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Chapter Nine
Nash leaned against the railing near the bull cages, soaking in the familiar smell of livestock and dirt. He’d used his rodeo expertise to show Trout’s investors around the rodeo arena, but all they were interested in was booze and women. Nash had definitely wasted his time.
No one cared if he was the top choice for bullfighter at their county rodeos—Nash played a mean clown at those events. Smirking, he stared around him at the dusty fairgrounds. The stands were packed with excited crowds ready to celebrate their liberty with fireworks and fun.
The Fourth of July wasn’t happening for another week, but here in Nashville, it was a month-long event. Taking advantage of some good fireworks made sense, and that’s what most of these people were doing, but from his particular vantage point, what was a normally happy, family friendly event was transforming into a sleazy episode of the Sopranos.
The stakes were high tonight at the rodeo with the gambling. He noticed the hands exchanging wads of cash while Trout’s men did their best to impress their “guests” with trade secrets, whispered deals, and drugs.
What was West getting him into?
A part of him was impressed with the deep pockets. What he’d do for the kind of wealth these guys just threw around, but there was a dark side to all this. He missed the peaceful Sundays at Harvest Ranch, not these chaotic meetings with investors, where they gathered regularly in faithful devotion, like most people did with church, their values warping and twisting into something strange, like they belonged to a corrupt religion solely dedicated to worshipping pleasure.
Everyone Nash worked with nowadays was desperately seeking agoodtime, but was it so crazy to just want to be a good man? Quite honestly, after everything he’d been through here, Nash wasn’t so sure that he was one anymore.
His stomach plummeted at the thought. He hadn’t done anything awful to line his pockets with money, besides looking the other way and minding his own business, but… it was what he hadn’t done. At the ranch, his father was always sending them out to repair their neighbors’ fences; their mother had them delivering her pies and cakes to anyone hurting; and with a pang, Nash realized that he hadn’t thought of anyone but himself since coming here… and Emily, he’d thought of her.
She was performing tonight after the bull riding, and if she was as nervous as the last time, he had his work cut out for him. Of course, he wasn’t so sure that she’d be so eager for his help if she knew the kind of people that he was working with now.
So he put off that dilemma for now, to think about later. He’d always done that back in the day when pulling a prank that had gone wrong. It worked about the same, though this felt worse.
The heat of the afternoon had blessedly cooled under the soft breeze of what should’ve been a tranquil evening with sunny afternoons and a hazy pink sky, a strange setting for this shadowy company. The darkness settling through the arena was much more fitting.
“Nash!” Eva Trout came barreling at him with a sorority of women trailing after her like curvaceous ducklings with long legs. They showed off their curves with short cutoffs and cowboy shirts knotted over their navels. Yeah, actually they were nothing like ducklings.
They giggled when they saw him, repeating his name with various forms of familiarity. Besides Eva’s entourage, he honestly had no idea who they were. Unlike her friends, Eva was in a slinky red dress. Of course she was. She caught him up in a stranglehold of a hug. “How’s my big strong boy?”
Was this her way of being sisterly?
He grinned wryly as he squirmed his way to freedom, trying his best not to look desperate about it. Eva just tapped him on the nose. One of her friends took his other side and wriggled under his arm like a puppy. He grunted in frustration. Getting swamped by women was the one thing that definitely hadn’t changed from the rodeos that he knew as a kid.
“How’s my earring holding up?” She winked. “Is it here tonight?”
He rolled his eyes. Apparently she was using her earring as their new code for West. He refused to cooperate. “Your earring is still in my room.”
“Ooh!” The little vixen who’d fastened herself under his arm cooed, pretending to be shocked.
Eva’s lips twisted. “Where’s West?” she interpreted for herself in a no-nonsense voice. Apparently, she didn’t like to be crossed.
“He’s wandering around here somewhere.” And doing a much better job than Nash at keeping out of Eva’s way.
She knocked Nash playfully back against the railing. “I came to see some big strong animals tonight, Nash. I guess you’ll have to do.”
“Emily!” Nash’s heart did that crazyplitterplopthing when he caught sight of her over Eva’s shoulder. She looked great in a sassy black blouse with matching black shorts—they were leather, weren’t they? Wow. His jaw felt like it was dropping to the floor. He always had a soft spot for a woman in leather and heels. Clearly, she was dressed for performing.
She was carrying her guitar to the platform where the talent waited to go out to the arena to sing. Emily never would’ve worn that cute little catwoman number otherwise, and yet… that little outfit was killing him. He wanted to pull her onto a nearby haystack and play with all that dark hair.
His heart picked up, then realizing his present company, sank. Maybe it was okay. Emily was used to seeing him surrounded by females. He groaned inwardly. That was his problem, wasn’t it? And ironic, since he only wanted one.
She wore big sunglasses so he couldn’t see the expression in her eyes. Her lips were tilted up at him with slight amusement at finding him at the mercy of so many women. She didn’t seem to care. At all.She should care a little bit.“You look busy,” she said. “I guess I won’t keep you long.”
“No.” He tried to get to her and quite literally stumbled over two of Eva’s friends.
Emily laughed and swung away, like she was leaving. He let out a groan. Why was it so hard getting just one fraction of her time when these other women just threw themselves at him?
Because she was classy. That was why. It made it so much harder to reach that elusive heart of hers. She might accuse him of being a player, and rightfully so, but she kept that heart of hers locked up like a diamond in a Swiss bank where no one could touch it.
Eva’s eyes turned hard. She whipped around from Nash, her hand going to a sassy hip. “Ah look, Little Miss Harvest Ranch has come out to play.”
