Trouble With a Cowboy (4 page)

"I'm
in a bit of a spot here too, Jacie."

"Oh?"

"I'm
stuck here in Littleton myself. I need to get some precious cargo to Vegas in
the next week."

His
hand wrapped around the handle of the coffee cup in front of him and lifted the
cup to his lips. The muscles of his throat rippled as he swallowed. For some
ungodly reason, the whole process seemed sexy.

She
cleared her throat and squeaked, "Go on."

"I
have a bull in a pen out behind your motel."

Seriously? The bull I saw back
there is huge!

"He's
yours?"

"Yeah
and I'm stuck here with him. The driver I had, wrecked his truck outside of
town. Hit an abutment, but lucky for me, the bull and my trailer are still in
one piece. I would have had to kill him otherwise. Lightning Strike is in the
running for Bull of the Year."

"Wow,"
she whispered.
Holy shit! Bulls up for
such a ranking are expensive.
"So what's the deal?"

"I'll
buy your tires if you take my trailer and bull to Vegas."

"And?"

"What
do you mean, and? And nothing. That's it."

Thoughts
of how incredible this all sounded to her, rushed through her mind. The animal
must be extremely expensive for him to want this kind of a deal, but could she
handle being on the road with Tucker for several days. "You're going to
pay over twelve hundred dollars for tires for my rig in exchange for me pulling
your trailer to Vegas."

"Yeah.
I've called all over the country. The closest driver is three days out. I have
to get the bull to the arena quickly. I don't have time to hang around here."

"Must
be one hell of a big trailer."

"He
rides in style."

"I
can imagine."

"Oh,
one other thing."

"I
knew there had to be a condition or something. This sounded too good to be true,"
she grumbled, tapping her fingers on the table.

"It's
not something huge, Jacie."

She
leveled him with what she hoped was a don't-fuck-with-me look. "All right,
what?"

"I
have to ride in the rig with you."

"No,"
she snarled. "No one gets in my rig, but me."

The
waitress returned with their lunch. The hamburger she'd order sat on the plate
in front of her open-faced. She grabbed the ketchup bottle, squirted a glob on
her food, then returned the bottle to the spot near the window.

"Do
you have any choice here, Jacie? You need tires. I need to get my bull to
Vegas. This is a win-win situation for both of us."

She
contemplated telling him to forget the whole idea, but she really needed those
tires and she
did
need to get to
Vegas herself. One French fry, then two, made it into her mouth while she tried
to decide what to do.

Attraction
still sizzled between them. Desire burned in his eyes whenever their gazes met.
It was almost a palpable thing between them. Her nipples puckered with the thought
of spending several days with him. There would be no use denying the attraction
between them, but it was bad practice to mix business with pleasure. Her
relationship with Raymond and his unceremonious dumping, should have told her
that.

The
beginning of her relationship with her ex started out business only but quickly
developed into more when she fell into bed with him. Everything went to hell
when his supervisor at the trucking firm found out they were lovers and
cancelled her contract. The company didn't condone relationships between their
drivers and warehouse workers. Too many possible ways their interaction could
influence the contracts between her and the company since Raymond ran one of
the biggest warehouses in Phoenix.

The
sound of Tucker's voice brought her thoughts back to sitting across from him
listening to his proposition.

"Where
were you going anyway?"

"I'm
headed to Vegas myself," she replied, focusing on her hamburger again.

"See!
It's perfect then."

"I
have my mare with me. I can't pull my trailer and yours at the same time."

"What
are you headed to Vegas for?"

"NFR.
I'm competing in barrels. I plan to stay with some friends."

A
low, slow whistle escaped his lips. "You must be good. Not too many people
get to Vegas."

She
shrugged her shoulders as she studied her food.

"I
know," he said with a snap of his fingers. "You can put her in the
trailer with the bull. It's dividable and padded. I'll even pay for gas."

Damn. He must be desperate, but
then again if the bull is in the running for Bull of the Year, there is a lot
of money to be made for the owner.

"But
that means leaving my trailer here and leaves me no way to get my mare home
from Vegas after I'm done."

