Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights, #2)(29)

They’d pulled into Cheyenne with just time enough to give the bulls a chance to settle in before going back to work. Janice was exhausted and glad finally to have some downtime, even if just for one night.

It was Grady, not Dirk, who’d asked her out for drinks with some of the riders and contracting crews who were meeting for beers at the Outlaw Saloon, the most popular honky-tonk in Cheyenne. She’d agreed to go, but recalling the night of the party when things had gotten so out of hand, she’d insisted on driving herself. Grady didn’t seem to like her stipulation, but she’d made it clear she wouldn’t go otherwise.

She walked in to find the place packed with cowboys, cowgirls, and tourists. Although they all wore hats and boots, it was easy to distinguish the hands from the wannabes. The band wasn’t bad but the volume made her ears ring. The dance floor was filled with couples two-stepping, elbow-to-elbow around the floor, an excuse many used to dance indecently close.

She lingered at the door watching and secretly yearning to be one of them out there, wrapped in Dirk’s arms. Maybe he’d ask her to dance tonight?

Her gaze rested on a couple who were practically dry humping. They were making a lewd and lascivious display, but Janice couldn’t tear her gaze away. She ached to feel the heat of his body again, to once more experience him moving inside her. She shut her eyes for just a moment, imagining she and Dirk on that same floor but without the crowd. There was a gnawing sensation deep in her belly every time she even looked at him, but sensing he needed his space, she’d waited, hoping he’d come around. But he hadn’t. She chided herself for mooning like a lovesick calf. Sure he was physically present, but he was also emotionally distant. Reserved. Almost untouchable.

Feeling a presence beside her, Janice opened her eyes to find Grady had sidled up. He must have been watching the door. “Wanna dance?” He jerked his head toward the floor.

“No thanks. I’m not really in the mood.”

“Coulda fooled me. You seemed mighty interested a moment ago.” A knowing smirk hovered over his mouth. “Or maybe it was something else happening out on that floor?” The remark sent heat flooding into her face.

“I only came for a drink.” She spun toward the table where Dirk and a rowdy group of rough riders sat. Dirk nodded to her in greeting, but his end of the table was already full, so Janice had to sit on the opposite side. Grady straddled a chair beside her, ordering two beers and a bourbon.

She was only a few sips into her drink when Rachel Carson walked in the door. Her stomach dropped and then her gaze instinctively riveted to Dirk’s face. The place was crowded, so they didn’t see each other right away, but once he laid eyes on her, his hands gripped the table and his jaw visibly tightened.

She should have anticipated the inevitability of Rachel and Dirk running into each other in Cheyenne. It was the biggest rodeo event of the summer. As a contender for the Miss Rodeo America crown, Rachel would have countless PR events lined up over the next ten days, which gave Dirk ample opportunity to make up with her.

Janice covertly watched them, hoping it wouldn’t go any further, but then Rachel saw him and smiled. It wasn’t the smug kiss-my-ass kinda smile that Janice had hoped for, but more of an invitation. Although Dirk didn’t make a move to go to her, his eyes didn’t leave her face either. A moment later, the rodeo queen sashayed her way across the bar, her desire to mend fences perfectly clear. The sick feeling in Janice’s gut reminded her of what she’d known all along—that she’d simply caught Dirk on the rebound.

“Didn’t I tell you before that you were wasting your time on him?” Grady growled in her ear as if reading her mind.

“I never said I was interested in Dirk,” Janice spat back, but the lie wasn’t very convincing even to her own ears.

“You didn’t have to say it,” Grady replied. “You’re easy as hell to read. Maybe I’m not your idea of Mr. Right, Sweet Cheeks, but I am right here and I can promise you a good time.”

“I’m not looking for a good time,” she snapped.

Grady’s gaze met hers. “All work and no play, Janice… Maybe you should think about that.” He shrugged, emptied his bourbon, and then left her to join Seth Lawson at the bar.

Janice’s gaze trailed after him. Maybe he was right. Her life was such a dull and mundane routine and she still had weeks of it ahead of her before she returned home. And then what? She’d likely have more work waiting for her, not to mention the countless repairs on any number of things that always needed fixing on a ranch. She was barely twenty-one, but her life was making her feel so damned old…and lonely. It struck her even harder now that she knew what she was missing.

For the first time Janice was glad he’d kept his distance. With Rachel in Cheyenne, their reconciliation was all but a foregone conclusion. It was bad enough to watch the pair of estranged lovers play make up, but had she and Dirk become further involved it would have been nothing short of devastating. Too proud to make an ass of herself by hanging around like a lovesick fool, Janice gulped her drink, slapped down money for her tab, and hightailed it out of the Outlaw.

*

Rachel had taken Dirk by surprise. He hadn’t expected to run into her, although he probably should have, given the tight circles that formed the rodeo crowd. They’d both had plenty of time to cool down since the Casper Finals, and now that they were both in Cheyenne, here was his golden opportunity to make up to her. All he had to do was walk across the bar and buy her a drink or ask her to dance, but for some reason he couldn’t rouse himself to his feet.