Looking For Trouble (28 page)

"I'm sorry for hurting you, baby. Will you
forgive me?" she asked him in a trembling voice, then put her hand
on his thigh.

Wade looked into her eyes, and knew that
he'd never get over his love for her,
ever
. The decision
wasn't his to make, his heart had already decided for him. "Yeah,
as long as you keep your promise..."

"I will," she said firmly, then told him,
"Angel and I need you in one piece, Wade...will you make me a
promise?" His eyebrows raised and he nodded, then she asked him,
"Will you promise that you'll be careful tomorrow?"

"I'm always careful when I ride, Jess, but
that's not a guarantee I won't get hurt," he told her seriously,
then explained, "Riding fifteen-hundred pounds of unpredictable
bucking horse, takes some things out of your control. I just need
to know you're not going to freak out if something does
happen."

"I can't promise you that...but I promise to
be there if something does happen."

He huffed out a shuddering breath then
pulled her onto his lap, and closed his mouth over hers kissing her
tenderly. After a minute, he pulled back and told her, "Fair
enough...I'm not looking for trouble tomorrow, darlin', but if it
finds me, you being there is enough."

She nodded, then he kissed her again, longer
this time, before he told her with a grin, "Let's go upstairs and
make up right, sugar," then he took her hand and pulled her up,
before he dropped his arm around her shoulders and walked with her
to the elevator.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Wade was behind the chutes, fastening the
buckle on his chaps, and getting his gear ready for his ride in a
few minutes. He'd lucked up on his pull earlier and got one of the
best bucking horses in the lot, one he'd ridden before and gotten a
good score. That meant the odds of him having a good ride, and
moving on to the next round were good. All he had to do was make
sure he was under the reins, and kept his feet up high on the
horse. Something that was second nature to him, after sixteen years
as a professional rider.

After he got his chaps on, he checked his
saddle and reins, then did some stretches to loosen up then shook
out his arms good. The stretches were hard wearing the stiff back
brace he had on, as was riding fluidly, but he'd decided to wear it
after all, because he'd promised Jess he'd be careful, and that was
part of it. Wade felt so much better, since they'd made up, a lot
less uptight, and his head was in the right place, which mean he
could focus on what he needed to be focusing on.

"Hey, old man...you take your vitamins this
mornin'? Cocky twenty-one year old Cam Jessup walked up to him and
drawled.

"You change your diaper for the ride? You'll
probably need a fresh one," Wade shot back then gave him a cocky
grin.

"Think I'll just go get a kiss from that
good-looking girlfriend of yours for luck. Bet she's a hot piece,
maybe she'd like someone who can still get it up. She's a little
young for you don't you think old man?" he flipped back and Wade's
blood pressure shot off the scale.

He grabbed the kid up by the collar, and his
face paled, but then he shoved Wade back and puffed his chest out,
before two other cowboys came and held them apart. "Save it for the
ride, ya'll," the guy who had Wade's arm told him.

Wade shook them off, then picked up his
saddle and stalked off, trying to walk off some of the adrenaline
and anger that coursed through him. That smug, greenhorn bastard
was about to be schooled, and Wade was going to be his teacher. He
dropped his saddle near the chute, then walked up the alley between
the stands and the chutes, and looked around until he saw Jess,
Jazzie, Beau and Angel sitting in the front row of the family
section. He strode down the walkway to the stands, then climbed up
and leaned over to pull a surprised Jess to him, and he put his
mouth over hers, then kissed her silly.

When he pulled back, Jess asked him
breathlessly, "Wow...what was that for?"

"Because you're
mine
dammit, and
don't you forget it," he grated possessively, then added, "And I
love you."

Leaning over further, he kissed Angel, who
was sitting on Jazzie's lap, on the cheek and said, "That goes for
you too," then grinned at her and she cooed and waved her hands in
excitement.

