Rodeo King (Dustin Lovers Book 1) (9 page)

“So am I, baby.” But he wasn’t talking
about food.

***

At the checkout counter, Carson stood in
the cart and craned his neck like a bird dog. “Where’s Daddy?”

“Sit down before you fall down,”
Rosemary scolded gently, then handed him a can of baking powder to keep him
occupied. “Here, help me unload. And your daddy got a phone call.”

Actually, that call worried her a bit,
not to mention the look on Caleb’s face when he checked the display. But he’d
flashed her a quick smile before swiping the screen, then put it to his ear and
stepped away to take the call. She and Carson had continued shopping.

Now she dug bills from her wallet,
relieved she carried enough money. Usually she only used a credit card if she
absolutely had to. As she tucked her change into her purse she heard Carson
screech, “Uncle Mason!”

Oh, just great.
Rosemary
loved her brother a lot, but lately he’d been pissing her off with his poor
attitude toward Caleb and refusal to believe his once-best friend could change
for the better. She didn’t have time to deal with Mason’s crap, especially in
public. And by his determined expression as he strode in her direction, she
just knew the idiot would say something to make her mad.

“Hey there, Lil’ Tuff.” Mason yanked on
a lock of her son’s hair. “Where’ve you been all day?” He directed the question
at Carson but his focus remained on her as she loaded the bags in the cart.

She bit back on her impatience and
pinned a smile in place as Carson chirped, “We went to the park! I ate five
corn dogs at Sonic, and saw Mimi Moo, and we won Fred, and Daddy let me ride
the camel a hundred times—”

Mason interrupted abruptly with the only
thing he’d heard in that whole mess of chatter. “Daddy?” He turned to Rosemary
with a thundering frown. “You’ve been with
him
all day?” His voice
lowered to a snarl. “What the hell, Rosie!”

She hastened forward, edging him away
from Carson’s curiosity as he knelt in the cart and stared at them. “Mason, you
can just shut up right now.” She stabbed his chest with two fingers, unwilling
to back down. “None of this is your business. What I do or where I go with Caleb
isn’t anything to you.”

Turning to Carson, she said brightly,
“Hang on to the cart, sweetheart. Let’s get this stuff out to the car and wait
for Daddy.” Without another word, Rosemary shoved the cart through the exit
doors toward the parking lot.

She hoped her brother would stay in the
store, but Mason predictably followed her outside, blocking her path as she
moved to unload the bags. “I got news for you, Rosie. This
is
my
business. Who took you to your doctor appointments and loaned you money when
you had to quit working? Who listened to you cry at night and lent you a
shoulder? Huh?”

Rosemary dashed impatiently at wet
cheeks, angry her blasted brother could get her riled enough to tear up. Thank
God Carson was already in the car and didn’t see. “Don’t you dare throw that up
to me. I paid you back the money. I thanked you over and over for everything
you did for me, Mason. I’m a grown woman now. I make my own choices and right
now I choose to see how Caleb does as a father. I choose to give my son the chance
to know his daddy.”

“He’ll stomp on your heart, Rosemary.
After he gets what he wants, he’ll leave as soon as his leg’s steady enough to
jump on the next rodeo stupid enough to take the entry money.” Mason scraped
one hand down his face, then waved it toward the car where Carson sat. “What
about him? How hurt do you think that boy’ll feel when Mr. Rodeo King takes
off? Because he will. It’s what he does.”

“I don’t want to hear any more.” She
pushed by her brother, dragging the cart to the nearest return slot and
slamming it in. For a few seconds she stood with her back to the car, striving to
regain some sort of composure. If she didn’t, she’d likely kill him. At the
very least she’d say things she’d someday regret.

With a deep breath she turned and stared
at Mason. His face was still flushed with anger, yet she could read concern,
the kind you’d expect from a big, overprotective brother. He couldn’t help it,
any more than she could help resenting his attitude.

She probably owed him some kind of
apology. “Mason, look—”

Caleb’s sudden appearance interrupted
her. “What’s going on?” He stepped to her side, cell phone in hand, looking
from her to Mason, who was visibly bristling. “Everything okay?”

Mason surged forward with a growl.
“Johnson, you son of—”

“
Mason!
Enough.” She felt like
ripping her hair out by the roots and grinding it under her boot heel. Trying
even harder for patience, Rosemary turned to Caleb. “My brother is being a
jackass. He thinks you’re going to break Carson’s heart and leave.” She cast a
fulminating glare toward Mason. “I told him that would never happen.”

“Oh.” Caleb slowly pocketed his cell,
removed his hat, and slapped it against his thigh before dropping it back on
his head.

“So, who was the call from? Sounded important.”
Rosemary hated the tiny smidge of insecurity that had her questioning the man
she knew she’d never stopped loving.

“Yeah, old
buddy
.” Mason’s lip
curled in a faint sneer. “Who was on the phone?”

Caleb edged Rosemary away from her
brother with a hand to her arm. “We should really get Carson home.”

