Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights, #2)(74)

“Yeah. It is what I was asking.”

“None, Dirk, but I don’t know where this puts us.”

“I don’t either,” he replied. “One step at a time, remember?”

“Yeah.” She gave a nervous laugh. “But last night seems like a Neil Armstrong kind of step.”

“It was at that.” He grinned. “Noon Sunday then?”

“Yeah. I’ll be there.” Their eyes met briefly and then Janice let herself out.





Chapter 16


By Sunday, Dirk was almost aching to see Janice. It’d only been two days since they’d spent the night together, not that they’d done much sleeping. Now by comparison, his own bed seemed cold and way too empty. He was growing in the certainty that he wanted her with him every night—but Janice came complete with a kid.

He hadn’t even considered that aspect of a potential relationship…until now. Was he really prepared to take on a ready-made family? A month ago, he would have said no friggin’ way, but now? A lot of things had changed in the short time since Janice walked into his life.

He was leading Red Man out of the corral toward the hitching post when her old red Dodge pulled into the yard. Almost before she’d cut the ignition, a redheaded kid in a cowboy hat bound out of the truck.

“Cody Garrison!” Janice jumped out behind him. “You get yourself back here!”

“He’s all right,” Dirk said, unable to suppress a chuckle at the kid’s exuberance.

“I’m afraid he’s been like this for hours,” Janice apologized. “He’s near bursting with excitement and pestered me almost incessantly about coming out here since the minute he woke up this morning.”

“Hey, Cody.” Dirk stepped toward the boy and extended his hand. “’Member me?”

“Not exactly…well, maybe…I think I saw your picture with my daddy.” Cody stepped back and scrunched his face. “But you look real different from the pictures I seen. What happened to your face?”

“Cody!” Janice gasped. “Oh my God, Dirk, I’m so sorry!”

Dirk shrugged it off. “Kids tend to speak their minds. There’s nothing wrong in that. It was an explosion that burnt my face,” he answered Cody. “Same one that took my leg.”

Cody’s eyes grew impossibly wide. “What do you mean? You got a fake leg?”

“Yup,” Dirk said and lifted his jeans just over his boot top.

“Cool!” Cody exclaimed. “Does it come off?”

“Cody,” Janice cried again, her face and neck coloring.

“Yeah, I take it on and off,” Dirk answered. “It’s got microprocessors and batteries that need to recharge every night—kinda like Iron Man’s suit.”

“Can I see it when you take it off?”

“I s’pose sometime,” Dirk replied noncommittally.

“My daddy was a bull rider,” Cody announced, puffing his chest proudly.

“Your daddy was a world champion bull rider,” Dirk corrected.

“Were you a bull rider, too?”

“I was once,” Dirk said.

“I want to ride bulls.”

“Do you now?”

“Yeah. Can you teach me?” Cody asked.

Dirk looked to Janice who shook her head. “I never knew he had the least interest in it. He’s never said anything about it to me until now. Never.”

“Maybe he was waiting for the right time and place to speak up about it. I s’pose I could teach you,” Dirk answered Cody, “but let’s start with the horse for now. You’ll find they’re a lot more cooperative than bulls. C’mon. Red Man’s been waiting on you. Janice, why don’t you go in and visit with my mother? Cody and I will join you when dinner’s ready.”

“But—” Janice protested.

“No buts,” Dirk said. “This is guy time. No females allowed.”

“Yeah.” Cody beamed and repeated, “Guy time. Sorry, Mom.”

Janice still hesitated.

“Go,” Dirk commanded. “Cody and I need to get acquainted. ’Sides, he’s gonna take instruction a lot better if you’re not here. Give us an hour or so, then come back out to watch him ride.”

“All right,” she huffed.

Dirk watched her trudge off toward the house.

His curiosity about the prosthetic apparently satisfied, Cody asked him, “Can I meet your Leopard dogs too?”

“Sure, when we’re done with Red Man here. Your mom says you’ve been riding with a friend?”

“Yup. A horse named Slug. He’s old and don’t go very fast.”

“Red Man’s getting up in age too, but he’s still got enough piss and vinegar to go when you ask him to.”

“How old is he?” Cody asked.

“He was born when I was about your age, so I guess that makes him about twenty-three now. I had one that looked just like him before that, a sorrel named Buckshot. C’mon. We’re done jawing. Let’s go into the barn and I’ll show you how to get this horse saddled up.”

*

Janice couldn’t help feeling a little hurt when Dirk summarily dismissed her, but she knew he had a point. Cody would have been far too distracted had she hung around. Still, she couldn’t help being anxious because Dirk hadn’t been around many kids. He’d surprised her with the patient way he’d handled Cody’s questions though. She reassured herself that they’d seemed to hit it off just fine.