Hooked (16 page)

“That’s not fair to make you work my—”

“Sure it’s fair. More than fair.”

“How?” Luke couldn’t understand Chris’s reasoning.

“Dad doesn’t have the room at our place for what I want to do. And your father has the arena area all set up already for when he used to train for his roping competitions. It’ll be an exchange. I get to raise and train my horses here at your place, and in exchange I’ll tend to things while you’re gone. Then when you retire from the pros—for real—we’ll start building up your bucking stock. By then, we’ll hopefully already have made a name for ourselves with my roping horses.”

Luke’s heart kicked into high gear at the idea, but he tamped the excitement back down. He couldn’t handle getting his hopes up and then having them fall flat. “Mom. You’re okay with this plan?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? Chris is like a second son to me as it is. He’s here as much as he’s home. It wouldn’t be any different.”

“But I would be away a lot and you’ll be here all alone at night in the house while I’m gone.”

She dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand. “Do you know how many invites to bridge parties or book clubs I used to turn down while your father was alive? I could be out and busy, or have a crowd of ladies here, every night if I wanted to. I think I might just start accepting some of those invites.”

“You’d be sleeping here in the house alone a lot while I’m traveling.” He didn’t like that idea. Maybe it was time to replace the dog they’d lost a few years back. He’d feel better if there was a watchdog on the property again with his mother alone at night. Luke couldn’t believe he was actually considering this.

“We’re right next door, Luke. If she needs anything, day or night, we can be here in a flash.” Marge Collins jumped into the conversation for the first time.

Luke appreciated her offer, but still turned his attention to Mr. Collins. It would be his herd he’d be stealing Chris away from. “You’re okay with this plan? This will take up a bunch of Chris’s time. He won’t be around as much to help out at your own place.”

“I can handle my place. I’m not that old, boy. Besides, he’s been itching to do this thing for a while now. I’d rather have him doing it nearby and with you than moving to some other county to buy his own piece of land. It would break his mama’s heart to have her baby move out.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “I’m thirty-two, Dad, and Lilly is seven years younger than I am anyway. She’s the baby in the family.”

“Hey!” Lilly piped up for the first time, looking insulted at being called the baby.

“You’ll still always be your mama’s baby boy, Chris. You remember that.” Mr. Collins sent Chris a look full of censure.

“Yes, sir.” Chris sounded more amused than respectful, in spite of the “sir”.

The mention of Lilly brought up an interesting point. Why was she here supporting this plan? Luke turned to her. “What do you think about this? You’re the one who wanted me to quit for years now.”

“I know.” Her gaze dropped to her hands clasped on the table in front of her.

“And now you’re here for this intervention to get me to go back?”

“I guess I finally saw what everyone else did. Riding is a part of you. You’re not whole without it. Chris always told me that, but I couldn’t see past my own feelings to listen. I think you should go back and see where your career takes you before you retire for good. You’ll always wonder if you don’t.”

Wow. Even Lilly was on board with this plan.

“So? What do you think?” Chris waited for his answer.

“I think I better get on a few practice bulls before I go back.” Luke braced himself for his friend’s reaction, which didn’t disappoint him as Chris’s face beamed.

“Hell yeah, you better.” Chris grinned. “And hit the gym to get rid of that beer gut you’ve been working so hard to put on the past few months.”

Luke laughed. Even insults that bordered uncomfortably on the truth couldn’t get him down now. He was going back and there were a ton of things he needed to do first. His head spun with plans. Hope too. Hope that Annie wasn’t already dating someone else and that she’d forgive him for dropping totally out of her life after the funeral.

When he returned he’d gladly deal with whatever greeted him in regard to Annie. If she did shoot him down, he’d go down fighting. He wouldn’t give up on her, on them, easily. That definitely sat better in his gut than giving up, which was the bitter pill he’d been trying unsuccessfully to swallow for months now.

“I gotta go call and have them put my name in the draw for next weekend.” He glanced up and noticed all the smiles in the room. “Thanks, everyone.”

“You’re welcome. Now go make that phone call and get your butt back here. I already told Hank to pull out his rankest bulls because we’ve got an out-of-shape bull rider looking to make a comeback.” Chris’s challenge hung in the air, but all it did was make Luke smile.

