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His heart was pounding as he leaned over and scooped an arm around her ribs, snatching her up, and rode away.
“Tanner,” she cried.
“Damn, Emily, you know how to give a man a heart attack.”
The bull raced out of the pavilion, heading to his pasture. Obviously, he’d had enough of being ridden for one day. Tanner felt relief at seeing him gallop away.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she said, breathless. “I’ve never been so scared. What happened?”
“He broke the fence around the arena trying to get a cowboy off his back. You just happened to be in his path.”
Cheers rose from the crowd as Tanner rode back into the arena with Emily in his arms. It felt good to be holding her close to his chest. He didn’t want to let her go.
She held onto Tanner, holding him tight, her body shaking. “I thought I was going to die.”
He didn’t say the words he thought because they would have confirmed her fear.
Travis and several other cowboys rode out of the pavilion on horses to catch the loose bull. He was a danger to anyone who got in his way and they had guests outside the arena.
“Everyone please remain in your seats until we receive the all-clear,” the announcer said.
“Another couple of seconds and he would have reached me,” Emily said.
“But he didn’t,” Tanner said. “You’re safe. I’m not going to let anything hurt you.”
Tanner continued to hold Emily in his arms as she continued to shake. He rode behind the tent and a ranch hand grabbed the horse’s bridle.
“Good work, Tanner,” he said. “Ms. Emily, are you all right?”
“I’m okay,” she said though she sounded breathless and frightened to Tanner.
The cowboy helped her off the horse and then Tanner swung his leg over and dropped down beside her.
For a moment, he took her into his arms and she clung to him. He could feel her trembling.
He looked up and glanced into his Aunt Rose’s eyes. Standing over to the side, she frowned at him. She walked up to where they stood.
“Emily, are you all right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, stepping out of Tanner’s embrace, her hands still quivered. “Though, I was plenty scared.”
Tanner could see his aunt was carefully checking them out. He could see that she no longer believed they were fighting. She could see they were a couple.
“All of us were,” she said. She tilted her head and gazed at the two of them. “You two make a cute couple. Tanner, my office, eight o’clock in the morning. Emily, I’ll expect you at nine o’clock with next week’s menus. Don’t disappoint me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Emily said. “Tanner is going to walk me home.”
A grin spread across Tanner’s face. One thing about Emily, she didn’t back down, and she was letting his aunt know they were indeed a couple. Tomorrow morning, he would be grilled and probably warned not to run off her favorite chef.
The older woman grinned. “See you both in the morning.”
The woman was about to walk out of the pavilion and one of the guards stopped her. “You can’t leave.”
Oh, the poor man must be new and didn’t know who she was. Tanner pitied him.
“The hell I can’t. I’m getting in that truck over there and if that beast comes after me, I’ll run him over. Save all of us a lot of trouble. And if he kills me, be sure to send him to the glue factory.”
