Rodeo Rebel
Автор
Donna Alward
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Chapter One
“Hey there, darlin’. Aren’t you late for the pie baking contest or somethin’?”
Megan Robertson was used to the insulting refrain by now, and had come to expect it whenever she competed. She ignored the snide jab and titters of the men behind her who laughed as they passed by, scuffed boots stirring up dust. Megan merely rested her arms on the rails and stared at the arena, visualizing the events to come. The Palomino, Texas, rodeo was small potatoes in the big scheme of things, but Megan took it as seriously as if it were the National Finals Rodeo. A girl had to start somewhere. And what she wanted most today was that eight-second ride to credibility.
The group mumbled a few other digs in her direction. A lot of guys didn’t like girls in rodeo, or if they did they figured the “fairer sex” should stick to barrel racing. Which she enjoyed, there was no doubt about it, and she and her quarter horse Samson had done well yesterday, placing in the top four. But today was the first round of bull riding, and she was the only woman entered.
As usual. And that made her stick out like a sore thumb.
“Shut up,” came a female voice from behind her. “Why don’t you guys take your walkers and canes and head over to the beer tent?”
Megan spun around, searching for the owner of the pert voice. A pretty blonde with a long braid grinned back at her. It was Carly Baron, one of Megan’s usual competitors on the barrel racing circuit.
“Hey, Carly,” Megan offered. “Thanks for the backup, but I’m used to it.” The men sent them dark looks and muttered something unintelligible, then continued on their way.
“Even so, that still bugs the heck out of me.” The blonde held out her hand. “Good to see you again, Megan.”
Megan shook her hand, found the grip strong. “You, too, Carly.”
“You’re bull riding today.” Carly wasted no time with small talk.
“I’m gonna try.” She flashed Carly a grin. “Eight seconds would be great. But I’ll settle for a personal best.”
Carly nodded. “I’ve been thinking about trying it myself. My family thinks I’m crazy.”
Megan chuckled at the familiar sentiment. She’d faced her fair share of opposition and still did, usually every time she showed up to compete. The Baron family was known in Texas in the oil industry, but they were pretty active in rodeo, too. The boys—Jet, Jacob and Daniel—usually caused a stir whenever they were on the ticket and the girls had made a decent mark barrel racing. She was secretly pleased there was more interest in women bull riding, though she wasn’t surprised by Carly’s comments about her family.
“I didn’t see you in the first round yesterday,” Megan remarked. “You’re not competing this weekend?”
Carly shook her head. “Naw, we’re here to support the boys. We all made the trip up. Besides, I knew you were going to be here and I don’t often get the chance to see a female bull rider in action.”
“Jeez, no pressure then.” Megan laughed a little. It was no biggie. She was used to being a bit of a novelty and didn’t let it distract her.
Carly laughed, too. “Don’t worry. I’m also helping out my sister Savannah. She’s got a Peach Pit booth in with the vendors. That’s our ranch store based at Roughneck.”
Roughneck. The Baron spread just outside Dallas, so named because of an oil strike that had marked the genesis of Baron Energies. One thing Megan could honestly say, though, was that the Barons never acted like they were better than anyone else. They seemed like ordinary, hardworking people.
Carly checked her watch. “Speaking of The Pit, I’d better get back before Savannah has my hide. I’ll be cheering for you from the stands.”
“Thanks. Though I’d hate for you to divide loyalties. I saw a lot of Baron names on the roster.”
Including Jacob. All the Baron boys were contenders, but Jacob was damned good. He’d won more belt buckles and trophies than Megan could count, competing in several events. She was under no illusions. She wasn’t anywhere close to being in Jacob’s league. If she could best Jet or Daniel, that would be enough for her.
Carly hesitated and looked at something over Megan’s shoulder. “Um, I think someone’s waiting to see you.”
Megan spun around and her heart gave a solid thump, stealing her breath.
Pax.
