Beauty and the Bull Rider (Hotel Rodeo #3)(38)

“I’ll bet he was very eloquent about it,” she replied dryly.

“That he was,” Zac replied with a broad grin. “How about if we get something to eat and then I drop you off at home? Think you can throw some things together? It’s too late to leave tonight. So we’ll need to head out real early in the morning.”

“You’re not planning to drive straight through, are you?” Delaney asked.

“I was,” he replied. “But I’m not in such a big hurry anymore if you’re coming along. Ty and Monica are flying out Monday morning. If we leave early tomorrow, we can be there Saturday afternoon, even if we stop overnight.”

She took a breath and figuratively cast the dice. “All right, Zac, I’ll take a chance. I’ll go with you to Vegas.”





CHAPTER TEN


Delaney was on the front porch, suitcase in hand, when Zac’s dually came up the drive. Hopping out of the truck, he surprised her with a kiss on the lips before tossing her bag into the backseat of his truck.

“What was that for?” she asked.

He cocked his head. “Felt like it. Do I need to have any other reason?”

“No,” she said. “I guess not. I just didn’t expect it.”

“You think and plan too much, Delaney. This trip aside, when was the last time you did anything spontaneous?”

She couldn’t answer him because she didn’t remember. She jutted her chin. “Maybe I don’t want to be spontaneous. There’s nothing wrong with having a plan,” she argued. “I just want to have a modicum of control over my life.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “But sometimes plans fail,” he added with a heavenward glance. “You gotta remember we’re not always the ones in control.” He opened her door and handed her up into the truck.

She couldn’t argue that point. All of her plans seemed to have fallen apart lately. Until now, she’d held Zac to blame for most of it, but try as she might, she couldn’t seem to summon any more anger at him.

“As for the kiss, I guess you’ll just have to get used to it.” He leaned in close and stole another one. He closed her door with a grin and then joined her in the cab.

She still couldn’t believe he’d talked her into going to Vegas with him. The idea both thrilled and terrified her, but in the end it was the ultimate test. Was this real? Or was it just infatuation? Spending several days and nights together would surely give her the answer.

The first couple hours of the trip passed companionably as Delaney and Zac talked about ranch work and common interests—mostly related to bulls. They were just about to leave the rolling hills of Oklahoma behind when Zac pointed out a herd of grazing bison in the distance.

“Did you know that the bison is our state animal?” he asked.

“No, I didn’t. It’s much more impressive than the animal Texas picked.”

“And what’s that?” Zac asked.

“The armadillo.”

“Ever seen a trained buffalo?” Zac asked

“No. I haven’t. Are they even trainable?” she asked.

“According to Tom Brandt they are. Ty’s father trained one that he named Bill Cody. He even rode the damned thing.”

“I don’t believe it,” Delaney said.

“It’s true!” Zac insisted. “Tom and Will Morgan were rodeo stock contractors back in the day when the contractors put on the rodeos. Tom was mostly involved on the business side, whereas Wild Will was in charge of entertainment. The job was right up his alley, but Will was also a little too fond of the bottle and never met a wager he didn’t like. One day, he and Tom were in a bar down in El Paso where a group of Mexicans were bragging on the superiority of Mexican fighting bulls over American bulls. Overhearing this, Will said he had an American bull that could kick the ass of any Mexican bull and offered to lay his money down.

“One of the Mexicans, a cocky vaquero named Alejandro Aguilar, accepted the wager. Two weeks later, Will and Tom hauled Bill Cody down to Juarez, to face Mexico’s finest fighting bull. Word of the challenge had spread like wildfire on both sides of the border. Will and Tom were overwhelmed to find a crowd of thousands gathered as they backed their rig up to the arena and released the buffalo from the semi trailer they’d hauled him in. You can imagine the looks on their faces when ol’ Bill Cody lumbered out of the trailer. Most of ’em had never even laid eyes on an American bison before. When Will had made the challenge, he’d only said he had a bull that could take on any Mexican bull. The Mexicans had naturally assumed he was talking about a bull of the bovine variety, but male bison are bulls too, so there was no backing out.

“As a performing animal, ol’ Bill was oblivious to the thousands of spectators. He ambled around the bullring like he was taking a Sunday stroll. Worn out from his long trip, the shaggy bison reached the center of the ring, and flopped himself down to take a nap. The arena exploded with laughter at the very notion that this awkward, lazy creature could challenge their agile, athletic beast of destruction.

“Minutes later, the Mexican bull was released into the arena. The crowd surged to their feet with cheers and whistles. Agitated by the darts his handlers had embedded into his flesh, the belligerent bull lowered his head and charged across the arena like a juggernaut from hell.