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Planting one hand on the ground, she shoved herself upward. Two hands locked on her waist and helped steady her. They were just hands…but theybrandedher.
“Are you hurt? Do you need a medic?” he asked her.
Still dazed, she shook her head.
With a hand braced on her waist, he steered her through the onlookers who’d rushed to their aid too late or just to gawk at what was happening.
When they’d worked through the crowd, he kept on walking, leading her to a safe place a few feet away from a hot dog vendor. The smell of chili cheese dogs flooded her nostrils and snapped her fully back to awareness.
Oh god.She was supposed to be lying low. Sure, she was seen in the opening ceremony, but she was only another girl on the back of a horse. This time, she’d made a spectacle of herself when she helped that boy. What if somebody who knew her really was in that crowd?
The tattooed cowboy released his hold on her and positioned himself right in front of her. He ducked his head to capture her gaze, and the way he delved into her eyes left her feeling stunned all over again.
“You saved me from ending my days under the hooves of that bull,” she said. “How can I thank you?” Inwardly, she cringed at a reply he hadn’t even given her yet.
Everybodyin her life wanted money.
The corner of his lips twitched. Okay, he was infinitely hotter now that he’d saved her and that small boy.
His eyes gleamed, and she held her breath, prepared for him to ask her to write a fat check in compensation.
But his low, sultry drawl almost knocked her down.
“You can buy me a drink.”
ChapterTwo
Jaren had been around the block. He’d spent time in everything from motorcycle clubs in his hometown to fight clubs. He was also trained to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary, and right now, he was picking up a hell of a lot from the pretty brunette on the barstool next to him.
The bartender placed their drinks in front of them, and Jaren glanced up with a chin lift of thanks. Wrapping his fingers around his tequila, he focused on the woman who’d bought the drink for him.
She picked up her dirty martini. The smile she gave him didn’t set with him—it was too forced, too strained.
He needed to put her at ease first, then he planned to extract a few details about her. Yeah, he wanted to know why a girl like her was hanging around roughneck rodeo types, but mostly he wondered what was making her so damn edgy.
He raised his glass. “To the bulls,” he toasted.
Surprise hit her hazel eyes. “To the bulls.”
They sipped.
Around them, the bar frequented by the WEST team was hopping. After the rodeo, it seemed like everyone in Stone Pass had the same idea to jump in their pickups and head down for a drink. The flatscreen over the bar blared. Someone had fed the old jukebox in the back corner a fistful of quarters, and every song was better than the last.
He held a sip of tequila in his mouth, letting the alcohol burn away the sting of his disastrous bull ride. That close call with the boy and the courageous woman sipping the kind of drink that nobody in Montana ever ordered still had him asking himself what the hell happened.
Setting down his glass, he pivoted toward her. Christ, she really was stunning, with a clear complexion and bright eyes filled with…secrets.
“I’m Jaren. I didn’t catch your name.”
She hesitated for a beat, smoothing her hair over her shoulder. “I’m Trinity. But everyone calls me Trinny.”
“Thanks for buying me a drink, Trinny.”
She ducked her head in a nod. “It’s the least I could do after you saved me from being trampled by that bull.”
He tilted his head, studying her. “What made you jump in after that kid?”
A low sigh rushed from her, the soft sound prickling over him like a strum to his senses. “Nobody else saw him or could get to him in time. I never considered something bad could happen to me.”