She dimly heard Carly say, “See you around.” All she could see was Pax. Just looking at him, standing there with his thumbs hooked in his pockets brought conflicting feelings of pleasure and pain, remembering the last time they’d seen each other. The last time they’d talked. And how callous and cruel he’d been.
“Megan.” That was all he said. Just her name. But those two syllables were all it took for her to be transported five years into the past. She’d been twenty-one. He’d been twenty-two. She’d spent her summer working with a large-animal veterinarian in a town just this side of Wichita Falls and Pax’s family raised bucking stock nearby. She hadn’t known he was going to be here this weekend. Usually Pax’s dad traveled with the stock, and she doubted the old man even remembered who she was. Pax stayed on the ranch. Like he was married to it, she thought, and an unwanted bitterness seeped into her. It was no secret that Pax had chosen the ranch over their relationship.
It was really him, with his damn blue eyes and tanned skin, strong, tall body and sandy, dark blond curly hair. Like Matthew McConaughey only not as pretty—and in her mind, twice as sexy. Still.
The guy who’d spent lazy summer nights with her, gazing up at the stars from the riverbank, and then stopped calling once she returned to vet school at A&M. Well, almost. He’d made sure to phone once, to break things off for good.
“Hello, Paxton,” she answered, injecting a fair amount of ice into her voice. “Didn’t think I’d see you this weekend.”
“Me, either.”
That was all. He just stood there looking at her, as if he was expecting her to do something, say something.
“Your dad’s not here?”
“Mom had surgery this past week. He’s home with her.”
“I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“She’ll be fine.”
It was stilted small talk. She didn’t know what to say and it was obvious he didn’t, either. Megan was a bit stunned to see him, surprised by the jolt of pure attraction she felt, warring with the resentment and hurt she still harbored toward him. What she really wanted to ask was why. Why it had been so easy for him to ignore her emails and phone calls. Why their relationship had meant so little to him when it had been everything to her.
“You look good, Meg.” He took a step forward, still not smiling, his gaze fixed on hers. “You look real good.”
“So do you.” Her words sounded strangled, punctuated by the beat of her pulse that echoed strangely in her ears.
“You’re competing? Still riding Samson?” His eyebrows lifted as he asked the question and he smiled just a little. Samson could be pretty feisty, especially with new riders. Pax knew how to sit a bucking horse, but he hadn’t expected docile, steady Sam to react to someone new in the saddle. Sam had given one solid buck, added in a little twist and Pax had found himself flat on the ground with the wind knocked out of him.
“Yeah, I’m still riding Sam. He’s my guy. Always has my back. Strong and reliable and fast when he needs to be. Maybe that’s why I’ve never been able to find a man. None of them measure up to Samson.”
His small smile faded.
She shouldn’t still be mad. It was ages ago. Water under the bridge. Bygones be bygones. Clearly they’d both moved on, right? So why did she feel so defensive?
She forced herself to breathe slowly. “It’s good to see you, Pax. You staying around for the entire weekend?”
He nodded, his shoulders relaxing as the tension between them eased. “Yeah. I’ve got a couple of horses in the mix, not to mention a few bulls.”
And she might be riding one of his. It’d be pretty sweet to get the better of one of the Lantry stock.
“You might want to watch the first round of bulls this afternoon, then. I’ve drawn Tequila.”
His eyes widened and he frowned at her. “What do you mean, you’ve drawn?”
“You haven’t heard? I’m a bull rider now.” She wanted—needed—to have the last word, so she spun away from him, giving her hair an extra saucy toss. “Catch you later, Pax.”
She strode off in the direction of the fairgrounds, not looking back. She didn’t want him to see the pain or sheen of tears in her eyes. She had known deep down that one day their paths would cross again. She’d just expected to be better prepared for it.
* * *
Pax stood rooted to the spot, staring after Megan as she walked away with long, deliberate strides.
She still hated him.