When he stood back up, Jess walked up to
him, and put her arms around his neck, and put her lips to his then
kissed him fiercely enough, he was surprised there wasn't steam
coming out the collar of his shirt, because there was definitely a
fire going on in his pants. She only pulled back when hoots and
hollers started behind them from the cowboys gathered around the
pens.

She looked up and waved, then threw them a
sexy grin, which caused more whooping, before she looked back at
him then leaned near his ear and asked, "Where the hell have you
been hiding those chaps, sugar? The make me
hot
...bring 'em
home."

Wade groaned, then hissed quietly, "Thanks a
lot, darlin'...how the hell am I supposed to ride now?" he asked
and looked down at the front of his jeans, and she just laughed,
then kissed his cheek and stepped back.

"Go knock 'em dead, cowboy, your cheering
section is right here," Jess told him then sat back in her seat and
crossed her long legs, which made his problem worse. With a shake
of his head, he climbed back down and walked toward the chutes.

"Well, that was hot," Jazzie fanned herself,
while she bounced Angel on her knee. "A rodeo and a side show, who
woulda thunk it?"

Jess felt blood rush to her face and she
fanned herself too, then told her friend, "I can't help it, those
chaps he has on do things for me...now I know why women appreciate
rodeos," she told her friend then laughed. She was worried, but she
felt light and happy inside again. Things were good with her and
Wade again, and she was determined to keep them that way. He seemed
to be in the right place mentally too, so everything was good.
As long as he doesn't get hurt
, a voice in the back of her
mind whispered.

Refusing to borrow that trouble, or worry,
she pushed the thought out of her head, and pasted on a bright
smile, because she was determined that was all he was going to see
on her face. She watched the other competitors come out of the
chute and immediately start spurring the horse they were riding
above the shoulders to make it buck more evidently. Some of them
barely cleared the opening, before the horse was up in the air, and
Jess held her breath watching them.

When a couple of the horses shoved the
riders into the railing, and they hit hard, Jess cringed imaging it
was Wade, how that must hurt. Then when they fell off after the
buzzer sounded, they hit the dirt hard and had to avoid being
trampled by the horse. A few of the men had been grazed by those
lethal looking hooves. This was definitely not a sport for the weak
of heart, she decided. No wonder a lot of them had helmets on, and
braces of one kind or another, or white tape on their bodies.

She had no idea how the scoring worked, but
the ones who'd managed to stay on the bucking horses, until the
buzzer sounded, got scored, most of them in the seventies and
eighties on what she imagined was a hundred point scale. After a
lot of cowboys had made their rides, she started to wonder when it
would be Wade's turn to ride, wanting to get it over with, so maybe
once he rode and didn't get hurt this first time, she'd be able to
get rid of the ball of nerves in her stomach.

Beau leaned over Jazzie when they announced
some guy named Jessup was coming up to ride next, and he told her,
"This is Wade's biggest competition," he told her then added,
"Young guy, Rookie of the Year last year, and damned good."

Jess swallowed hard then leaned up to put
her forearms on the rail, and pay closer attention to the man who
was in the chute, getting on an antsy horse. The horse was like a
caged cat, going down on its haunches, then rearing up and slamming
him against the side rail, until finally they got him under
control, and the guy slid into position then grabbed the thick rope
reins, and raised his hand and wiggled it.

The cowboys holding the gate flung it open
and the huge reddish colored horse shot out in a big arcing jump,
with the man's feet almost on his neck, his toes pointed outward.
She held her breath when the horse's front end hit the ground, and
he kicked out in back, almost throwing the man over his head. When
the straight bucking didn't work, the horse spun in circles trying
to throw him off, and the guy twisted at the waist to keep his
balance and position on the horse.

He kept drawing his feet back then spurring
the horse again in rhythm with the up and down movement. It seemed
like eight minutes, but eight seconds later, the buzzer sounded and
the guy quit spurring the horse, then jumped down and landed on his
feet, then ran toward the railing waving his hat at the crowd.