Chapter Fourteen

“Luke’s back?” Annie stared down at the list of match ups that had just been handed to her. One name jumped out from among the rest of the riders, and that name took her breath away.

“Luke’s back.” The stock manager confirmed her statement of the obvious before striding off across the dirt of the arena to talk to one of the handlers about something.

She began to shake, making the paper held between her fingers quake. Annie lowered her hand and stood in shock. He hadn’t called her to tell her he was quitting riding. It shouldn’t surprise her he hadn’t called to tell her he was coming back either.

In fact, he hadn’t called her at all. The last thing she’d gotten from him had been that text message the night they’d first aired his father’s tribute. Any other news she’d gotten on Luke had come from the other riders or the station for her reports.

Of course, she hadn’t called him either. Her heart pounded in anger. She shouldn’t have had to call him, damn it. After the night they’d spent together he should have called her.

Her insecurity crept in, pushing the anger aside. It had been only one night. Meanwhile the man had a long history with Lilly. His ex-girlfriend who he’d spent years with was there with him daily while Annie wasn’t. She couldn’t blame him if they’d reconciled, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

Annie sighed. At least it had been only one night. Well, one night plus the incredible kiss at his house. The way he’d opened up to her after his father’s funeral… Annie had just thought they had something special.

To add to Annie’s misery, Chelsea bounced by, one of the rookie riders glued to her side, as usual. Why Annie’s replacement apparent was here was beyond her. This was the second event of the new season, not the first. Sure, last week had been huge. If she could justify having a second interviewer at all, it would have been for last week. Not for this week which was a pretty small venue.

“Annie.”

Her boss’s voice filled her ear as it came loudly through her earpiece. She adjusted the volume. “Yeah, Joe.”

“I want Chelsea to interview Luke today, but she doesn’t know who he is. Can you point him out to her when you see him?”

Now Annie was shaking for a different reason. She was likely going to be replaced by a girl who knew so little about the sport she didn’t even know what one of the veteran riders looked like? Forget about the fact that Annie didn’t want that blond bimbo anywhere near the man she’d dreamed about for years.

“She doesn’t know who he is?” She gritted her teeth.

“He left the tour before we brought her onboard last season.”

Annie had had about enough of her boss and this job and that girl. “Joe. Luke Carpenter is a household name among bull riding fans. I don’t care if he didn’t ride all the way through to the end of last season. Any reporter who is going to be on air at this event should know who the hell one of the most consistent winners and well-liked riders this sport has ever seen is.”

“Why thank you, ma’am.” Luke’s voice behind her had Annie’s throat closing up.

“Annie, I need you to be a team player.” Joe’s comment barely registered with Annie as she turned and found Luke barely two feet away from her.

“Joe, I gotta go.” She yanked the earpiece from her ear and shoved it into her pocket. Hell, they could fire her if they wanted to. They probably would so they could replace her with Chelsea. She couldn’t stop them and she didn’t care anymore. There were other things for her to worry about, such as the cowboy standing in front of her. “Hey. You’re back.”

He nodded. “I am. How are you, Annie?”

How was she? She was hurt and angry he hadn’t called. She was scared and ill over the thought he might be back with Lilly. And she most likely was about to lose her job to a girl who didn’t even know who Luke Carpenter was. All in all, life sucked right now so Annie said, “I’m good. How are you?”

“Really glad to be back.” Luke grinned.

“I’m sure everyone’s glad to have you back. You were missed.” Annie hoped he heard the unspoken words
I missed you
in her tone.

Carl came around the corner with Chelsea. He pointed toward Luke. “That’s Luke Carpenter right there.”

Annie gritted her teeth as the blond came toward them, a smile plastered on her perky face. “Hi. Luke Carpenter?”

Always gracious to fans, Luke nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

The last thing Annie wanted to do was give up time with Luke. She hadn’t seen him for so long and she still didn’t know how things stood between them. But she couldn’t stand by and watch her replacement botch up what should be a great interview with a legendary rider who’d essentially retired from the sport after the death of his father and then decided to come back.

