Page 49 of One Last Rodeo

I blink. "We?"

He settles back into his seat like he owns the entire row, his good arm is stretched wide behind the headrest, hovering just behind my shoulders without quite touching. His eyes close. Jaw easy. Like he's already decided, and the conversation is over.

"That's right.Wecan go."

I stare at him. He doesn't move. Doesn't open his eyes. Doesn't offer a single justification for what he just said, just lets it sitthere in the recycled cabin air between us like it's perfectly reasonable. His lashes are dark against his cheeks and there's the smallest curve of a smile at the corner of his mouth, like he's keeping something tucked behind it that he'd rather I didn't see.

I should say no. I should point out that bringing your one-night stand to watch you go on a first date with a stranger is not a normal thing people do and reflects poorly on my judgment, which is already taking enough of a beating this week. Instead, the most surprising thing happens to me. Relief floods my chest.

Which is ridiculous. I'm a grown woman with advanced degrees and a functional sense of self-preservation. I don't need a chaperone for a date. But itismy first real date with a stranger, if you don't count the drinks in Austin with Jensen, which I'm not counting because that was professional.

And if Brock turns out to be boring or strange or the kind of man who talks about himself for forty minutes without pausing to breathe, I have absolutely no mechanism for extracting myself politely.

The two strategies I tried with Jensen—boring him and telling him to go away—failed spectacularly, and he at least found them amusing. Maybe there's something to be said for having a familiar face nearby watching. A contingency. Someone who already knows I'm not great at this and won't be surprised when it shows.

"Okay," I say softly to myself.

Jensen hears it. The corner of his mouth lifts into a full smile, though his eyes don’t open.

"Okay, Doc."

He doesn't say anything else. Neither do I. Outside the window, Tennessee is somewhere below the clouds, getting closer.

I’m about to go on a date with a man I don’t know while Jensen watches.

Chapter 14 – Catalina

Jensen’s childhood home, a gorgeous cabin with dark wood set against the mountains, appears around the bend, flanked by old trees on either side of the structure.

He slows the truck down to take it in. I watch his hands on the wheel go easy. The set of his shoulders drops half an inch like he’s more relaxed out here. I've been watching him for weeks now in arenas, in hotel lobbies, in training rooms, and I've never seen him look like this. He’s smiling at nothing except the land.

"There it is," he says quietly, and he's not talking to me.

I don't say anything. It feels like interrupting. This was his sanctuary growing up. This is where his grandma raised him and taught him how to ride horses. Where he fell in love with fishing, the mountains, and eventually, bull riding.

It feels sacred being here. I wonder how many other women have seen this place.

The trees thin out into a clearing, and I catch a glimpse of the lake he’d mentioned. It’s still and dark in the early evening, so I can’t get a good look at it, but it looks beautiful.

I've lived my entire adult life in a city where the sky ends at the roofline. I forgot the world could look like this.

"It's pretty," I say.

He glances at me sideways, just for a second, then smiles. "Yeah," he says. "It is."

He parks the truck and sits for a moment with the engine off, neither of us moving.

"Grandma’s going to love you," he says, like I asked.

"You don't know that."

"I know her." He pushes the door open. "Come on."

If I’m being honest, I didn’t think this whole weekend trip through. I never,ever,do anything spontaneous unless you count taking the job as the Series doctor, and even that was a lifesaving, completely necessary, deviation from my norm.

Yes, I know Jensen was raised by his grandma. Yes, I know “meeting the family” is a significant milestone fornormal people with normal relationships. But Jensen and I are not in a relationship. In fact, maybe I underestimated just what we are given I've never had a one-night stand before.

And did I consider any of those things when I saidsure, why not, I’ll tag along to Tennessee because it’s our bye-week and I’ve always wanted to see Nashville and you look like a good tour guide?