Rodeo Blues (5 page)

"Don't say it, Tye Casper. So help me if you
do."

"Hey, I wouldn't dream of it, darlin'." He
stood and gestured with a nod toward the back room. "After you."
His hand motioned for her to go ahead of him. After all, it was the
gentlemanly thing to do.

She
harrumphed
, but she grabbed her
beer and headed toward the back.

His gaze lingered on the sway of her hips as
he followed behind. The woman's body pushed all the right buttons
for him, but her womanly attributes hadn't been the only reason
he'd fallen in love with Jolie Lockhart. He loved her spunk, her
passion for life. He hadn't planned to kiss her right out of the
chute – well, not before he at least talked to her, explained, and
begged her forgiveness – but it seemed his libido didn't want to
take it slow. Just seeing her again…touching her…was like coming
too close to a lightening bolt; it sparked him into action.

Whether or not she wanted to admit it, she'd
been affected by the kiss as much as he had. He hadn't been the
only one doing the kissing. When it came to them, the cosmos were
always aligned just right. They were meant for each other. All he
had to do was remind her how good they'd been together. How good
they still could be.

The poolroom held three pool tables, a big
screen mounted on the far wall, and tables and chairs aligned in
front of it. To the left, hanging on the wall was a dartboard. He
always wondered how smart it was to have patrons armed with sharp
objects when their vision could be impaired from too much
alcohol.

Two men were playing pool at the far table.
College age kids were at the other. Lucky for them, the last one
was still available. He strode over to the wall behind the pool
table and pulled down two sticks. His gaze met Jolie's. "Rack 'em
up, darlin'."

They played in silence for a few turns as he
tried to think of a good way to start the conversation, but the
womanly sway of her hips when she lined up the cue was proving a
distraction. His mind kept returning to the last time they were
together…in the 'biblical' sense. The angels in heaven would surely
blush if they'd been watching.

"What are you looking at?" Jolie stood there
leaning on her pool stick with one lovely shaped eyebrow
arched.

"You, Jolie. I'm looking at you," he said and
sighed. "I thought about this moment – where I come home and talk
to you." He shook his head. "A million times I played out the
scenario – what I would say. What you would say in return… Right
now I can't remember any one of them."

Her lips pursed as if she didn't believe him.
He couldn't blame her. "Why did you return home, Tye?" she asked,
her words clipped. "Why now?"

"The rodeo—"

"Don't give me the cockamamie song and dance
about your obligation with the rodeo. We have this event every
year. Don't recall you ever attending any of them since you left
town."

"No. I guess you're right." It was on a
volunteer basis to attend the Skeeter Blue's Cowboy Christmas in
July Rodeo. Though there were advanced sales to up the purse, along
with the contestants entry fees, Skeeter Blue's purse always ended
up being mediocre compared to the more popular cities where the
turnout to their rodeos were doubled, if not more.

Last fall, Mayor Dirkly approached him at the
PBR World Championship in Las Vegas right after he'd earned the
title and was heading back to the hotel. He should have been out
celebrating, but after five consecutive nights of riding the
fiercest bucking bulls on the planet, and then the final round
where he competed against fourteen other riders who had also made
it to the top, he was both mentally and physically exhausted. All
he could think about was getting some shuteye, but the Mayor was
waiting for him. He would have brushed him off, but when he said he
was from Skeeter Blue, he knew he had to hear the man out.

The Mayor believed if he could guarantee his
name on the bill for their yearly rodeo and festival, other major
players would join in on the fun. The Mayor promised it would be
well worth his effort. Personally, he could care less about the
possible winnings. Call it providence that Mayor Dirkly approached
him with his offer, but he blamed Fate. He didn't care if the Mayor
used his name to round up the contestants for the Cowboy Christmas
in July Rodeo, but he made him promise not to mention his name to
the people back home. Told the Mayor he wanted to surprise folks.
Going home would also give him a chance to check on the land his
father left him when he passed too. He had big plans for it, and
the Mayor gave him the reasons to stop procrastinating. Now if he
could win Jolie back in the process, it would be the biggest win he
ever had.

"I came home for…" His words halted on the
tip of his tongue. He almost told her,
for
you
. He wanted to say it, since it was the truth, but he
didn't think she wanted to hear it, and he highly doubted she would
believe him anyway. "It was time to come home," he settled on
saying. Their eyes locked, those beautiful stormy colored eyes he
remembered so well stared back at him. Those eyes had haunted his
dreams, and comforted him too. When they were teens she'd looked at
him as if he were something. In her eyes he never doubted he could
do anything if he put his mind to it. Only back then he hadn't
believed it himself. He had to learn it the hard way before he
could truly believe anyone else could think he was worth the
trouble. "Jolie, I—"

She looked away. "You goin' to take your turn
or not?" she asked as if to distract him from saying any more, or
perhaps she wasn't ready to hear what he had to say.

They had time. He wasn't going anywhere. Play
a little pool with her, have a few drinks with some casual
conversation…
Foreplay
, he thought. Oh yeah, apologizing was
like foreplay. He would allow them to get to know each other all
over again, have a few laughs and ease back into the familiar. He
could do this. He had to do this. He made a mistake walking out on
this woman ten years ago. He wouldn't be making the same mistake
twice.

Chapter Six

Jolie knew she should turn around and
hightail it right out of the bar and go home. Tye didn't deserve a
minute of her time.
Damn him for looking blatantly sexy with his
bedroom-eyes and roguish smile.
She really, really hated him,
and at the same time didn't. She had history with this guy and all
of it pretty darn good, up to the moment he left and broke her
heart. She didn't understand why he did it. That was the crux of
it. She wanted to understand what had made him run.

