The Maverick Meets His Match (Hearts of Wyoming Book 2)(82)

The thought sparked along some invisible electric wire.

It took a beat before she could shift her gaze to Cody. Hoping the man hadn’t noticed and wondering if Ty had, she began to fill Cody in on each of the bulls, its pedigree, its bucking prowess, its stats, and its idiosyncrasies. As if cued, a few bulls started prancing around their pens, eager to put on a show.

“I wonder if someone’s around who’d be willing to give me a demonstration of these bulls’ abilities,” Cody asked when she’d finished.

“When you called this morning, I started rounding up some of the hands, just in case,” Ty responded. “We can stroll to the exhibition arena, and I’ll have the bulls moved over.”

Why hadn’t he told her someone from the AFBR was coming if he knew this morning? She supposed the important thing was they had an opportunity to showcase Prescott bulls for the AFBR. The fact Ty still operated, on occasion, like a lone wolf, well, that was a small price to pay.

Because if they got the AFBR contract, there could be no reason they’d have to sell, should sell. The fact Ty had pushed for this warmed her in ways that made her want to run into his arms and kiss him silly. But that would have to wait until after Mr. Lane took his leave. Still, she couldn’t keep her heart from floating.

It didn’t take long for the bulls to be shifted to the chutes in the small arena they used for bucking schools. Several cowhands, having heard about the demonstration, had wandered over to participate and watch. Mandy and Cody Lane hung by the back fence where they could get a good view of the action.

One by one the hands took a turn, and the bulls showed off, landing most cowboys in the dirt. Never one to miss a rodeo opportunity, Tucker was one of the last to ride. A bronc rider by trade, it took four seconds before he was unceremoniously dumped. Gratefully, Tucker had on his helmet, a safety measure insisted on by her mother if and when Tucker rode bulls.

One more bull left to ride, and it was the whirling dervish that had pinned her in the parking lot. Straining her neck to see who was getting set to ride him, her stomach lurched to her throat.

Donning Tucker’s helmet, Ty was taking instructions from the hands as he eased his strong chap-clad legs down and around the snorting bull.

Panicked, Mandy was set to run toward the gate and stop the craziness, when, with a terse nod from Ty, the chute gate opened and Mandy’s throat closed. Eight seconds was an eternity, as any rough-stock rider could attest.

The bull whirled to the right and then jumped, kicking its back legs out. Ty was still on, barely, as the bull switched direction and bucked hard and high. Ty flew through the air like a missile, landing with a thud on the hard ground. Things seemed to move in slow motion as Mandy tried to scramble up the fence. Any thoughts of the bull and the danger it represented had evaporated as soon as she’d heard the thud of Ty’s body hitting the ground. One of the cowboys distracted the bull as Mandy climbed toward the top rail. Her focus was on the heap that was Ty. But she stalled at the top. She saw a leg bend, then a torso lift, and Ty was on his feet. He unbuckled the helmet and swung it off, a big old grin on his dirt-streaked face.

The thin crowd of cowboys hooted and whistled. And that, Mandy realized, was the reason Ty had done it. To show the men he was one of them, that he had the true grit of a cowboy and wasn’t just some interfering suit. It was a lot to risk just to prove a point.

Mandy jumped back off the fence, no longer needing to enter the arena. Instead, she headed for the gate without waiting for Cody. The thump of footsteps behind her said he was following. In seconds she was within arm’s reach of Ty, who was getting congratulatory slaps on the back, while from behind her, Cody heartily declared the bull a contender and the rider not.

“I hung on as long as I could,” Ty said, shaking his head now covered by his Stetson. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t all that long.” The dirt on his clothes couldn’t take the shine off his smile. Damn if she wasn’t proud of him, crazy as he had been for getting on a bull.

“No, but all you thrown riders showcased just how well those bulls move. I’d like to see at least three of those bulls at our next Touring Division event being held in Casper in another two weeks. If they show well in the Touring Division, they’ll eventually graduate to the top AFBR series. That’s serious money,” he said, turning to look directly at Mandy.

She knew just how serious that money was. A good bull team could earn out six figures in the AFBR, even with the steep entry fees. She’d been trying to get on the AFBR’s radar for the last three years. Ty apparently did it with a phone call. And she thought he was selling her out.

It didn’t take long to sort out what bulls Lane wanted. After Cody refused an offer for lunch, saying he had to get on the road, Mandy hung back as Ty walked him to his truck. There was so much she wanted to say to Ty, and little of it she would say. No matter what she was feeling, in two months Ty would be leaving. As they’d agreed. As she had insisted. Baby or no baby.

She took a deep breath as she watched him amble back. He had a slight hitch to his gate.

“You all right?” she asked as he drew near.

He smiled, more of a grimace, as dust kicked up behind him from the departing truck. “Other than being sore as hell?”

She gave a laugh to cover up her relief. “That wasn’t the smartest thing you’ve ever done, or your finest hour, cowboy.”