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J.T. grinned at the two women. “You know neither one of you stands a chance, right?”
Joey shook her head. “Nothing worse than an arrogant man.”
They lined up their horses and waited for the flag signaling the start of the race. When the flag dropped, they took off at a full gallop. Sage stayed with J.T. for the first half, then he pulled ahead. He crossed the line, followed by Sage, then Joey.
J.T. stopped Pablo and turned him to return to the finish line. Sage and Joey both held up their dollar bills. J.T. grinned and pulled his out from under his leg.
“Seems we have a three-way tie again. Only one of us got here a whole lot sooner than the other two.”
Sage shook her head. “It wasn’t about speed. It was about not dropping your dollar.”
Joey laughed. “It was a little bit about speed and you stayed with him for a while. I never had a chance.”
Xander came up to them. “Are you three going to accept the tie? Or are we going to go all afternoon?”
Sage looked at the others. “We accept the tie.”
He looked up at her. “Pretty impressive riding, Ranch Girl.”
“Well, they don’t call me Ranch Girl for nothing.”
J.T. dismounted and went to hold Joey’s horse while she got down. “Not bad for someone who has hardly ridden in six years.”
“Pretty hard to beat a cowboy, though.”
Xander came up and shook his hand. “Nice riding.”
“Thank you. You didn’t do so bad yourself. How long has it been since you were on a horse?”
“Twelve years.”
“Damn good, then.”
“Does that mean I’m worthy of being your sister’s friend?”
J.T. thought for a moment. “You’re getting there, bakery guy.”
Chapter thirty-eight
"I'm not going to kiss and tell."
The camp out was a success in more ways than one, but now J.T. was home and trying to fall back into his normal routine. It was hard to do, however, when he couldn’t get Joey out of his mind. It was Tuesday, and he hadn’t seen her or Finn since they got back Sunday afternoon.
They talked briefly on the phone yesterday, but neither of them brought up their midnight tryst in the tent. It had been a normal conversation about normal things. Joey had a question about stripping wallpaper from the hallway. It was a question J.T. couldn’t answer. But he told her he’d come help her once she figured out how to do it. She’d said she would welcome the help, then she had to go, leaving J.T. wondering if she wanted to pretend Saturday night didn’t happened.
J.T. was driving the big flatbed truck loaded with hay. Sawyer was with him, mumbling about something that happened between him and Sage that morning. Lost in his own thoughts, J.T. wasn’t paying attention.
Sawyer nudged him. “Hey. Are you even listening to me?”
J.T. glanced at him. “Sorry. No. But honestly, you and Sage disagreeing about something isn’t news.”
Sawyer looked out the side window. “Sorry I’m boring you.”
J.T. sighed. “You’re not boring me. I’m just distracted.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” He looked at J.T. “Unlike you, I’m interested in what you have to say.”
J.T. scowled. “Forget it.”