She didn’t like what she saw in his
eyes. “Caleb . . .” She grasped his fingers and held tightly. “Who was the call
from?”

He released a short sigh and shuffled
his feet, before raising worried eyes to hers. “The State Rodeo Commission.”

Caleb swallowed hard when Rosemary’s
eyes narrowed, her expression looking a helluva lot like her brother’s.
Not
good.
He needed to handle his next words very carefully if he wanted to
salvage his relationship with her and Carson.

“O-okay,” she said slowly, the hard look
in her eyes reminding him of an ornery bull right before he climbed on for
their eight-second dance. “The Rodeo Commission. And they wanted . . . what,
exactly?”

Mason snorted, but otherwise remained
silent. The fury in his expression said it all.

“Let’s get home first, Rosie, then we
can discuss the phone call.” Caleb took a step forward as she pulled from his
grasp.

Her hands flew up in a defensive
gesture, warding him off. “No,” she retorted. “Tell me now.”

Caleb knew her well enough to figure she
wouldn’t get into the car until he’d answered her question. She was stubborn.
Just one of the many things he loved about her. And yeah, damn it, he
did
love her. Had loved her from their very first kiss six years earlier, but he’d
been too big of a jackass to admit it. Instead, he’d skipped town and did
everything he could to put her out of his mind.
Hell.
If she left him now,
it’d be his own damn fault.

Tension filled his body. He chanced
losing her forever if he lied to her. It was a small miracle she’d allowed him
back into her life—into her bed—as it was. He licked his suddenly dry lips.
“They offered me a job as Rodeo Announcer.”

Rosemary inhaled sharply. “In Cheyenne?
Or on the statewide circuit?”

“Rosie—”

“Which, Caleb? Local or circuit?”

Caleb’s heart beat frantically against
his chest, warning him things were about to go south if he didn’t do something
fast. Trouble was, the offer he’d been presented had been a bit vague. He
started to speak, hesitated, caught the fierce frown on Mason’s face, and
finally replied, “Circuit.”

“And what did you tell them?” Her voice
shook. She leaned against the side of the car, as if her legs weren’t steady
enough to hold her.

Caleb glanced past her to see Carson
strapped into the back seat, playing games on Rosemary’s cell phone, oblivious
to the tension outside the car. Thank God, because he didn’t want his son to
think for one instant that he didn’t rank as number one in his daddy’s
priorities.

The phone call had come out of left
field and thrown him for a loop. His mind was still struggling with how he
could have both his family
and
his career. No way was he leaving Rosie
or Carson behind. But he couldn’t pull his son out of school to drag him around
the circuit.

Damn it! I need time to think. Time to
negotiate.

Only when Rosemary made a strangling
sound and spun to open the car door did he realize he’d been standing there
saying nothing as he’d contemplated his options. Which completely gave her the
wrong impression, like he’d really desert her again.
Hell, no.
He moved
forward, intent on begging her to listen.

Mason stepped in the way, and they
bumped chests. His old buddy had murder in his eyes. “Let her go, Johnson.”

“Out of my way, Mason.” His hands curled
into fists at his sides, a rush of adrenaline coursing through him, ramping up
a feeling of desperation as Rosemary slid behind the wheel of the car.

“Rosie, come on. We need to talk about
this.” He made a move to dart around her brother, but Mason shoved him hard in
the chest with one hand, sending him back on his heels. His bad leg twinged
hard, but Caleb determinately ignored it. “Rosie,” he pleaded as he righted his
footing, their gazes meeting for a split second.

The pain he saw reflected on her face
gutted him. Pain he’d once again caused her. She slammed the door shut,
starting the car.

“Wait, damn it. Rosie!”

Panic stabbed him straight through the
heart as the car drove away with everything that mattered to him inside. He’d
really screwed up this time.

“Just go, Johnson,” Mason snapped. “Take
the damn job and get the hell out of town. That’s what you do best, remember?
Leave.”

Caleb tensed as a surge of fury tore
through him. If her brother hadn’t gotten in the way, maybe he would have had a
chance to explain. Forgetting for a moment they were in the parking lot of
Safeway, he took a threatening stride toward Mason with every intention of
kicking some ass.

Mason’s posture and clenched fists
indicated he was more than ready to have it out.

“Mommy,” a young girl’s voice carried
over to them, halting Caleb in his tracks and making him look around. “Can we stop
and get ice cream on the way home?”

Hell, the parking lot was full of women
and children. He needed to tamp it down.

“Rosemary was devastated when you left,
Caleb.” Mason’s tone now sounded more tired than angry.

Caleb lowered his head in defeat.

That didn’t stop Mason from digging the
knife in deeper. “You took her innocence, and I’m not just talking about her
virginity, asshole.”

So he knew that, too? Damn it, no wonder
the guy hated him. He kind of hated himself right now. Caleb swiped a hand down
his face. Yeah, he made a huge mistake when he’d walked away from Rosemary. Now
it was time to make things right.

