Hooked (2 page)

The rich scent of his cologne—a combination of leather and spice perhaps—assaulted her senses as she gazed up and into the tempting, handsome face of Luke Carpenter. He grabbed both her arms in his big, firm grasp and steadied her.

Tiny, incredibly endearing crinkles appeared in the corners of his intense blue eyes as he smiled down at her. “Whoa, there. Where are you heading in such a daze?”

He released his hold, but the warmth where his hands had been remained.

Flustered at being caught by the very man who’d been occupying her mind and had caused the daze, Annie scrambled for an excuse. “I, uh, need to change before the broadcast.”

She held up the drycleaner bag full of clothes draped over her arm, feeling the need to prove to him she wasn’t lying. That it wasn’t thoughts of how and when to make her move on him that had her so distracted.

“Ah, gotcha. A woman has to look her best for the cameras.” He smiled.

What was he saying? That she needed all the time she could get to look good? No, of course not. Now she was being paranoid.

Luke continued. “I better do a little prep work myself.”

“Why? You look great already.” And smell even better.

“I meant I need to get my rope cleaned and rosined up, but thanks.” Luke grinned and Annie couldn’t help but stare at his lips, wondering if they’d be soft or firm when—if—he ever kissed her.

She swallowed hard. “Oh, yeah, of course. Um, maybe I should get that on camera. You know, for the viewers. They might like to see all the preparation you guys go through before a ride.”

God, did that sound as lame to him as it did in her own head? Hopefully it wasn’t totally obvious to Luke that this idea for a piece was strictly so she could spend more time with him, even if it was on camera.

“Great idea. Anytime. You know where to find me. Right now I better get. See ya later?”

She nodded. “Later.”

With the tip of his brown cowboy hat, he was gone, but the effects lingered on. Annie sagged against the wall and drew in a deep breath to settle herself.

The arena before an event was a strange dichotomy of noise and action mixed with quiet anticipation. The crowd filled the public hallways and the seats in the stands. But in the hall leading from the rider’s dressing room, behind the chutes, was a different story. Annie held up a hand and stopped the progress of her cameraman, Carl, as she approached a group of riders, all down on one knee, praying together before their ride.

Luke was there among them. Her gaze immediately located his dark head bent low. Guiltily, she also couldn’t help but notice how incredible his ass looked as he squatted on the ground. She yanked her gaze away and waited in silence. Annie hadn’t been in a real church since she was a child, yet seeing these men on their knees, about to put life and limb on the line, made her wonder if she should be doing a little more praying in her own life.

When they broke from their quiet prayers and stood ready for action, she moved forward again. Now the public personas would come out as they greeted fans and smiled for the cameras. She wouldn’t be interrupting them walking by with Carl and his equipment.

With the cameraman in tow, Annie climbed the stairs leading to the chute seats—the VIP section located directly above the bulls and riders. From there, above the action, she had an unobstructed view down into the chutes as well as of all the action taking place behind them where, of course, Luke was prepping for his ride.

He pulled a long strip of white tape off a roll and tore it off with his teeth before he wrapped it tightly around the wrist of his gloved hand.

Annie found even that action sexy as hell. She shook her head at how ridiculously easy it was to have her thoughts spiral down from professional to sexual lately. Unbidden images of Luke’s teeth scraping against some of the more sensitive parts of her body assaulted her, and she felt herself warm from the inside. She really needed to get her mind back on her work, because the bulls for the first flight were now loaded and the riders were starting to climb onto the rails of the chutes.

Luke wasn’t the first one to ride, so she forced herself to pay attention to the rider in the chute. Chase Reese was on Brom Bones. Garret James helped pull the bull rope as Chase wrapped it around his gloved hand. A few adjustments to his chaps and position and after a quick nod to the gateman, Chase was off into the arena.

Annie tried to pay attention as Brom Bones settled into a spin away from Chase’s hand, but her gaze cut to Luke. He was chatting with Mustang. Annie’s heart began to pound. What the hell were they talking about? Mustang wouldn’t tell Luke she had a crush on him, would he? She hadn’t admitted it so she could always deny it, should the subject come up. What if it did come up? What would Luke think of her silly, most likely unreciprocated crush?

