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Even though LeAnn knew he meant to meet up for training, her heart raced a little faster at the thought of being alone with him again. She hadn’t been able to face him for the rest of last season. Luckily their paths hadn’t crossed that often. After she pretty much used him like a sex doll the night she’d caught Mick in bed with a buckle bunny, LeAnn had been mortified by her brazenness. Dylan hadn’t deserved to be treated like that. So, it was better that she stayed out of his way.
She smiled at her former naivete. It had been such a big deal for her to wait for the right man. Deep down, she had probably known that Mick wasn’t the one. Dylan might not have been Mr. Right, but she was glad that she gave her virginity to someone who made her feel like she was a sex goddess.
Mick had never come close to making her shake apart with desire. If Mick’s kisses had left her breathless and wanting more, she probably would’ve slept with him instead of coming up with excuse after excuse.
She supposed she couldn’t blame Mick for getting sick of waiting for her. He hadn’t made it a secret that he wanted to get laid. But Mick had lied to her and said that he was willing to wait until she was ready, that she was worth it. It turned out he was only willing to wait for her because he was seeing plenty of action on the side.
After she had lost her shit with Mick, he’d called her an untouchable little prude who needed to grow up. LeAnn wished his callous words hadn’t hurt so much, and maybe that was why, when she saw Dylan in the bar, she decided to prove she wasn’t a prude. Remembering her scandalous behavior still caused her to blush, but what was worse was she wanted to do it again.
I have to help my sisters set up camp first, LeAnn typed back. She cringed a little at her words. She sounded like a kid. Then again, it was no surprise to anyone that she traveled with her family. Mick would always whine, “Why do you have to spend so much time with them?”
He hadn’t understood that this was a family business, that she couldn’t go off like a diva and leave the chores for her sisters to do when all she did was smile for the crowds and ride. Her parents would never stand for that sort of behavior. And honestly, neither would she.
Mick had also liked to point out that they were both rodeo stars who deserved special treatment. His own parents had paid for his horses, the boarding, and all of the fees—from the comfort of their own home. She’d always been a little jealous of that. But even though her parents had been strict and occasionally unfair, unrealistic and overbearing, she knew they’d always had her best interests at heart.
Do you want to get an early dinner?
LeAnn didn’t think she could face dinner with Dylan yet. That sounded too much like a date.
Sorry. I have a photo shoot and I’m not sure when I’ll be free, LeAnn texted back.
Had Mick always been miserable? Had he ever really loved her? At this point, she wondered if Mick had even liked her. The worst part of it was Mick hadn’t wanted to break up with her. He had just wanted to see other people because it “got lonely in other cities” when she wasn’t there with him.
What Mick hadn’t known was that LeAnn had been lonely even when they were in the same city together. She knew that she wasn’t the most exciting girl on the rodeo circuit. And she’d never tried to be. She left that for Merry and June Grayson. Even though they’d both retired from competing, LeAnn had no real desire to take up the “Wild” mantle or June Grayson’s “Bad Reputation” Stetson.
Mick had been pretty loud in voicing that having a girlfriend who traveled with most of her family put a cramp in their relationship. LeAnn had thought that they could have moved past that, except Mick had wanted to go out every night after the rodeo. That had been fun and exciting at first. But after a while, it got a little boring.
She loved to dance and play pool—everyone always underestimated her pool skills. And LeAnn wasn’t above sharking a game for free drinks every now and then. But seven nights a week of drinking, partying, and telling the same old stories to different fans in different cities became tedious. And worse, it had affected her performance in the arena.
It would have been nice to do something different for a change. A nice steak dinner would have been a change of pace. Going out to a movie or having an ice cream while taking a walk exploring some of the cities they were in would have gone a long way to easing her loneliness. After all, after doing five cities in five weeks, the inside of the bars all started to look alike.
As she always did when she thought of Mick, LeAnn compared him to Dylan. But honestly, there was no comparison. Mick was still a boy—a spoiled little boy. Dylan was very much a man.
Still, as much as she was attracted to Dylan, she had to stay focused on the season. LeAnn had to have her priorities straight. This was her go-big or go-home moment, and she couldn’t throw that all away on some guy with bedroom eyes and a mouth made for kissing.
Do you want to practice tonight, or not?
LeAnn made a face. She had a feeling that she had pissed him off. Yes. Is seven p.m. too late? she texted.
Fine. Meet me outside of barn A.
And it was done. LeAnn blew out a long sigh. She had hoped that Dylan hadn’t taken this job thinking that she was going to fall into his bed. She hoped that he would treat her as seriously as he would a man who was coming to him for training. LeAnn didn’t know what she would do if Dylan turned out to be a condescending jerk about this.
A part of her hoped he had dismissed their reckless night of passion. After all, it was more common for the guys to have wild flings, right? The other part of her would be mortally offended if he didn’t think it had been special. It had been wild and wonderful, and she knew that she hadn’t been alone in being blown away by that night. She didn’t know what she wanted. That was how crazy he made her. Except, she couldn’t deny that she wanted to see him again.
She should have dated Dylan instead of Mick. LeAnn couldn’t help thinking about how things would have been different if she had hooked up with him all those years ago.
*
LeAnn couldn’t wait for the photo shoot to be over. Her face hurt from smiling, her head was throbbing, and her leg was falling asleep. The WPRC had a huge social media blitz planned and they needed lots of pictures to populate it.
“Remember to look in the camera and smile,” Dolly said from the sidelines.
While LeAnn was glad she had somebody like Dolly helping her out with the public relations stuff, she hated being micromanaged. Stand here. Look there. LeAnn just wanted to ride a bull. She didn’t understand why all of this was necessary when the WPRC hadn’t even announced the new bull-riding event yet. But then again, she didn’t have to. That was Dolly’s job, and she was damned good at it. So if Dolly said look at the camera and smile, even though that advice seemed obvious and a little annoying after a long day of traveling, LeAnn would do what her sister asked.
“Okay, visualize your success. Portray the woman you want to be.”
Except when she said woo-woo shit like that. The problem was, LeAnn didn’t know who she was. She started out as a beauty pageant queen as a teenager who segued into WPRC’s “America’s sweetheart.” Then she turned eighteen and put a black mark on her reputation by drinking and mooning a cop. She lost her parents’ trust, her sponsors and the bronc belt and title. After three years of fighting and scratching her way back, she was a decent barrel racer, a damned good bronc buster, and maybe a contender for the bull-riding buckle. She had five months, five states and twenty events to make it happen if the WPRC announced the new event tomorrow.
