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I give her a slight nod, then follow her into the arena where Kyle is setting up. It’s all I can do not to reach out and grab her hand.

When we get to the spot, she holds the microphone down at her side and says, “Let’s just get this over with.”

Kyle counts us in and she turns on her big, beautiful smile, lifting the mic to her mouth. “I’m here live with the big winner of the quarterfinals at the World Bull Riding Championships, Ryder West, who managed a score of 93.4 points today. Ryder, how does it feel?”

“Pretty good. I’m glad I made it through to the next round.”

She stops just short of rolling her eyes at my lame answer. “So, tomorrow’s the semi-finals, which means sixteen riders will make it through from there.”

“Yup, and I’ll be one of them.”

She raises one eyebrow. Fuck, she’s cute when she’s mad. “Oh, and how do you know that?”

I give her a cocky grin. “Because I have the best reason to win.”

“And that would be…”

“I’m looking at her.”

Julia’s face turns bright red and her jaw drops.

I lift my hand to her chin and gently. “Give me two days and I’ll be the man you deserve.”

Eleven

Julia

“How dare you!” I chase Ryder down the moment the camera is off and my producer back at the studio gives me the all clear.

He stops and turns to me. “How dare I what?”

“Oh, I don’t know—make me look like a fool on live television? Air my dirty laundry in public? Screw with my head?” I step right up to him and poke him on the chest. That rock hard, muscle-bound chest that won’t give no matter how forceful I am with my pokes. Damn him and his sculpted body.

“I was hoping you’d find it romantic if I declared my feelings for you in front of the world.”

“Well, it wasn’t romantic. Not at all. It was…it was…rude and…confusing…and…and...not very professional!” I spit out.

“I’m a bull rider. I don’t have to be professional.” He takes me by the waist and pulls me to him, then lowers his mouth to mine.

“Let go of me!” I say, even though I make no move to get away from him.

My entire body goes weak at his touch, and I find myself unable to push him away. He’s so close to me that I can smell his aftershave. His lips are so near that they’re reminding me of how amazing they felt on my skin. His grip tightens and he pulls me to him a little more so that now my breasts are pressed against him. I let out a little gasp. I know I should tear myself away from him. I shouldn’t let him do this to me again, but I can’t help it. I’m wild with desire, my chest heaving, my panties soaked already. I have to come to my senses. “Please, just leave me alone.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want, darlin’? Because your mouth is saying one thing, but your body is saying something entirely different.” He brushes his lips against mine and I nearly melt into a puddle right here in the arena.

“It’s what I need. I can’t let you fuck with my mind like this.” My voice comes out sounding weak and breathless instead of strong like I hoped it would.

“It’s not your mind I want to fuck.” He crushes his mouth with mine, thrusting his tongue inside, showing me what he wants. I return his kiss, meeting desire with desire, wanting him to take me here, right now. He pushes me up against the metal gate, pressing his big, strong body to mine.

I snap to my senses and pull back, then slap him hard on the cheek. Ryder looks shocked as he lifts his hand to his lip, that’s now bleeding a little. I’m just as shocked as he is.

A voice interrupts us. “Everything all right here?”

When I turn my head, I see T.J. Heston standing on the other side of the gate, his eyes narrowed.

“Yes, fine, T.J,” I say. “I was just leaving.”

I push away from Ryder, then rush out of the stadium, almost running so I can get as far from Ryder as possible. If I don’t, I’m going to make a huge mistake. My cell phone rings and I pull it out of my back pocket, then see it’s my producer, Teresa. Sighing, I answer the call, knowing I’m likely in crap for how the interview took such an unexpected turn.

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