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"Canada," I admitted. "Lemme guess, you live around here?"
"I do," she almost purred.
Fuck. That sounded wrong. I was not trying to pick up this girlorget invited back to her place, but I was a little too used to setting things up, and the lines came out almost on their own.
"Cool," I said, looking over her shoulder for someone else I knew. Like J.D., since Renato wasn't here to bail me out of my shit this time. "I'm guessing this is a local hot spot, huh?" There. That was safe.
The pretty girl laughed. "Isn't that why you came? Tell me, what does a guy like you do to drag him through the middle of Cheyenne?"
"Oh, got a little event this weekend," I said, downing the last of my beer. "You ever heard of the PBR?"
"Bull riding?" she gasped. "Yes! I've got tickets." Then her eyes narrowed. "Are you working there?"
"You could say that."
So she thrust her hand over the table at me. "Lacey. You?"
I accepted her hand gently. "Ty."
Her lips immediately fell open in an O. "McBride?"
Shit. She was a fan. Fuck, this girl wasn't making it easy on me. "Yes, ma'am," I assured her. "J.D. Adkins is around here somewhere too. So's Cody Jennings."
"Don't know him," she said, "but I know who J.D. is."
"Her," I corrected.
"Huh?"
"Cody," I said. "She's a her. First woman on the Tough Enough series. Damned good rider too. You should cheer her on." Then I pushed back my chair. "Excuse me, Lacey."
Because I was in too deep. Much too deep. If that girl kept smiling and leaning, then eventually I'd smile back. She'd flirt a little more, I'd fall into my old habits, and I would never have that cute little blonde sitting beside me in my truck again. Nope, I was not gonna fuck this up with the first girl - even if she was really fuckin' smokin' - who was brave enough to come up to me.
Instead, I headed straight for the dance floor and didn't stop until I pushed in between Tanner and Cody. "I need to borrow her for a second," I told Tanner.
Cody gave me a dirty look. "Really?"
"Trying to lose a persistent flirt," I said.
Tanner just laughed and slapped my shoulder. "All yours, Ty. Warning, shewillstep on your toes."
And sure enough, as soon as I got Cody moving again, she did just that, but I ignored it. "How's your date?" I asked.
"Was pretty good until you pushed in," she admitted.
So I leaned in close, right up next to her ear. "Only because I wanted to make sure you knew J.D. and I were here. Also, figured you might wanna know J.D. is crashing on my side tonight." I looked over to check that she'd heard me, then kept going. "Tonight, every other bull rider in Cheyenne is finding someone to throw them in a bed. You should do the same if you wanna. And if you don't, I'll sic J.D. on Tanner's ass."
Cody sucked in a little breath, which was when I realized exactly what I'd said - and exactly how wrong that could be taken. And then, together, the pair of us began to laugh just a little too hard.
"No!" I tried to say. "Not like that."
"Oh, it would be just like that," she tittered. "You didn't see them."
"When?" I asked.
"When I caught them in the convention center," she said, her eyes shining so brightly. "I didn't even know guys could kiss like that."
So I cupped the side of her face. "So you like him?"
