Falling For A Cowboy (3 page)

“
How long is it?
”
Clay asked
,
staring
at her
hair
.
With it c
lipped haphazardly to her head
,
she must look a sight.

She
glance
d
at
Jesse. Clay
’
s
friend
was
sipping
his
be
e
r
,
watch
ing the by-play over the rim of his drink
and just as interested
.

She shook her head.
“
I
’
ve never measured.
”

“
Well where does it come to?
”
Clay
’
s eyes
were
like magnets, drawing her so she
couldn
’
t
look
away.

She swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry
from
all the
scrutiny
.
“
The middle of my back.
”

B
oth
men
let out a long whistle
,
br
eaking
whatever spell
had been
cast on her
.
With
that
reprieve s
he grabbed the rag and
started to
wipe the counter.
“
If you boys don
’
t mind, I
’
ve got to set up before the last bull rider gets thrown.
”

His friend tipped his hat
again
.
“
You
’
ll be
at the B
eehive
tonight
?
”

“
I already asked her and she
’
s not interested.
”
Clay scowled as if he was seriously annoyed.

“
Can
’
t imagine your charm turned her against us
,
”
h
is friend said
with a chuckle
.
“
Hell, most of the time he
’
s got to
peel
the women off him.
”

“
Anyone ever tell you
that
you talk to
o
much
,
Jess?
”

“
All the time.
”
Jess
e
’
s
brown
eyes danced with mischief
.
“
Don
’
t matter though.
”

“
Are we staying
‘
til
tomorrow?
”
Clay questioned, still obviously
irritated
.

“
Yep
, got a seventy-nine
.
Guess you weren
’
t watching
.
Had better things to view.
”
He sent a wink her way.
“
Tomorrow will be the finals. If I
can
hang
on, I
should be
in the money.
”

Dusty could hear the sound of marching feet coming her way
.
The crowd was
moving
.

“
Well, bye
,
Miss Dusty Morgan
.
”
Clay drawled her name like a caress
,
sending a
shi
ve
r
up her spine
despite the warm weather
. His smile said he knew it.
“
If you change your mind, you
’
ll know where to find us tonight
.
”
B
oth men lifted their hats
.

She watched
as they walked
away, her mind concentrating on the easy, rolling gait of the tall one as the breeze teased at
the
shirt stretched across his broad back. Their spurs jangled along with her nerves.

Why she felt so unsettled she couldn
’
t say. They were rodeo cowboys
.
She
’
d been around them her whole life—one just
like
the other. She
’
d
always
been immune to their charms, vaccinated by life
.
So why had this
one
gotten under her skin? Before she could
answer her own question
, the line started to form.

* * *

“
What
were
you doing flirting with a sweet thing like that
?
”
Jesse asked as they headed toward the truck
,
past the
other
concessions and the medical tent.
He gulped
his
beer down as they walked.

“
Sweet?
You should have been
t
here earlier
.
I felt like I
’
d
been skewered.
”

Jesse shrugged.
“
Maybe you
’
ve lost your touch
.
She was accommodating enough to me.
”

“
Lost my touch?
”
Hell, he hadn
’
t lost his touch
.
Just
the other
night he
’
d ended up in a curvy red-head
’
s bed
back near home
.

Jesse snorted.
“
She
ain
’
t
your type anyway. She
’
s m
ine
though
.
S
hort
and sweet with just the right amount of sass to keep things interesting
.
Did you see those big blue eyes and that
cute
dusting of freckles across her nose
?
Woman has a face of an angel with lips made for sin.
That
’
s the kind of woman you marry, Clay
.
Not dally with.
”
Jesse
batted a fly away from
his
beer
.
“
Wish you hadn
’
t gotten her all bent out of shape before I got there
.
Besides
I
’
m sure th
e
B
eehive
will be filled with ones who fit your physical requirements.
Me, I
’
ll take that slim little body and those slender legs
stretching
between
th
e
teeny jean skirt
and those snakeskin boots
,
any ol
d
day.
”

What had he been thinking
?
Jess was right
.
S
he wasn
’
t his type
.
He liked them with lots of curves, big peaks that overflowed when you palmed them
,
valleys you could sink into
,
and a welcoming attitude
. Dusty Morgan was slim and tiny and delicate
and feisty as all get out.
Still, he wasn
’
t used to women refusing him
.
And what was with that smile she
’
d sent Jesse
’
s way?

“
Your type or not, I
’
d bet you wouldn
’
t have any better luck landing in her bed
,
even if you
had seen
her first
,
”
Clay challenged
.

Jesse didn
’
t have much luck with the ladies
.
In Clay
’
s mind it had more to do with the man
’
s mouth than anything else
.
Jesse believed in telling everyone what was on his mind
,
whether they wanted to know or not.

His friend
pulled up short
in front of their battered Ford pick-up, sending gravel from the parking lot flying
.
“
How much?
”

“
How much
what
?
”

“
How much would you bet?
”

“
It
’
s just a
saying
,
Jesse.
”

His friend speared him with a sharp glance
.
“
I
’
m
serious
.
You think no woman
can resist you
.
Well, I
’
m betting this
gal
can
.
And
based on the smile she shot me, I think I have a chance of besting you with this one.
”

Clay shook his head
.
The man was out of his
element
.
Of c
ourse she
had
shot Jesse one hell of a smile
.
For some reason she hadn
’
t gone for
Clay
.
Yet.
“
We
’
re only going to be here until tomorrow.
”

“
I
f you
’
re going to win
all
the money you need, we
’
v
e
got to come
back here for the next few weekends
.
We
’
ll have to do it now before the ranch work picks up.
”

Clay
had been thinking that, too
.
And he needed th
e
money.
Bad
.
Jesse had goaded him into coming to
Langley
.
He never thought he
’
d be able to compete
,
given
that
he
’
d only ever entered ranch
rodeos as part of a
team
.
But
s
addle
b
ronc
was something he knew, something he
’
d been born to on
the
Double
T
.
Something where he
’
d at least have a chance.
Since he
’
d
won
,
he
was determined
to keep trying until he got all the money
he needed
.
But
r
odeo was one thing
;
playing around with the feelings of a local girl was another.

Though he tried to keep all of his encounters light, sometimes women fell hard for him
. There had been times when
he
’
d
had to hurt someone when all he
’
d wanted was a good time. Dusty Morgan came off hard on the outside but there was something about her, maybe the look in her eyes when she told him no, that said she wasn
’
t a woman
to be
trifled with, that she
’
d had some pain in her life
.
He didn
’
t want to be the cause of any more.