth told Jules. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

      Jules nodded and continued on. Stepping outside into the balmy summer night, she worked her way through the jammed parking lot toward the car. Suddenly, she noticed a certain bronc rider СКАЧАТЬ