Page 6 of Forgiveness
The sound of Pete’s voice brought him out of his musings. “Sure, what?”
“Where the fuck are you today, man? I was saying that if you’re sure that you’re solid, we need you behind the stalls. Charlie wants us to practice some new dodges, and Eddie wants to show us the beauty he bought at auction yesterday.”
Charlie was a rodeo promoter and Eddie was a long-time bull owner.
Flux nodded and fell in behind Pete while his thoughts kept ping-ponging back and forth from his past to the sexy blonde who’d cock-blocked him. Since the past was a painful mess, he’d preferred to focus on his strike out.Maybe she’ll be at the bar tonight.He rubbed the back of his neck. What the hell was he thinking, wanting to see her again? For Flux, there were no repeats. No exceptions. His bed was a revolving door and that’s how he liked it. He didn’t want to get involved.
Flux cleared his throat and walked the path along the grounds to the bull pens, where they kept the animals when they weren’t being ridden. The stench of manure mingled with the scent of sweet hay as he passed by the arena and saw some of the steer wrestlers practicing their roping techniques and—
“Shit,” Flux whispered under his breath as he spotted a rider leading her horse through barrel drills at the other end of the ring. Long golden hair gleamed in the sunlight as she worked the horse like a champ. Flux stopped and leaned against the steel bar and watched Duchess’s gorgeous ass that was glued to the saddle as she maneuvered the brown stallion through its paces. From her expression, Flux could see she was completely focused and he almost called out to her, but he knew that could spook her or the horse, so he just stayed and watched her as a rush of excitement spread through him.
Pete circled back to him, lines creased across his forehead. “What the hell, man? Charlie’s gonna be pissed if we don’t get over there.” He followed Flux’s attention then chuckled. “I don’t blame you for stopping. The way she rides her horse is a thing of beauty, and her ass isn’t too shabby either.”
Flux gave Pete a sideways look. “Who is she?”
“Maggie Haves. Haven’t you ever seen her perform? She’s one of the best barrel racers in the amateur circuit. Talk is that she’ll be going pro in no time. The rumor is that Tara’s knocked up and Tanner’s the one who done it, so when Charlie found out, he benched her and called up Maggie to see if she could step in. She and Charlie go back since she started racing when she was a kid. It seems like she can never say no to him.” Pete paused from his rambling for a minute to watch her, then went on, “Anyway, she got in yesterday afternoon. How’s it that you haven’t seen her at any of the rodeos you’ve worked?”
Clouds of dust blurred the stallion’s legs as Duchess guided him expertly around the three barrels at a speed that made Flux wonder how she stayed in the saddle.I bet her thigh muscles are real tight.Visions of her legs wrapped around his waist as she pulled him deeper to her flashed through his mind.
“Maybe you worked the same rodeos as her but didn’t pay any attention.” Pete lit up a cigarette.
“There’s no fuckin’ way I wouldn’t have noticed her. I’m not on the rodeo circuit the way you and the other guys are. I pick up work here and there when I need the cash.”
“That’s right—you just ride your motorcycle around the country. Doesn’t that ever get old?”
Flux turned and looked at his colleague. “I’m guessing you’ve never been on a bike ’cause if you had, you’d never be asking me a shit question like that. Riding with the wind at your back is freedom. How the fuck can that get old?”
Pete held up his hands. “Didn’t mean to knock your lifestyle, man. It’s just that I’m a rodeo cowboy through and through.”
Flux focused his attention back to Maggie.She’s in the rodeo. Well, I’ll be damned.
“I gotta say that she’s one of the best damn riders, and the prettiest.” A cloud of smoke enveloped them. Pete’s hand landed on Flux’s shoulder with a thump and he bristled against the touch. “Too bad she’s a rodeo girl, and we don’t shit where we eat, you know?”
Flux grunted and cracked his neck. “That hasn’t stopped the chicks from trying …” Flux crossed his arms and stared as Maggie reined the horse to a standstill and petted its neck while whispering into its ear. “I’ve had more than a few throw themselves at me, but that’s not the way I roll. Kind of breaks my oath of a one and done. Anyway, fucking someone you work with is always complicated, and I’m into simple, you know?”
“I hear you.” Pete took another puff of his cigarette. “Still doesn’t mean the rest of us have to live that way. I don’t seem to get lucky that much.” He elbowed Flux lightly. “Not all of us have a bright and shiny motorcycle that makes the girls spread their legs.”
Flux snorted and stared at Maggie as she hopped off her horse and led it to the gate of the pen. “Yeah, if life were that easy,” he muttered and pushed off the fence, his gaze still fixed on her.Damn … that ass.
There was no way to suppress his immediate attraction to her body, let alone her mind. She didn’t take shit and she gave as good as she got—which wasn’t what he was used to. The majority of women he’d come across just placated him and gave him what they thought he wanted to hear so they could spend a night with an outlaw biker.
At the rodeos Flux worked, he had his pick of women competitors and employees who worked behind the scenes trying to get his cock in their pussies, but he didn’t want to see the same woman twice after spending the night with her. Working together kind of blew that rule to hell. But there was something about Maggie that was different and made him want to forget about his damn rules, and hell if he didn’t hatethatsomething fierce.
Maggie straightened up and paused, and Flux was positive she looked at him from the corner of her eye, but her expression didn’t change one iota.You got a real good poker face, Duchess.She pushed up her fawn-colored cowboy hat, tossed her head, and disappeared around the corner of the stalls.
Flux stared at the empty space Maggie had once occupied, and his lips turned up into a smirk. First, she hadn’t hopped into his bed when she had the chance, and now, she hadn’t given him the time of day.Yep … I’m definitely interested.
“We better get our asses to the bull pens. Charlie’s probably having a coronary.” Pete tossed his cigarette butt to the ground and stubbed it out with the heel of his cowboy boot.
Flux nodded, and while the two men headed back to the pens, he tuned out Pete’s jabbering. Flux had only one thing on his mind—the sassy, curvy barrel racer.
Yeah, he was definitely going back to the watering hole that night, and he knewshe’dbe there.
Game on, Duchess.
