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“It’s all right,” he murmured, releasing his grip on her shoulders. “You’re safe.”
She shook her head. “Not me. Jack.”
“The accident.”
Lexie sighed. “If that’s what you want to call it. I keep hoping the dream will go away. But it keeps coming back. This time, I was right there with him, and I couldn’t stop what was happening.”
“Nobody could have stopped it. I was waiting my turn in the next chute. We all tried to stop it and get Jack out of the way. But it happened so fast, and that bull was like a runaway locomotive. I can’t even imagine what your family went through, watching it happen. A memory like that doesn’t just go away, Lexie. Maybe it never will.”
A shudder passed through her body. She blinked back an unwelcome surge of tears. “I tell myself Jack would want me to be strong like my sister Tess. I’ve never seen her break—not even when Jack died. She just moves ahead and does what needs to be done. Why can’t I be like—?”
She stopped talking and stared up at him. “Why am I telling you all this? I barely know you. And you certainly don’t . . .” Her voice quivered and broke as the tears began to flow. “You don’t care to listen to my whining.”
His breath eased out in a long moment of silence. “I think we know each other well enough,” he said, propping himself on one arm. “And I care more than you might think. Come here, Lexie. You strike me as a girl who could use a good spooning. And we could both use more sleep.” He patted the space he’d made next to him.
Her only response was a startled look. Had she misunderstood him—or had he just invited her to snuggle?
“Don’t worry,” he said. “If I were going to take advantage of you, it would be in a classier setting than this godforsaken dump of a motel room.”
Something in his manner made her want to trust him. And why not? Right now, she was a sobbing mess, hardly a woman any man would want to seduce.
Pushing caution aside, she moved next to him, her back spooned lightly against his body.
“There.” He rested an arm across her waist. “If you need more room, just roll aside—or give me a shove. I won’t take it personally. Now close your eyes and go to sleep. You’re safe, Lexie. No more bad dreams.”
Lexie sighed and willed herself to relax. She did feel safe. But safe wasn’t the only thing she felt. Every inch of her body tingled with the awareness of his masculine presence. She could tell Shane was making sure not to touch her in an intimate way. Even where his hips cradled her rump, the contact was light and through layers of clothing. But that didn’t seem to matter. Forbidden thoughts swirled like hot sparks her mind. If she stayed here much longer, she would be on fire.
She mustn’t do this.
Straightening her body, she rolled back onto her side of the bed.
“Are you all right?” He rose onto one elbow. His eyes twinkled with amusement in the half light.
“You said that if I moved, you wouldn’t take it personally.”
“That’s right.” He smiled—a devil’s smile, she thought. “Lexie, you’re a beautiful, intriguing woman. I don’t know what’s going to happen between us, but whatever it is, it’s not going to happen here.”
“What makes you think anything’s going to happen between us?”
“I’ll take the Fifth Amendment on that.”
Lexie settled back onto the lumpy pillow, gazing up at a crack on the ceiling. Sleep was out of the question now. Maybe it was time she carried out the task she’d set for herself—to learn more about Shane and his boss.
“I’ve spilled most of my life story to you,” she said. “Why don’t you return the favor? I don’t know anything about you except that you ride bulls, and you work for that sneaking, lying scumbag—”
“Whoa. No need to get riled up. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. My past is the traditional hard-luck story. No family to speak of. My dad went to prison for armed robbery. A cop got shot, not by him, but he’s doing life in Texas. My mother died when I was twelve, and I got kicked into the foster system. At sixteen I took off on my own. Wanted to ride bulls, any way I could. A hired man found me hiding in Brock Tolman’s hay shed. That sneaking, lying scumbag, as you call him, took me under his wing, gave me a job and a chance to ride. I know the man’s not perfect, Lexie, but I owe him everything I’ve got.”
Lexie took a moment to weigh what she’d heard. Shane’s loyalty to Brock Tolman was an unsettling surprise.
“So I take it you’d do anything for him,” she said.
“Only within reason. I wouldn’t break the law, if that’s what you’re implying. And I wouldn’t do anything that might jeopardize my riding career. Brock knows that.”
“Would you try to charm a woman into selling Brock her prize bull?”
He flinched. “Lady, you know right where to jab.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Would you?”
