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“Thanks pal, climb over and you can hang with me.” He scrambled over the last few rungs he hadn’t been standing on like he’d been doing it all his life. Reaching up, I caught him as he came down the other side and settled him in front of me. Just before I turned, I caught Nora in the crowd, and she was beaming.
Team after team went, but our time stood as the fastest of the day. Nash and I hadn’t won this rodeo in four years. We entered the arena behind the flag riders and made a quick lap, holding out our hats, thanking the crowd for their support, and Cooper was doing the same. My sidekick was a quick study, and I suspected would give Nora a few gray hairs along the way.
Leaving the arena, I took Pepper back to the barn and took care of her. “Kipp, that was the best time ever. I’ve never been to a rodeo, and you let me be in the rodeo.” His arms were flailing as he talked and he was running from stall to stall. “I’m going to team rope when I get older. How old do you have to be to start? Will you teach me, Kipp? I need to learn from the best, and that’s you and Nash. He should help too.” The boy hadn’t taken a breath since we got into the barn.
“Cooper, what did I say about getting too wild in the barn?” My voice was stern as I gave Pepper a pail of oats and moved out of her stall.
“I need to remember this is the horse's house, and I have to be calm.” He took a deep breath and settled right down.
“Right. And yes, I can teach you how to rope, I’d be happy to. Let’s go find your mom.” I reached for Cooper's hand and he took mine with no hesitation.
“Are you going to kiss my mom again?” he asked while skipping along beside me.
“I might. Would you be okay with that?” Part of me dreaded his answer and hoped for it all at the same time.
“Yep, cool with me.” He looked up at me and smiled. It didn’t take us long to find Nora. She’d been on her way to look for Cooper.
“Congratulations,” she said as I wrapped my arm around her and pressed my lips firmly to hers, Nora’s hand pressed against my chest, setting me on fire.
“Come on, I'm starving,” Cooper protested as he kicked a rock. “Mom, Kipp’s going to teach me to rope.”
“If it’s okay,” I added.
“It’s fine with me. Let’s go get something to eat first, though.” Nora turned and reached for my hand. Right here, in the most public of places, we walked through the crowd looking like a family. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bella shooting daggers at us. She was standing with some of her friends, but was solely focused on us. If looks could kill, I’d have been dead multiple times over. I’d seen that look before when I’d broken up with her, but from what I’d been told, she forgot me really fast.
The rodeo was over, people milled about, the band had started playing and the flame from the bonfire was glowing north of the arena. I always knew where my business partners would be at this point in the night, and I found them hiding in the barn. They were all tired of being hit on by women who walked onto the ranch and saw dollar signs and an easy life. “I’m going to sleep for a week,” Ryder yawned as I grabbed a beer and sat on a bale.
“You are not. You’re going to find someone out at that dance and go home with her for a few days. Chances are, it will be a city girl and she’ll think having a cowboy at her apartment is amazing, but when she gets tired of you, and they always do, you’ll be back,” Nash joked, leaning back on one of the empty stall walls.
“We’re too old for this shit,” I said before taking a drink of my beer.
“Got that right,” Griff agreed, staring into his bottle of water. Booze and his painkillers weren’t a mix he really wanted to try, so he’d been nursing a water bottle all night. “I’m heading in. I need to not be standing.” We said our goodnights and Linc helped him to the house.
“Where’s Nora? You’ve been inseparable since after you rode,” Ryder asked.
“Lost her to Kristin,” I chuckled. Those two were thick as thieves, and Nora always seemed to relax when she was around Kristin. It was different from how she was around me, but I supposed a girlfriend was different from the guy trying to be more than her boss.
“Well, that makes sense since she’s not talking to Linc.” Nash shook his head.
“I really think he stepped in it this time.” Shaking my head, I let my mind wander to Nora. “We should probably head to the dance, make sure everyone is behaving,” I said, standing. Nash and Ryder shadowed me, and we followed the music to the dance floor.
“Shit,” Ryder whispered, and I followed where he was looking. Nora was on the dance floor being led around by a cowboy I didn’t know. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I was moving before I realized I was.
Tapping the man on the shoulder, he turned and looked at me. “I’m cutting in,” I demanded gruffly.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” he scoffed, turning back to Nora, moving her away from me.
Following right behind them, my anger was rising by the second. Nora looked over her shoulder and smirked. “It wasn’t an option.” I pushed him out of the way and pulled Nora to me.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Nora demanded as she tried to get out of my grasp, but only managed to press herself against me tighter.
“Taking what’s mine,” I growled.
“Yours? You’ve got a funny way of thinking something is yours when you’ve made no clear intentions with me, other than kissing me every time I turn around.” She stopped trying to get away from me and we started moving around the dance floor.
“Well, I’m sorry we’ve been a little busy. How about tomorrow I make it crystal clear what my intentions are?” I whispered in her ear before I nibbled on it. Nora leaned into me and inhaled quickly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