The crowd went wild cheering, and Jess
didn't know what was going on, but when she saw the score of ninety
flash up on the board ,she knew it must've been a good ride and a
good score. Her stomach churned a little, thinking if Wade had to
do better than that guy, he was going to be on a horse bucking a
lot more than that one had.

When she heard Wade's name called over the
loud speaker, her stomach churned more, and she rested her chin on
her arms and leaned a little farther over the rail to watch him get
on his horse. The horse he was going to ride was jet black, and
looked like a bad ass as it snorted and showed its teeth as they
tried to get him settled so Wade could get on his back. Wade sat on
the corner of the pen waiting, and watching, and she sucked in a
breath when the horse reared and almost fell back on him.

When it came back down they grabbed it hand
held it, then he slid on the horses back, then moved a little more
forward then grabbed the reins. She saw his jaw was clenched and
his focus was completely on the horse, as he raised his hand then
gave the handlers an arrogant tip of his chin.

The gate opened and the horse lurched a
little inside the pen, before it shot out in a high graceful arc,
with Wade leaning back on him, with his boot heels firmly planted
in the horse's shoulders, his toes pointed outward, and the reins
pulled back toward his chest. Her breath caught in her chest and
her heart skipped a beat, as the horse did a circling turn, with
all four feet off of the ground, but she was impressed that Wade
planted his feet in the same position on the horse, kept his free
hand high over his head, even though he was twisted in the
saddle.

It was like he anticipated the animal's
every move, and was a step ahead of him. Jess had been right and
this horse was a lot more to handle than the one that the last guy
had ridden, but Wade looked like he was in complete control,
confident in his ability. When the buzzer sounded, she saw him grin
and that dimple she loved popped out in his cheek. The horse bucked
a few more times, then he lifted his leg over his neck and rolled
belly down into the dirt, then scrambled up and headed for the
rail.

Jess heard the crowd roar and looked around
to see a lot of people on their feet, and she stood too, clapping
loudly, and whistling. When it didn't stop, he came back out for a
second and tipped his hat, then walked back behind the chute. Jess
looked up at the digital scoreboard by the announcer, and her knees
got weak with relief when she saw a ninety-three there. She jumped
up and down as much as she could with her cast, then grabbed
Angel's hands and said, "Daddy won, sugar!"

Beau and Jazzie laughed at her, then Beau
said, "He won the first round, darlin'...he still has two more to
go. Hopefully, he'll get good horses for those too. But this round
he showed them who was boss, for sure."

***

After his second round ride, he scored a
ninety-one, which was not as good as the first ride, but was still
good enough to put him in first place going into the finals
tomorrow, Wade was thrilled. The old adrenaline and excitement from
the win, poured through him, and he almost felt lightheaded from
it, but relieved too.

He still had it, and his scores showed that.
Yeah, he'd gotten lucky and drawn some good horses, but he still
had to ride them right to get the points in the saddle bronc
competition, the horse was only half of the score. And he'd scored
better than Cam Jessup...which made the victory twice as sweet to
him.

Wade was standing against the wall in the
hall, outside the medic office taking off his chaps, when he heard
whistling down the hall and looked up. Jess was walking toward him
in her long-legged, but swinging gait, with a big smile on her
beautiful face. Even with the cast on her leg, she was the most
beautiful woman he'd ever seen...and he was damned glad she was
his.

He unbuckled the chaps at the waist and let
them drop to the floor, then stepped out of them and walked toward
her. She jumped up in his arms, when she got close enough, and
knocked his hat off with her enthusiasm to lock her lips with his.
He put his hands on her butt and pulled her closer to him and
kissed her thoroughly, then eased her back onto her feet, but
didn't let her go.

"Congratulations, sugar! You were
magnificent!" she said excitedly and rather loudly, because he
heard some of the other riders nearby guffaw.