Page 47 of The Cowboy's Downfall
“I suppose I can do you that favor,” he said. “It’s got to be hard for you—being so much better than everyone else. I’m sure Dan will be grateful to me when I take you to the Endeavour Ranch Christmas party.”
“Dan can thank you at Thanksgiving dinner with his parents and my mother.”
“Slow down, Too Good. You want me to meet your mother? You trying to give her a heart attack or something?”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “She’s Taryn’s mother, too. You are not going to be the biggest shock she’s ever gotten. Besides, Grand’s a small town. Do you think she’s not going to hear about you if we take things public?”
“Upping the ante, are we?” Nix got that same reckless rush he always had when he was in the chute, on the bull, and about to give the nod to open the gate. There was no turning back, so why not enjoy the ride? “I’ll raise you. If I’m meeting your mother, then you’re going to the kids’ rodeo with me next weekend. You have to hang close, sit with me, and let me put my arm around you. Act like you adore me.”
Shauna nodded as if taking instruction. “Buckle bunny. Got it.”
As if.
She was beautiful and sexy and funny and smart. And right now, for the moment, she was his. It was ridiculous how happy that made him. He wasn’t ready to look too close at his feelings, but he didn’t need to.
“Stick with me, darlin’,” he said. “By Christmas, Taryn will look like the family saint.”
*
Shauna
Montanans had anodd sense of distance. The neighboring town that was hosting the rodeo turned out to be a two-hour drive away.
Carpooling wasn’t something Shauna had planned on for their first official outing together, but Nix volunteered her because parental enthusiasm for giving up an entire Saturday turned out to be low and he was a few drivers short. Everyone met at the firehall Saturday morning at an unholy hour. She’d half-expected she and Nix would travel together, but he and the other men were driving two ranch trucks and hauling gear. Taryn had taken her car and Remi. Of course.
Shauna ended up driving four of the boys. One was a senior named Zane Parker. He sat up front. He was polite and good-looking, with the stoic charm Shauna had come to associate with most men in the state. He was a little too interested in hunting for her, and clearly believed he was more mature than the boys in the back seat because he disdained joining their conversation. But he planned to attend Montana State University’s College of Agriculture after graduation, and she could appreciate that.
It didn’t take long for Shauna to figure out that he was well acquainted with Taryn. An hour into the drive, it became equally apparent that even though he was probably popular with most of the local girls—and no doubt their parents—he was no match for her little sister. He was too grounded. Too serious. Taryn was toying with him.
She needed to learn to think her actions through to the end, however, because whatever her game was, she had not thought Zane Parker through. Zane was in love. By the end of hour two, Shauna was tired of hearing how great Taryn was. How smart. How not like the local girls, which in his eyes, somehow made her better.
When they arrived at the arena, Nix was unloading one of the trucks.
Shauna marched over to him. If they were taking things public, there was no time like the present.
“I spent two hours in a car listening to a lovesick teenager who thinks my little sister is perfect. You owe me,” she said.
His eyes lit up in the slow, lazy way that said he was already considering how he would pay, and it warmed her all over. “You can have whatever you like.” His smile said he knew what she liked and no longer intended to pretend that he didn’t.
He could start her heart pumping even if she were dead.
“A kiss will do for starters,” she said rashly, because she hadn’t seen him all week, and proving she didn’t think things through any better than Taryn.
Nix swept her into a slow kiss that stopped shy of indecent but drew scattered applause from the parking lot and left her unsteady on her ill-advised boot heels, and also grateful for the arm anchored around her waist while she recovered from it. He was so openly happy to see her, and uncaring as to who knew it, that it was impossible not to be happy, too.
“Help me carry some of this stuff,” he said.
The indoor arena was small, with three rows of bleachers on one side and a wall on the other. One end was all door and opened onto the alley that led into the arena. A tractor and rake were parked in a corner of the far end with a speaker’s booth directly above.
A chute made from portable steel gates had been rigged up in front of the alley. Shauna took a seat in the bleachers where the Grand team had gathered, close to the chute. Nix sat with her for a while and explained how the day would unfold.
He neglected to mention that there was a whole lot of nothing happening most of the time. The tractor and rake groomed the dirt floor at regular intervals, and wrangling uncooperative animals into the chute, then getting young riders situated, was like watching paint dry—all for eight seconds of glory. Or as was the case for most riders, two or three.
Taryn and Remi hadn’t yet shown. Shauna texted to find out where they were.Coffee, Taryn replied. The older kids weren’t riding until after lunch, but it would have been nice for them to show up for the rest of the team.
They strolled in before lunch. Shauna might not have noticed their arrival, except Zane had also been waiting. He met them in the alley outside. The doors were open while animals were being moved so Shauna had a good view. Zane said something to Taryn. Remi said something to Zane. Zane ignored Remi, who gave him a shove. Taryn said something that didn’t appear to help matters at all.
Shauna started to rise.
