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“Mick.” She grimaced. “I know that makes me a coward, but I can’t deal with him right now. Let’s just get started, okay?”
Dylan let it drop because it was obvious that she wanted to change the subject, but if Mick was making a pest of himself, Dylan would take care of it.
They made their way over to the midway section of the rodeo. Vendors were setting up tents of merchandise to beat the rush when the rodeo opened tomorrow morning. There was almost a carnival-like feel in the air. In the center of the games and attractions, there was a mechanical bull surrounded by thick mats and a realistic-looking fence.
“Wait here,” Dylan said, going up to one of the guys he recognized. The man was fiddling with an electronic panel.
“Okay.” LeAnn shrugged and wandered over to a table with a stack of leather pocketbooks on it.
“Hey, Chris,” Dylan said. “How’s it going?”
“Mary Kate is on my case again. She says I don’t spend enough time with her. Can you blame me? All she does is nag, nag, nag.”
Dylan smirked. “What’s she nagging you about?”
“That all I do is sit around the house and do nothing when there are things that need to get fixed—that sort of thing. How about you?”
“I’m trying to show my friend over there a good time.” Dylan inclined his head in LeAnn’s direction.
“Holy shit, is that the Killer?” Chris asked.
“Yeah, it sure is. I bet her that she can’t go eight seconds on this mechanical bull. As you can imagine, she doesn’t want to do it in front of an audience. So, we were hoping to do that tonight while there’s not a lot of people around. Can you make that possible?”
“Say no more,” Chris said. “It is just about time for my coffee break anyway. Do you remember how to run the machine?”
Dylan nodded. “I remember. Here’s twenty bucks for your time.” It was his last twenty, until LeAnn’s tuition money cleared the bank, but that was okay. He’d make it work. He always did.
Chris put his hands in his pockets. “You don’t have to do that. I still owe you for all those times you covered for me when I was having a smoke break or taking Mary Kate on the rides.”
“Nah, you paid me in hot dogs and lemonade for doing that. Most of the time, that was the only meal I had back then. We’re even. Keep the twenty,” Dylan said. “Use it to take care of some of the chores Mary Kate is complaining about.”
Chris gave him a considering look and accepted the bill. “I like how you think. Have fun.”
When he was gone, Dylan beckoned LeAnn over. “Okay, let’s see what you can do.”
No lie, it was a joy to watch her crawl up on the mechanical bull. He had a couple of uncomfortable moments when he pictured her jumping on top of him and wiggling around like that. But by the time she’d settled on top, Dylan was all business. Once she was in position and gripping the rope, she gave him a nod. He started the bull off slow.
“Give me a break,” LeAnn said as the bull made a languorous turn and bumped up and down in slow motion.
“I’m getting a look at your form. It’s good.” He wasn’t being a pervert when he said that, but that form was excellent as well. She held herself like a bull rider and was balanced and steady.
“I’m going to increase the speed slowly.”
“Yeah,” she said sarcastically. “Because that’s how it happens in real life.”
Dylan was tempted to jam the machine up to ten so it tossed her on her ass, but this wasn’t a pissing match. He was getting paid to teach her how to ride a bull. But it didn’t matter how much money he was being paid. If he didn’t like what he saw, there was no way Dylan was going to put her on a real bull.
LeAnn handled herself well and when she started to look bored, Dylan increased the speed. Her body moved to compensate for the jerking movements of the bull. When he turned the dial and adjusted the controls to a level a professional bull rider would practice on, she held her own for a little over eight seconds. She eventually spun off and landed on her feet, though the mats pushed her off-balance a little bit, and she staggered.
“That feels a lot better than hitting the arena floor,” she said.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ve seen enough.”
She put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean? What did I do wrong?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Get back on the bull. And this time, I’m setting the level at max.”
Shock warred with pure joy and excitement on her face, and Dylan couldn’t help returning the grin. LeAnn understood how it felt. She was a kindred spirit. And he had a feeling she was going to give everyone in the bull-riding event a run for their money.