It wasn’t until the loud collective gasp from the crowd that Annie’s attention centered back on the arena. By the time she located him, Chase was scrambling for the rails. The bull, hot on his heels, had his head lowered and his deadly looking horns aimed directly for Chase’s butt. The rider leapt and flipped over the top rail and into the safety of an empty chute just in time.

Annie forced herself to watch the replay on the big screen so she could see what she’d missed, but even staying focused for the seven point four seconds the ride had lasted was nearly impossible. Her mind was spinning, wondering what Luke and Mustang had been discussing.

She watched the video replay on the big screen. It showed what she’d missed, Chase slipping off the side of the bull and losing his rope. Only then did Annie allow herself a glance in Luke’s direction, and found he’d looked up at the exact same time. Their gazes met. He smiled and she blushed. Then he was off to get on his own bull while Annie tried to catch her breath.

Mustang helped Luke pull his rope, while Slade used a padded wooden board to force the bull’s body away from the back rail so Luke could get his leg into position. They were veterans, all three of them. Four if you counted the bull, who Annie knew had been around a while and knew the score. By his actions, it was apparent the bull knew that if he leaned the rider wouldn’t be able to get properly centered.

Finally, Luke appeared ready. His free arm, bent at the elbow, was raised high and the rope was wrapped tight around his riding hand. Annie tried not to think about how often those ropes didn’t release and the riders got hung up. Mustang was right when he’d said none of them knew how much time they had in this sport or in life.

She shook that sullen thought from her mind and watched as Luke nodded to the gateman. The gate swung open hard and fast, crashing against the rail with enough force to shake the platform she stood upon. The sound of metal clashing against metal rattled her nerves as bovine and rider took off into the arena amid a cloud of dust and flying bull spit.

The adrenaline that surged through her bloodstream was nothing compared to what coursed through the rider’s veins. She knew that. Annie had talked to enough riders just seconds after their rides to see the wild gleam of adrenaline-fueled excitement in their eyes and the shaking in their hands. She realized what she felt simply watching was nothing compared to what they did from actually riding, but it was still enough to make her hands tremble as her gaze tracked Luke across the arena in his battle with a beast ten times his weight.

She should be used to this by now, having watched enough rides over the years to have long ago lost count of the number. But this was Luke. Watching him ride was different, from the flutter in her chest to the increased anxiety for his well-being. That in itself told her what she felt for him was very different than the camaraderie and affection she had for all the other riders. It also told her what a bad idea having these feelings for a rider was. Too bad love—or lust even—rarely listened to common sense.

Annie’s attention never wavered, not once during the eight-second ride. Definitely not when Luke’s bull had him scrambling for the rails. Not until he was back safely behind the chutes and had walked out of her line of sight did Annie find she could think again. Even then, concentrating on the action in the chutes was far more difficult than it should be, especially when she glanced at Mustang and found him grinning at her. He tilted his head in the direction in which Luke had disappeared and winked. Mustang laughed and Annie felt her face heat, regretting that she’d ever thought she could get information out of this cocky cowboy who saw more than she’d like him to.

Damn. She needed to do something about this situation and soon. But what?

Chapter Two

“Great ride tonight, Luke.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Marker in hand, Luke Carpenter signed the T-shirt the fan had thrust at him.

Something sparkly grabbed his attention. He glanced up at the gray-haired woman. She was wearing a sweatshirt decorated with a rhinestone bull that caught the arena lights and washed everything nearby with tiny prisms of color. A quick smile at the whimsical sight was all he had leisure for, and then it was time to move on.

He shifted one step to the left. His well-worn boots sunk in the soft dirt where the bull riding action had taken place. As Luke stood in front of the next fan lining the rail that separated the raised seating from the riders a few feet below on the arena floor, another rider took his place in front of the bedazzled granny.

