Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights, #2)(28)

“I won’t take your money, Janice,” Dirk insisted.

Janice looked shocked by the offer. “You really mean that?”

“Shit yeah,” Dirk said. “At least until Cowboy Christmas. After that, if you’re needed at home, we can haul the bulls for you.”

“Thanks, Dirk.”

He flashed a grin. “Don’t sweat it, sweetheart. We’ve got your back.” Her answering smile suggested a great burden had lifted from her shoulders. Oddly, he felt lighter too.

“Will you both excuse me?” she asked. “I need to make a quick trip to the ladies’ room and then I’ve gotta get rolling. Need to get my bulls loaded up and hit the road.”

Dirk and Grady looked after her in silence until Janice was well out of earshot.

“What the f*ck was that all about?” Grady demanded. “You made me look like an * just now.”

Dirk shrugged. “She needs help.”

“And I need money to pay my entry fees. Some of us ain’t as privileged as others,” he added with rancor.

“If you’re short, I’ll spot you a couple hundred,” Dirk offered. “You can pay me back when you win in Thermopolis…or whenever.” He shrugged.

Grady’s expression was still black. “That don’t fix the poor impression she just got of me.”

Dirk laughed. “Since when did you start caring what anyone thinks of you?”

“Since I started thinking about the future,” Grady replied. “I figure I got five, maybe ten years of rodeo left in me—if I’m lucky—and then what? You got a ranch. I got shit. I need a retirement plan.”

Dirk’s gaze narrowed. “What are you getting at?”

Grady leaned back with a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. “Simple enough. Her ol’ man’s got a decent spread and a contracting business. He’s real sick. If he kicks the bucket, someone’s gotta run it. I don’t see why it can’t be me.”

Dirk felt his fuse ignite. “What the hell are you saying, Grady? You think Janice is gonna be some kinda gravy train for you?”

“A man could do a helluva lot worse. She ain’t hard on the eyes and she’s a good hand to boot.”

Dirk clenched and unclenched his fists under the table. “In case you haven’t noticed, she ain’t interested in you.”

“Only ’cause I haven’t properly applied myself. I can be Prince-Fucking-Charming when I apply myself.”

“And you intend to do that?”

“Yeah. I do. Why do you think we’re traveling together? Look, Pretty Boy, we’ve been friends for a long time now, so I’m feedin’ it to you straight. I’m staking my claim. Right here. Right now. If you’re smart, you’ll go make up to your rich little rodeo princess and stay the hell away from Janice.”





Chapter 6


It was opening week of the 106th Frontier Days—nine days of nonstop rodeo, come rain or shine. With over a million dollars in prize money, there were over a thousand competing cowboys and cowgirls and at least half again as many bulls, steers, calves, and horses to support the entertainments. This was the first year Combes’ Bucking Bulls had been chosen to provide stock for the Rank & Ready Pro Bull Tour and Janice felt the pressure deeply.

The past weeks on the road had gone by in a blur with nonstop twelve-to sixteen-hour workdays since the collegiate finals. Her mornings had begun between two and four a.m. with feeding, watering, and checking on the stock. After that, she generally took a nap for a couple of hours before gulping down coffee and maybe grabbing a breakfast burrito from one of the vendor wagons.

During the later part of the mornings, she moved her stock from the pens to their designated chutes and then flanked the animals for their riders. It was then that the cowboys usually came around to ask about the bulls they’d drawn. Janice always tried to be available and never withheld anything about a bull from anyone who asked. A 175-pound rider backing a three-quarter-ton bull needed every advantage he could get.

Once the bucking events began, she almost never left the chutes. As Grady always liked to point out, the rough stock events drew the biggest crowds. She never missed a ride, especially when one of her animals or Grady or Dirk was up.

After tending her own stock, she helped the chute boss or anyone else who needed it. It was damned hard work and downright exhausting. Janice didn’t think she could have survived without Dirk and Grady’s help. When not otherwise occupied, neither of them ever hesitated to bring her a quick meal or relieve her for a catnap. It was a routine they’d fallen into since Thermopolis and had continued through Sheridan and the Cody Stampede.

Although they’d both spent plenty of time with her behind the chutes, it seemed she was never alone with either of them for very long. Since they began working together she detected an underlying tension between the two cowboys that she’d never noticed before.

Janice still wondered what was going on in Dirk’s head. He’d never made any mention of their night in Casper and she hadn’t either. She almost would have believed it had never happened if it wasn’t for the times she’d catch him giving Grady the evil eye for flirting with her. It was odd that Dirk hadn’t shown any further interest but still seemed to resent Grady’s doing so. His attitude was befuddling and frustrating at the same time. She’d known he needed space and hadn’t pressured him, but maybe it was time to lay the cards on the table. If he wasn’t interested, maybe it was time to quit pining after him and move on.