First, he had to figure out what the
hell he was going to do about the job offer, and his career. Then he needed to
find Rosie. He’d worry about making amends with his ex-best friend later. Only
Rosie mattered right now.

Without another glance at Mason, he
turned and strode from the parking lot.

As he walked away, Mason called out, “It
took her years to put her life back together. If you care anything about her,
you’ll leave her the hell alone.”

Caleb stopped, and for one
heart-wrenching moment, he wondered if Mason was right. Maybe he should just
keep on walking until he hit the bus stop, and continue out of town.

Then images of Rosemary’s contented
smile after he’d thoroughly made love to her, and the hero-worship shining from
his son’s eyes, filled his mind.

No, he didn’t believe they’d be better
off without him. He’d made the mistake of walking away from her once, and he
wasn’t going to do it again.

Slowly he reached for his Stetson and
adjusted it before facing his ex-best pal. “I love her. Rosie and Carson are my
world now, and I’m not walking away.”

Mason’s brows drew into a deep vee. “You
say that now, Caleb, but we all know the rodeo’s in your blood. How long will
it be once your leg heals, before you take off again? Just cut your losses now
and go, before Carson takes a worse hit than he’s already going to. I remember what
Rosemary went through when you put your career above her and Carson.”

“That’s not what—”

“Save it, Johnson. She’s done with you.
And once Rosie makes up her mind, there’s no changing it.”

Caleb’s mouth set in a hard line.
Mason’s words held a ring of truth. Rosie’d always had a mile long stubborn
streak that he’d found adorable.

But now wasn’t the time for either of
them to get stubborn. He was more than ready to meet her halfway or better.

He only hoped she could be persuaded to
do the same.

***

“That no good, dirty, low-down, stinkin’
cowboy,” Susan hissed between gritted teeth. She stomped around her kitchen,
throwing her hands up angrily, then shot a glance into the living room to make
sure Carson couldn’t hear them.

Rosemary snorted as she dabbed away tears.
“Tell us how you really feel, Susie-Q.”

Instead of driving home, where Caleb
could easily find her, Rosemary had gone to her friend’s house to hide out.
Sitting at the kitchen table, she crumpled the damp tissue in her hand. Maybe
by the time she decided to go home, he’d be gone. But as angry as she was, that
thought still cut through her heart with the force of a chainsaw, leaving pain
and destruction in its wake. Just like Caleb Johnson.

God. How could I let myself fall for him
again? What a fool I am!

She’d never meant enough to Caleb for
him to settle down. His career as a rodeo star meant more to him than she or
his son ever would. Well, if he thought he could just waltz into town between
rodeo gigs for a booty call, he was highly mistaken.

Rosemary glanced at her son, who was
happily playing an Xbox game, with his headphones on. Fresh tears slid down her
cheeks when she thought of how his daddy’s absence would hurt him.
Damn you,
Caleb Johnson!

Susan stopped her angry pacing and came
over to give her a hug. “You want me to send your brother over to break his
other leg? He’d do it too, you know that.”

Rosemary actually gave the idea a moment
of thought, then released a humorless laugh. “No. I’m not wasting any more
energy on him. It’s my own fault, I should have learned my lesson the first
time.”

Her best friend pulled up a chair to
plop down in front of her. “Honey, none of this is your fault. Caleb Johnson is
one fine specimen of a man, and any woman would be hard-pressed to resist his
considerable charms. So, give yourself a break. It’s just too bad underneath
that handsome exterior lies a slithering snake. You know, one of those venomous
horned rattlers that can’t be trusted near women or children.”

At the apt description, amusement
bubbled up inside Rosemary, helping to get her emotions under control. Susan
was exactly right. She’d wasted enough tears her first time around with the
Rodeo King, and she wouldn’t shed one more damn drop. She had Carson to think
about now. Her baby was going to need her when he learned Caleb was gone.

Yet she couldn’t help but worry. “You’re
right, Susie. But how am I going to tell Carson his daddy left us?” That
chainsaw took another swipe inside her chest.

“Lil’ Tuff’s resilient. And he loves
you. He hasn’t known Caleb all that long. He’ll survive. He still has his
uncle. You know Mason loves him like his own son. Why do you think he’s been so
crazy since Caleb came back into town? Your brother’s scared shitless you and
Carson were going to be hurt.” Susan smiled sadly. “And unfortunately, he was
right.”

Rosemary swallowed against the fresh
grief welling in her throat.
No more tears, damn it.
“Yeah.
Unfortunately.” She blew her nose a final time.

Susan stood, placing her hands on her
slender hips. “Hey, you know what? I think we all need a vacation. How about we
head over to the lake? We could rent a cottage for the weekend. Carson would
love it.”

Thankful to have such a wonderful friend
to help soften the pain of losing Caleb, Rosemary nodded. “I think that’s a
great idea. But I’ll need to stop by my place and pack a bag first.”