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“And if something had happened, those would have been the last words you said to me.”
It was like he’d splashed cold water in her face. She blinked up at him. “That’s not why I said them.”
“I can’t have you risking yourself to rescue me,” he said. “I don’t need you to protect my reputation. I could have handled Mick and his rumors.”
“I wanted to help,” she said. “I saw this as a win-win situation.”
Dylan shook his head. “You could have been hurt or worse. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“Nothing happened.”
“This time.” Dylan gave a half-laugh and then turned and walked away from her.
*
What the hell had just happened?
LeAnn wandered around the rodeo trying to keep the tears at bay. This wasn’t how it was supposed to have gone. She had expected him to be mad, but she had thought he would get over it once he realized that the women bull riders could ride the same bulls as the men.
She grabbed a box of popcorn and sat in the stands to watch the men ride. Heartsick, LeAnn watched Dylan’s ride. He got tossed off and she knew she was to blame for distracting him before his ride. There had to be a way to make things right again. She didn’t want to lose Dylan too.
She did her best not to scowl at the other male bull riders. They had great times on some exciting bulls, which soured her mood even further. Callie and Muriel could have ridden them just as well. When it was Mick’s turn, LeAnn watched eagerly, wondering what type of bull he was going to come out riding. When the gate opened, the bull made Fever Dream look like a docile little lamb. Mick was immediately thrown off. He went over the bull’s horns and the bull came down on him with its front hooves. It gored him, tossing him into the air. Then it danced around in a circle and landed on him again.
The popcorn box fell from her nerveless fingers as she stood up and screamed. It all happened so fast. The bullfighters tried to get to Mick. The bull kicked a few of them, gouged another one before they were able to lead it out. Mick lay broken and bloodied on the floor of the arena for a long moment, and then he was being lifted onto a stretcher and wheeled out while a horrified crowd looked on.
That had been her bull.
That could have been her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Dylan found her in the crowd and crushed her to him. “That could have been you,” he muttered into her ear. “Thank God you switched bulls.”
She clutched at him, squeezing him tight. “Is Mick all right?”
“They took him to the emergency room,” Dylan said. “I don’t know what the hell was up with that bull.” Dylan wasn’t prone to panic, but he felt tunnel vision coming on and he was having trouble breathing. He also couldn’t let go of LeAnn. “Please don’t get on a bronc today. Please.”
She hesitated and then nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I could focus enough to ride right now.”
“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked, but he wasn’t in a rush to let her go. She was unharmed and alive, safe in his arms. Dylan would get a hotel for the night. They could have dinner and talk this out. He didn’t want to be mad at her, especially since her decision to take Mick’s asshole bet had saved her life or at the very least, a serious injury.
“I thought you didn’t know if you could do this anymore,” she said, hurt in her voice.
“I was angry. I’m still angry. But I do love you and I need to be with you right now to make sure you’re all right.”
“I rode the damned bull just fine. I want to hang around here until we find out how bad Mick is.”
“Dolly can find out for you,” he said, letting her go long enough to stare into her eyes.
“I could use a drink,” she said grudgingly after a long pause.
Slinging an arm around her, he held her close while he guided them through the crowd to the parking lot. They wound up at a bar just off the highway that also served food. They split an order of fries smothered in cheese and gravy.
“It feels like playing hooky,” she said after her second beer.
“Days like this make me wonder if I’m crazy for getting on a bull instead of sticking to bulldogging.”
LeAnn shook her head. “Not me. It makes me more determined to keep on riding.”