Tye leaned down and eyed the pool table as if
making calculations for his next move. Her gaze lingered on the way
his jeans showcased his athletic body like a second skin. She
always admired his fit and trim physique, but that's not why she'd
fallen in love with him. There were some people you just clicked
with and Tye had been one such person who knew her and she knew
him…or so she had believed.

Her lips pursed together. First friends, then
more. He could always make her laugh, but he'd been good at making
her cry too. She wouldn't allow him to worm his way back into her
life. The rodeo was only here for four days, and then Tye would
pack up and move on, leaving her behind once more.

With all her blustering convictions of how
angry she was with him, desire for him twisted her gut anyway. She
needed to get a hold of herself. Her body was only reacting to the
familiar.
Yeah, the familiar,
her subconscious mocked her.
She remembered how Tye's hands felt sliding over her body. She knew
how his kisses tasted, and she knew how his muscles rippled when—
She jumped when the balls exploded across the pool table.

Tye glanced over his shoulder with a grin
that made her insides turn to mush. "I still got it, darlin'."

Oh yeah, he still had it all right and if she
didn't walk away, she'd pay for it with her heart all over again.
History was bound and determined to repeat itself – if she allowed
it. She shook her head.
Not going to
happen
, her inner more determined side said with confidence,
but then her gaze locked with Tye's and the blood in her veins
rushed through her body as her heart kick started into a
thumpty-thump
she could hear between her ears. Dear Lord,
the way he looked at her with such want, such need… She frowned
wondering how she would know such a thing, but then it dawned on
her how she knew.
'Cause it's mirroring your own
desires.
"I need another drink," she grumbled.

Tye's eyebrows furrowed – probably because
her gaze didn't match the words that flew from her mouth. She
wanted to say,
Kiss me…
And she'd be all
kinds of stupid to say those words out loud.

"I'll tell Stan to keep them coming," Tye
said.

"There's my boy," a man she didn't recognize
said as he waltzed into the room with his arm around Whisper. Her
best friend just winked at her.

"Hey, Buddy." Tye turned toward her. "This is
Jolie Lockhart, Jolie this is my good friend, Buddy Meilak," Tye
made the introductions. They shook hands and she met Buddy's eyes
which sparkled with mischief. She wondered if Whisper knew what she
was getting herself into, but one glance at her friend and she knew
the woman could handle this cowpoke.

"Do you want to join us?" Tye asked Buddy and
Whisper. "We could play teams."

She glanced at Tye, but he wouldn't meet her
eyes.
Good going, Tye. One way to get out of
explaining your reasons for coming home after so many years. You
never had the inclination to do so before – not even when your
daddy passed away. Now you're here. Why oh why are you
here?

"Sounds like a plan," Whisper said.

Well, at least she'd have a
chaperone…
or so she thought, but as the night wore on and
the drinks kept coming...

They racked up the balls for another game.
How many games was that now?
Jolie
wondered. She burst out laughing and she didn't even think Tye's
joke was all that funny. She leaned on him for support and snorted.
Her hand flew to her mouth, horrified at her unladylike response,
but Tye moved her hand away and leaned in for a kiss. He'd been
stealing a peck here and there all night.
Stealing?
Heck,
she'd been giving them away for the last hour. He'd had as many
drinks, if not more than she had, but he stood sturdy as a
rock.

Good Lord above, the man
could kiss.
Passion passed between them like a crackle of
energy, raw and carnal. She nipped his lower lip and he moaned in
pleasure, taking her under all over again. Her tongue stroked
against his with wicked temptations as he backed her against the
wall, his hard body pressed against hers. She wanted him. She
didn't care she'd regret her actions in the morning. She wanted to
pretend for a moment that Tye still loved her.

They'd been an item in high school. They used
to talk of marriage and shared their dreams of a future in Skeeter
Blue, but she should have realized for Tye, escape was a must. He
couldn't live in the same town with a daddy who cared more about
the bottle than his own son. Gunther Casper never laid a hand on
Tye, but he stood to the side, as a watcher, not a participant,
leaving Tye to fend for himself for money, for support, for
everything. Tye pretended he didn't care, and when he was with her,
maybe he didn't.

She allowed herself to remember another
night, another heated encounter when she'd just turned eighteen and
he'd been a smidgen older. Fourth of July at the pond, and long
after the fireworks, long after most folks had called it an
evening…

"Make love to me," she said, a little
breathless after a heated kiss. Her arms were around his neck as
they snuggled close on the blanket they spread beneath the
stars.

His gaze riveted to hers with uncertainty.
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as if he'd swallowed a golf
ball. "Are you sure?" he asked and his voice hitched. He cleared it
and waited for her to maybe change her mind, but she hadn't.

She nodded and pulled him closer so their
lips were inches apart. "I love you, Tye."

"Oh, Jolie." He took her under again with his
kisses. His hands slid down her body to the center of her. His
touch gentle, teasing… arousing.

She closed her eyes as new sensations hit
her. Her hands roved over his damp skin as she urged him to take
her, make her his … and he had. She took all he gave, until she
spiraled up and over, carrying him with her into the bliss of first
time lovers.

At the time, she had no way of knowing that
night would be a memory to soothe her far into the future, when he
was no longer at her side.

"Hey, are we going to play pool or not?"
Buddy whined, whipping Jolie back to the present.