Dark Horse: Bad Boy Cowboy Romance (21 page)

Lance straightened up into a sitting position as well, looking out past the fire. "I heard it, too. Is someone out there?"

Images of an angry, drunken, bitter Marsden flashed through my head, and I wished that I had something to defend myself. Hell, I'd even be okay with his stupid cane, still sitting in the back of my truck! Beside me, it looked as if Lance was thinking much along the same lines.

Whatever was making the rustling noise out beyond the little circle of illumination from the campfire, we could hear it moving in closer. I slid off of Lance, not caring about how his cock slid out of me, no longer hard and erect, and he climbed up into a half-crouch, his hand tightening around a spare log for the campfire sitting near us.

The bushes right beside us rustled. Whatever was out there, it was right on top of us!

I did my best to keep my eyes open, trying not to close them out of fear - but a little scream still slipped out of me as the dark shape emerged from the bushes.

Lance rose partway up, holding the log like a club - but almost immediately, he relaxed, tossing the log back down into the fire and sending a shower of sparks spiraling up into the sky. He laughed out loud, holding out an empty hand.

"Of course - we should have guessed!" he groaned, as a long nose slid out and soft lips rubbed against his fingers.

Shadow emerged from the darkness, followed closely behind by Merlot. Both of the horses looked down at us with half-lidded eyes, as if lazily mocking us for getting scared at their presence.

Laughing, I stood up and stepped over to Merlot, rubbing his nose in greeting and patting him on the neck. "You scared me half to death, you silly horse!" I told him, still laughing in relief that there wasn't any danger after all.

Merlot just whinnied back as he nudged me, not caring about my lack of clothing.

Chapter thirty-two

(Almost) one year later...

"Come on, come on, come on!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hopping up and down as I stared out the window.

Next to me on my left, I saw Dahlia edge back away from me slightly, wincing as she lifted one hand up to her ear. "Come on, Gilly, indoor voice!" she chided me, rubbing one finger in her ear. "There are other people trying to watch the race, too!"

But next to me on my right, Lance had his face pressed up against the glass as well, his black cowboy hat in danger of falling off the back of his head. Just like me, his eyes were locked on the track down below us, peering through the cloud of dust rising up from the charging horses.

Finally, the event was underway! I'd been feeling my heart thumping like crazy in my chest all morning, hyper-aware of my nervousness but unable to do anything to reduce it. Lance did his best to keep me calm, rubbing at my shoulders and patting me on the back, jumping to attend to my every need, but I could see in his actions that he was almost as nervous as I felt.

And now, the race was finally on.

The horses rounded the final curve - and I could see that Merlot, clad as always in his dark, royal purple bridle and harness, was back in fourth. For a moment, I felt my stomach drop inside my chest. Was this going to turn into a repeat of last year, with my horse just barely failing to place?

But then, as they hit the last straight stretch, I saw my horse drop his head down in determination, his legs pounding! He was gaining ground, pushing forward, his eyes set on the horse in first place ahead of him!

I could feel my mouth open, knew that I was cheering, but the blood pounding in my ears made it next to impossible for me to hear anything. I knew that my shouting wasn't going to help, but I just couldn't contain myself as I watched the horses thunder down the last section of the track, towards the white finish line.

Merlot's legs were pounding, and he gained ground. With a cheer that Lance, standing beside me, echoed a half second later, he passed the third place horse! He was in the top three!

Come on, I silently prayed, my hands pressed up against the glass. You can do it, Merlot. I know you've got the strength to win this.

The animal passed the second horse. Now, only one horse remained in front of him - but he was nearly out of track.

Merlot pulled up towards the lead horse. I caught the jockeys glancing briefly at each other before returning their attention back to their mounts. They both knew that this was going to be a photo finish, coming down to a matter of inches.

Both of the animals ran neck and neck - and like that, they roared across the finish line. A second later, a cloud of dust swept over everything as the other animals crossed the finish line behind the two front-runners.

"What happened? Who won?" I heard the stress in my voice, but I hadn't been able to see who was in front, who had crossed the finish line first. "Was it Merlot?"

Lance grabbed my shoulder, pointing up at the ceiling. "The announcer's about to make the call!" he told me, making my jaw snap shut. We both stared up at the little grate of the speaker in the ceiling, waiting for the announcement with our breath held.

"And the winner is..." the announcer said a moment later, holding his breath for a moment to raise the anticipation further, as if he was personally set on giving me a heart attack, "is..."

"...Merlot, run by Jillian Monteclaire!"

I burst out screaming - but I wasn't the only one.

All around us, my friends had been watching me try to keep things together, and I knew that they'd all been rooting for Merlot, if not quite with the same level of enthusiasm as me. All around me, people burst out clapping and cheering.

None of those reactions, however, compared to what Lance did next.

The man turned to me, and next thing I knew, I found myself swept up in a bear hug, my feet lifted several inches off the floor as he squeezed me. I threw my arms around his neck as well, hugging him back, even though I couldn't squeeze nearly as hard as he did.

After spinning me around for two full revolutions, Lance finally let me slip back down far enough to put my feet back on the floor. As soon as I landed on my toes, I immediately rose up again, this time to kiss him full on the lips as I tightened my own grip around his neck.

