The Maverick Meets His Match (Hearts of Wyoming Book 2)(11)

Still, those seeds planted a decade ago had run deep, because, try as she might, she’d never been able to ignore Ty’s appeal, at least his physical appeal, despite the rumors of his less-than-generous business practices and playboy lifestyle. Even today, of all days, her pulse had raced in his presence. She could say it was because she’d been angry at him, but that wasn’t the whole truth.

“Mandy,” a sharp, low voice called from behind her. “Where are you going?”

She swung around as a fistful of irritation punched her stomach.

Ty strode toward her clutching the sheaf of papers. Still in black dress pants and white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he looked as out of place as a sleek Rolls-Royce at a NASCAR race. So how come her heart took an extra beat as she watched his long legs close the distance between them? “I need to go over the Greenville Rodeo plans with you.”

“You have the reports.”

Without the cowboy hat, Ty looked like a corporate CEO. Something she shouldn’t find appealing at all, so why was her whole body tingling?

“I have questions.”

“I’m going for a ride.” The five o’clock shadow on his face gave him a bad-boy appearance. She’d always had a soft spot for bad boys.

“Fine, I’ll ride with you.”

“Alone.” No way did she want to share any more air with Ty than was absolutely necessary.

Ty placed his hands on his hips and looked at her as if he could give her a spanking. “It may be past five o’clock, but we either talk in the office or on horseback. But we talk now.”

A half-hour later, mounted on Willow, Mandy headed due west toward the mountains at a leisurely pace at odds with her churning insides. Ty rode alongside her on one of the parade horses, since the remuda of working ranch horses were either earning their keep on the range or grazing in one of the northern pastures. The ranch horses were kept separate from the rodeo parade horses since the former had to be trained cutting horses and the latter had to have gentle dispositions to carry riders of varying skill.

Wheatgrass danced in the gentle breeze that blew off the mountains and swished against the legs of the horses. Mandy resisted the temptation to nudge Willow into a gallop, knowing Ty’s gentle, aging mare wouldn’t be able to keep up. Her day had already been spoiled. Might as well listen to the man.

“You said you have questions.”

“God, it’s beautiful out here,” Ty said, twisting in the saddle, no doubt to get the full view of nature’s vista.

“You were raised in this county.”

“I haven’t seen it on horseback for many years.”

“That’s nothing to be proud of. Surprised you can still ride.”

Ty shook his head, his ebony hair brushing against the back of his collar as a dark lock fell in sullen carelessness over his brow. Life would be a lot less complicated if he wasn’t so darn good looking.

“I’ve been busy.”

“Me too. And your question?”

“Well first off, it seems like you are hauling a lot of livestock for a weekend rodeo.”

Mandy shifted in her saddle to see if he was serious. He looked serious. “We only buck a horse or a bull twice during a weekend event. Any more and we risk the animal getting complacent and stalling in the chute. This is a popular rodeo and will draw lots of cowboys. As it is, Rustic Rodeo will be helping us out with some of their stock since they are Colorado based. JM set it up with them a while back.” If he knew anything about running a rodeo, which he clearly didn’t, he wouldn’t have had to ask.

“Speaking of cowboys, why would we sponsor a rodeo cowboy?”

There was only one cowboy they were sponsoring, and that was Mitch Lockhart. Her grandfather hadn’t liked it, but he’d approved it. That was before Mitch had dumped her.

“Publicity?”

Ty’s eyebrows arched as if he was having a hard time accepting that explanation.

“I’ll have Karen notify him that we are ending sponsorship.” She should have done it the moment Mitch had walked out the door, but she hadn’t had time to think, with all the curveballs coming her way.

“And I see we are going to be short a rodeo hand?”

“Kyle Bradshaw is taking a six-week summer course and needed Fridays off. I think we can cover for him until I can find a replacement. We can usually find one of the competitors who is looking to pick up some money.”

“Why did Kyle sign up for the course if he knew it met on Friday?”

Ty obviously didn’t believe in providing flexibility for a valued employee. She shrugged. “He’s a good worker, and half his family works for us off and on, and he’s this year’s scholarship recipient. I made an accommodation.”

“Without talking to me first.”

“It was before the will was read.”

“So you didn’t expect me to be here.”

“Exactly.”

Ty had nudged his horse so he was riding close beside her. He looked good in the saddle, even if he was in a dress shirt and pants. At least the man wore cowboy boots, fancy ones. The mare, being well over fifteen hands, often carried the rodeo chair at an event because tall men looked good on her—Ty was no exception.

Over the years, she’d seen Ty at fundraiser events or at the yearly scholarship awards, which he attended at JM’s invitation. He was either in a tux or dark suit, and the moment he walked into the room, her pulse sped up and she broke out in a sweat. She’d always made sure someone was with her when she greeted him, to avoid an awkward moment. Of course, he usually had a well-endowed woman glued to his side.