Page 8 of Hung Up
SACRAMENTO
your reputation precedes you
I’m scrollingthrough some articles Maxine emailed me and taking notes on my laptop when I hear the door open. I don’t bother turning around, assuming it’s Maxine, but a masculine voice clearing their throat makes my hands pause on my keyboard. Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I spot that all too familiar black cowboy hat.
“What do you want?” I ask, turning my attention back to my computer to continue typing.
“I just wanted to apologize for earlier,” Jesse states as he closes the door behind him. “I didn’t mean to be rude, so I’m sorry if I was. It’s been a while since anyone new has joined the tour.”
I stop my work again at that and turn to fully look him in those infuriatingly beautiful eyes. “You have met new people before though, right?”
“You just caught me off guard, I’m sorry.” He bites the corner of his lip to stop a smile from growing as I fidget with my hands in my lap.
“Well, thank you for the apology.”
I take the opportunity to really take him in now that I’m not blinded by anger. His black cowboy hat lays atop a mess of medium-length wavy brown hair. He has pale green eyes that starkly contrast with his tanned skin, a few stray freckles dancing across his cheeks, which are covered in a short yet somewhat scraggly beard. He now has a black vest over his black long-sleeved shirt, and he has on a pair of red and black leather chaps—thank you, Max, for the vocabulary lesson—with white fringe down the side.
Objectively? He’s gorgeous. There’s no denying that fact. But realistically? You don’t have looks like that and don’t know how hot you are. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my research, it’s that Jesse Hayes is known as the playboy on the circuit. The fact that I had to dig to find articles that didn’t pertain to his sexual escapades speaks volumes.
“Where’d Max run off to?” he asks, leaning against the table next to my chair, and I have to stop myself from inhaling sharply to get another whiff of his cologne—lavender and sage.
“Her boss called her.” I make a show of glancing at his outfit. “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”
“Nah, I don’t ride for another half hour,” he informs me as he crosses his ankles together. “Figured I’d pop in here and see if you needed help.”
Oh, ‘cause I’m so helpless?“Help with what?”
“Learning all about us, of course,” he replies like it’s the most obvious answer in the world. “Who better to give you the rundown on the riders than a rider himself?”
“Okay, Pretty Boy,” I start, spinning in my chair and crossing my arms as I look up at him. “Let’s say I needed your help learning all about the other riders. What would you tell me?”
He stands up, a look of excitement in his eyes, before he pulls out the chair next to mine and takes a seat. “Well, I’d tell you Kai is young and definitely one to look out for. He broke through onto the scene two years ago and has been dominating ever since. Bit of a wild child, though. Bryce is very down to earth and hates any distractions an hour before he’s supposed to ride. Claims it helps him ride better. You know, there might actually be some truth there because he always places in the top three.”
Wind him up and watch him go, I guess.
“Then there’s Wyatt, my mentor and fellow bull rider. He’s been speaking about retirement, claims being thirty has hit him harder than he thought it would, but I just think he’s ready to start a family. Not many bull riders around here have children. Too dangerous and all that.”
“That’s the first thing all day that makes any sense,” I mumble to myself, but his light laughter lets me know I wasn’t as quiet as I had anticipated. “What about Lee and Stetson?”
His eyebrows rise. “Were you introduced?”
“I do my research.”
“Fair enough.” He leans back in his chair, interlocking his ankles together. “They’re both good, but they haven’t been to the finals in a few years. Those boys keep us on our toes and keep us competing, but they start to lose their wind as the season goes on.” His eyes widen as he looks at me. “Please don’t tell them I said that.”
I bite the corner of my lip before responding, “Did I not warn you that you were on the record?”
“Well, that’ll come back and bite me in the ass.”
Laughter slips out of me before I can stop it, and my cheeks heat under Jesse’s sudden gaze. I force my face into neutralityas I sit up straighter, resting my elbows on the table. “Okay, so you’ve told me about the others. What about you? What’s Jesse Hayes the bull rider like?”
“I was wondering when you were going to ask.” He rests his elbows near mine, his head dipping closer. “I would tell you that he’s amazing on the bull and rarely ever misses that eight-second buzzer. I’d tell you that he’s been in the top three for years and that he’s kind of a big deal around here. He’s what all the other riders strive to be. Oh, and he also?—”
“Are you always like this?” I ask, interrupting him before he can continue to showboat.
“Like what?” He gives me a cocky smile. “Charming? Charismatic? Handsome?”
“Annoying and self-absorbed.”