“Good luck tomorrow, Luke.” A middle-aged man held a cowboy hat for Luke to autograph. “You win it for all your fans back in Oklahoma.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll sure give it a try.” Luke scribbled his signature in black on the grey felt and then moved over another foot as, in a well-practiced ritual, the rider behind him stepped up to the man with the hat.

A program was thrust forward next and Luke signed the cover, glancing up to see the young boy who’d handed it to him through the rails.

“Thank you, sir.”

Luke smiled at the boy’s politeness and nodded. “My pleasure.”

He stepped once more to the left. When nothing to sign appeared in front of him, Luke glanced up. His gaze traveled over nicely shaped denim-clad thighs and quickly past a shirt unbuttoned enough to reveal a nice expanse of cleavage he knew he shouldn’t be noticing. He finally landed on the welcome sight of Annie Grant’s familiar face as she leaned over toward him, her forearms braced on the top rail.

Luke grinned up at her. “You know, you don’t have to wait in line for an autograph. I could probably be persuaded to sign anything you wanted back behind the chutes.”

Yeah, he was flirting with her a little bit, but that’s as far as he’d strayed from their strictly professional relationship of professional bull rider and television sports interviewer. So far, anyway.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” Her smile lit her face and reminded him exactly how tempting this woman had become recently. “Actually, um, I’m heading out to find some food and I remembered you’d mentioned you had a really good meal last night. I just wanted to ask where.”

Did Annie look nervous? And if she did, was it a good sign or a bad one? Luke had been out of the dating world for far too long to know anymore. But one thing sure seemed interesting to him about her question. There had been five other riders at the restaurant with Luke and they’d all discussed it together in front of her before the competition today, yet Annie chose to find and ask him for the information.

Luke felt his eyebrows rise along with his hopes. He tried to wipe the more-than-interested expression off his face. A man didn’t want to appear too eager to the woman he was secretly interested in.

One glance past Annie told him he’d reached the end of the line of fans waiting for autographs. He was free to go and happy about that now that Annie was here. After capping his marker and shoving it in his back pocket, Luke climbed over the rail. He landed next to her with a thud as his boots hit the hard floor.

“Sure, I can tell you. I could even show you right where it is…if you wanted some company, that is.” Was that too forward? Hell, what did he know? Luke feared he didn’t even remember how to flirt anymore, let alone ask a woman he was interested in out on a date.

“Uh, sure. I’d like that. I mean…if you’d like to.” Annie straightened and shoved a hand in each of the front pockets of her jeans.

“I’d love to.” Luke tried to tamp down his nerves.

He noticed the way her gaze dropped and her cheeks pinked in response to his suggestion. This woman, who without blinking an eye traveled the world successfully doing her job in a field dominated by men, was definitely acting shy around him suddenly.

What did that mean? Was Annie not interested in him on a personal level and because of that was uncomfortable being alone with him eating dinner? Or did she like him and was too embarrassed to let him know?

Annie had been a fixture on the pro tour for nearly as long as he’d been riding in it, but until just a few months ago, he’d been a taken man. Not anymore though. Not since Lilly had ended their relationship months ago with her ultimatum that Luke choose between his career or her. He was free as a bird now. Free to look at Annie as more than a coworker if he chose to.

“Okay, great. I guess I’ll drive?” She pulled a car key out of one pocket, her blue-eyed gaze still not quite meeting his.

“Since I don’t have a car here, yeah I guess you better.” He grinned. Luke might as well be back in middle school pulling on the pigtails of the girl he had a crush on because he didn’t know what else to do to let her know he thought she was cute. He had come to realize that single life kind of sucked.

One glance at how great she looked in her tight, dark-wash jeans as she turned and led the way up the stairs had him realizing something—he wouldn’t mind giving up his newly attained single status and becoming tied down to one woman again if that woman was Annie.

He glanced quickly behind him. The other riders were heading back across the arena toward the exit behind the chutes. Good, no one would ask where they were headed or want to join them. Luke had already stashed his gear bag in Aaron’s truck so that was safe. He had nothing left to do here at the arena and some time alone with Annie was exactly what he wanted.