Pax had convinced himself that Megan had long forgotten him, that their summer fling hadn’t meant as much to her as it had to him. She could use that breezy tone all she wanted, flip her hair over her shoulder and smile, but he saw the flash of anger in her eyes and the set to her lips. She wasn’t fooling him one bit. He’d hurt her, when that had been the last thing he’d wanted.
And damn, if she didn’t look good. Her hair was longer and darker and there was a new maturity to her figure that drew a man’s eye to all the right places. Not so different than before, really, except she wore it with a degree of self-assurance that was unbelievably attractive.
He cursed under his breath. If his mom hadn’t needed knee surgery, he wouldn’t even be here this weekend.
But he was. And so was Megan. And seeing her had caused something totally unexpected to happen to Pax.
Regret. Guilt. The kind he hadn’t felt in years.
Before he could change his mind, he went after her.
The fairgrounds were colorful and noisy, a cacophony of music, midway rides and the raucous calls from the barkers, enticing passersby into games of chance. He caught sight of her as she headed toward the vendor tents, an array of booths and tables set up to display everything from belt buckles and jewelry by silversmiths to home canning; cookbooks to leather works. He threaded his way through the crowd, which was growing larger now that noon was approaching. There she was again...her hot pink shirt standing out in the late February sun.
He quickened his pace until he caught up with her outside a stall that offered pony rides for the youngest attendees, along with soft drinks and popcorn. “Megan, wait a minute,” he called out, jogging to catch up with her.
She kept walking as if she hadn’t heard him. He reached out and put his hand on her forearm. “Megan, hold up,” he said, tightening his fingers.
She stopped and looked up at him with the stunning blue eyes he remembered. Eyes that had once made him feel as if he could do just about anything.
Pax had fallen in love with her that summer. And it was the last thing he could tell her now. It would just be rubbing salt in an already sore wound.
“What do you want, Pax?” Her eyes sparked at him and her muscles tensed under his fingers.
“I just want to talk. That’s all.”
“Catch up on old times, is that it?”
Relief flooded through him. Maybe he could ease his way into an apology. “Why not? Just find out what you’ve been doing, that sort of thing. It’s been a long time.”
He didn’t see the shove coming. She moved quickly, twisted her arm out of his grasp, placed both hands flat on his chest and pushed him away. He staggered backwards, off balance. “What the...”
“You want to catch up? A little heart-to-heart for old times’ sake? Are you serious?” She planted her hands on her hips. Several people nearby had stopped to stare and he held out his hand, trying to placate her.
“It came out wrong. I just thought, you know, as friends...”
She gave a mighty huff and swung away from him again.
“Will you stop doing that?” He was getting angry now and stomped after her. “For God’s sake, it was years ago. Are you saying we can’t even have a friendly conversation after all this time?”
He followed her past the end of the stalls until they were in a more private spot—in front of the heavy equipment dealer. “Friendly?” she whispered harshly.
She faced him, looked up into his eyes. “I don’t know how to be friendly with you, Pax. You broke my heart. And you did it like it was nothing.” She snapped her fingers in the air.
“Don’t say that.” He panicked a little. They’d had something special, but it was an added burden knowing he’d hurt her so badly. He’d convinced himself she’d move on quickly, find someone new to love once she was back at school. “We were young. Just figuring out what we wanted.” The last thing he’d wanted to do was hold her back from fulfilling her dreams. Particularly when his future had taken such a sudden and permanent path.
“I knew what I wanted.”
He took a deep breath, waited for a couple to pass by and get out of earshot before he responded.
“You wanted to be a veterinarian. You were going back to school for three more years, Megan. Three years in a different city, with a different life. Did you actually expect us to stay together through all of that?” She’d had so much potential. He hadn’t wanted to be responsible for her giving up on her dreams, and it had become impossible for him to consider running off to see her every weekend. But even now, his explanation felt half-hearted. Maybe he should just tell her the truth...
Before he could, her jaw tightened and her gaze cooled. “What I expected, Pax? I expected us to try. But you never even gave us a chance.”