"We won, we won!" I whispered to him. "I can't believe it!"

"You won," he whispered back, giving me another squeeze. "Merlot's your horse, and you put in the training. This victory is yours-"

But I was already shaking my head. "No, you did just as much to help as me! You deserve the credit, too."

I knew that Lance wanted to protest, didn't want to steal the spotlight away from me at all if he could help it, but now other people were flocking over to me, wearing big grins as they held out their hands to shake mine. I was swept up in congratulations, mingling with the rest of the high society members in the sky box.

After more than a dozen handshakes and congratulations, I finally, with many smiles and murmured comments, managed to slip away from the throng of people. I made my way over to the bar, feeling like I needed a drink - and found Dahlia leaning up against the counter, grinning at me as I approached.

"Well, you finally did it!" she greeted me, holding her own glass aloft as I signaled to the bartender that I could use a flute of champagne. "You're finally winning!"

"Thanks," I replied, accepting the flute of champagne and taking a long sip. "It does feel good to see Merlot finally place in first, like I knew he could."

Dahlia took a sip of her own drink. "Oh, I wasn't talking about the horse race - although congratulations on that, too," she commented casually.

I frowned at her. "Then what do you mean?"

In reply, my best friend grinned - and nodded her head towards where Lance was still caught in the crowd of congratulations. She didn't say anything, but her waggling eyebrows did her talking for her.

"What, Lance?" I shook my head, feeling confused. "How is that winning?"

Dahlia rolled her eyes before putting her drink down on the bar's counter with a thump. "Oh, come on, Gilly! Remember when you were here a year ago? Even not focusing on your horse, you were miserable. Marsden obviously didn't care much about all of this, and he basically just acted like a drunken boor."

"So?"

"So, look at you now! Sure, your horse won, but you've also got an actually good guy! Lance was right there with you cheering, and you can tell how much the man cares about you just from how he stares at you!" Dahlia shook her head, snorting with amusement. "Gah, the man looks like a moonstruck calf whenever he stares at you. I can't remember the last time I saw someone so sickeningly in love."

I had to grin at my friend's annoyance. Still, when I glanced over at Lance, my impish little smirk faded into a true smile. I could feel it down inside my own chest. Every time my eyes scanned across Lance's face, I could feel my heartbeat quicken, could feel a surge of emotion rising up inside of me.

"See? There's that same moonstruck expression," Dahlia interjected, pointing at my face. "Ugh, you two are so head over heels for each other that it makes me feel like vomiting."

Returning my attention back to her, I leaned in, spreading my smile wide. "Oh? What's the matter, can't stand to see others happy?" I teased her, poking her in the side.

"Nope. Hate it." Dahlia kept up the glare for another couple seconds, but it then collapsed into a smile back at me. "Fine, fine, I'm happy for you two. So, when's the wedding?"

I paused for a moment before answering, and she saw me draw back. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to hit a nerve, there. I know that after Marsden, everything kind of fell apart-"

"No, no, that's all right," I finally answered her. "And yeah, my history still bothers me a little, but I'm happier now than I ever was before."

"And you're not expecting him to pop out a ring?" Dahlia asked, once she saw my frown disappear.

"If he does, I might smack him!" I answered, grinning to show that I was joking. Mostly. "But no, we've talked about it, and we're comfortable taking things slow."

Before I could say more, I felt a hand slide around my waist, and Lance appeared, grinning, beside me. "Maybe not taking everything slow!" he jumped into the conversation. "After all, I've been living with you for just about a year, now!"

His fingers tickled at me, and I squealed as I poked him back. Dahlia watched us both tease and torment each other with a grumpy look that was only slightly spoiled by the grin that occasionally managed to momentarily break through.

"I think I need to get out of here before whatever disease you two have spreads to me," she said, shuddering. "So congratulations on the win with Merlot, or whatever."

Dahlia started to walk away, but I couldn't resist taking one last crack at her. "Don't worry - you're still going to get the spot as my maid of honor!" I called after her, and I laughed out loud as I saw her shoulders hunch together for a moment before she regained control of them and tossed her hair back imperiously as she strode away.

Next to me, Lance glanced down, his eyebrows slightly raised. "Maid of honor?" he asked, giving the words a questioning lilt.

"Just a joke between us," I replied, hugging him. "Now, should we go down and collect our winning horse?"

"I still can't believe that he won first place," the man replied, as he turned and let me lead him towards the stairs down to the main arena. "I mean, I know we've been training and pushing him for this, but it's still unexpected. The odds against him were pretty long."

I gave Lance a little extra squeeze. "Hey, you could say the same thing about us," I replied. "I mean, when we met, you were only stopping by for a short time before heading off to parts unknown, and I was engaged to another man. And neither of us was happy."

"But somehow, we managed to make things work, to find that happy ending," Lance finished, squeezing me back. "I guess we beat the odds, huh?"

I nodded. "Yep. You were my dark horse - but somehow, you managed to win the race."

"I definitely did win," the man replied, those dark eyes of his staring down into mine, making me shiver once more.

Still holding on to each other, we descended down the stairs, to go meet Merlot and receive more congratulations on our horse's win. Even though it was tough to maneuver on the stairs with our arms around each other, I refused to let go.

I'd caught my dark horse, and I didn't intend to ever let him go.

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