“Excuse me.” Annie might have to put up with this girl stealing her interview and probably her job, but she didn’t have to stick around to watch it.

“Wait. Don’t go.” Luke reached out and grabbed Annie’s hand, squeezing her fingers in his. “I want to talk to you when I’m done here.”

How could she say no? Annie swallowed hard. “Okay.”

Not to be ignored, Chelsea thrust her hand toward Luke. He had to release Annie’s hand to shake it. “I’m Chelsea and I’ll be interviewing you today once we get on air.”

“All right. Which network is this for?”

“Mine.” Annie delivered the answer in a flat tone that she figured clearly showed her opinion of the entire situation.

Luke’s brows shot up beneath the brim of his hat and he turned to Annie. “Yours?”

“Yup.”

He turned away from Chelsea and toward Annie with a smile. “Did you get a promotion while I was gone? Are you the big boss now?”

Apparently Luke hadn’t picked up on Annie’s displeasure. A bitter laugh escaped her. “No. I didn’t get a promotion.”

Chelsea took a step to the side so she was in front of Luke again. “They hired me at the end of last season, but I did mostly voiceovers until now so I could get the hang of the sport since I’d never even watched bull riding before. My boss said you quit riding last year, so I guess for the interview I’ll ask you why.”

The stupid girl didn’t even know about his father? That was hard to believe but it seemed to be the truth. Annie watched the expression on Luke’s face harden. His forehead wrinkled in a deep frown.

He turned back toward Annie, effectively putting Chelsea behind him again. “Are you still doing interviews?”

“Yeah.” Annie nodded. At least the ones Chelsea wasn’t going to be given instead.

“Then I’d like you to handle this one.” He turned back to the girl still hovering and looking less than happy at the conversation. “I’m sorry, but Annie conducts this interview or it’s not going to happen at all.”

“But, my boss said—”

“Tell him to talk to me if he has an issue. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready.” Luke tipped his hat to them both, then walked back toward the dressing room.

Annie had watched Luke walk for enough years that she could tell when he was pissed. As awful and worried as Annie felt about Chelsea throwing Luke into a bad mood right before he rode in competition for the first time in months, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit victorious.

Meanwhile, Chelsea still stood there, sputtering. “What the hell? He can’t do that.”

“He sure as hell can. These riders grant us at the network the privilege of interviewing them. They’re not required to do a damn thing other than show up and ride. Remember that.” Annie started to go, and then turned back. “Oh, and do your damn research next time.”

As Chelsea paled at the censure, Annie strode off in pursuit of Luke. She found him in the dressing room. “Hey. Um, thanks.”

He glanced up from the wrist he was wrapping in white tape. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, you did.”

He drew in a deep breath. “What’s going on here anyway?”

Annie shrugged. “I don’t know. New blood? They’re tired of seeing my face on air every event?”

Luke’s brows knit together in an unhappy-looking line above his eyes. “That’s bull.” He rose and stood towering above her. “Look, I’ve got to get my head back in the game.”

“I know. I’m so sorry I’m bothering you. It was bad enough what she did, but I know better. Anyway, I’ll go.” She began backing up as Luke reached out and grabbed her elbow. Her heart fluttered every time he touched her. She couldn’t control it.

“No. That wasn’t what I was getting at. I want to talk to you privately. I just can’t do it now. Can I catch up with you later?” He looked so serious.

She swallowed hard, nerves and excitement warring inside her. “Okay. I’ll be around.”

Annie walked through the hall and out into the arena, realizing she had much to deal with before that time with Luke came anyway. Such as facing her boss and Chelsea. Oh yeah, and she had an event to broadcast somewhere in the middle there too. While digging inside her pocket to fish out her earpiece, Annie headed for her cameraman.

Carl glanced up as she neared. “Annie. What the hell happened?”

Uh oh. “Um, why?”

“Chelsea is crying and the boss is yelling that now you have to interview Luke before he gets on his first bull or we’re both in big trouble. The station is on a commercial break right now.”

Huh. She’d missed quite a bit while she’d been incommunicado with her earpiece stashed peacefully in her pocket. “All right. Well come on then. Luke’s right in back getting ready.”