"We'll
figure something out. I'll need to get the bull home too, afterward."

She
frowned, worrying about how to possibly make this work. Staying in Vegas until NFR
was over wasn't in her plans. Staying in a hotel for two weeks wasn’t an
expense she could afford. She didn't have the kind of money it would take.

After
a moment, she said, "I'd have to see this trailer first. I need to make
sure there wouldn't be a problem for her. You do realize it will take three
days to get there with rest stops."

"Yes."

"I
can sleep in my truck."

"My
trailer has sleeping quarters," he replied, finishing his own meal and
pushing his plate away. "You have to admit, it would solve both of our
problems."

Can I deal with him in my rig for two
days? Do I have a choice here?
"Where's your
trailer?"

Her
stomach clenched as his lips lifted in a sexy smile and his baby blues sparkled
with undisguised lust.

"There's
an RV park about a mile away. I'm parked there so I could hook up to utilities."

"How
the hell did you get it there if the guy wrecked his rig?"

"The
tow truck."

"Damn."

"Yeah.
It hasn't been a pretty thing. I've been pulling my hair out trying to find a
big rig driver in this little town." He reached across the expanse of the
table to grasp her fingers. "Come on, Jacie. You need me. I need you.
Sounds like the perfect partnership."

Electricity
zinged up her arm from where he held her hand and she wasn't sure she liked it.

Need is an awful strong word.

"We
can take a cab over to where my trailer is so you can see it."

"All
right." She heard herself agreeing as she pulled her hand out of his.

The
waitress returned with their tab and he grabbed it before she could get it to
see how much hers came to.

"I’ve
got lunch."

The
thought of letting him pay for her meal didn't sit well with her. "I'll
pay my own way, Tucker."

"It's
fine. Lunch was my idea anyway, so I'll pay for it. We can get our own meals on
the way to Vegas."

"I
haven't agreed to this…yet."

His
sexy smile returned along with the arch of his eyebrow. She felt like slapping that
tolerating look off his face.
He
obviously is used to getting what he wants when he wants it.

After
a heavy sigh, she slid out of the booth to head for the door with him following
close on her heels. He pulled a cell phone from the front pocket of his jeans
and flipped it open. Sad to say, he seemed to have the cab company on speed
dial, since with one push of a button, she could hear him telling them where to
pick them up.

"A
car should be here in a few minutes," he said, snapping the phone shut.

"Good."
She looked to where her rig sat with its flat tires and rage raced through her
again.

Tucker
must have noticed where her gaze had strayed to. "What happened to your
truck anyway?"

"Our
friend Kyle."

"Excuse
me?"

Dropping
her gaze to the ground, Jacie pried a piece of loose pavement up with the toe
of her boot and kicked it back and forth absently, debating on how much she
wanted to reveal. "Oh, he didn't come right out and say it, but he hinted
around it enough. He slashed my tires. I would assume in retribution for
dismissing him last night and you coming to my rescue when he tried to force
himself on me outside."

"Kyle
cut your tires."

"Yep.
And started to proposition me about getting new ones."

"No
wonder you were hesitant to even talk to me about some kind of a deal."

The
cab pulled up minute later, and Tucker held the door for her until she slid
inside.

Once
they'd settled side by side onto the seat, his warm thigh pressed tight against
hers, heating the skin beneath her jeans to sizzling temperatures. Thoughts of
having him skin to skin, made her shiver until she shook her head to dispel the
arousing images.

Everything
from Garth Brooks to Josh Turner blared from the cab’s radio on the short trip
to where Tucker’s trailer sat. The cab lurched to a stop next to what was
obviously a top of the line livestock trailer at least fifty feet in length.

"Damn,"
she whispered in awe.

"I
told you. My bull rides in style."

"I'd
say so," she said, climbing out of the car. She whistled softly in
appreciation as she stepped to the back end, peering inside.

The
upper-deck slant load trailer had more chrome than anything she'd ever seen.
Each section had custom deluxe stall pads, along with a spray-on floor lining
to prevent slips.

"Let
me show you the inside, but you'll have to excuse the mess. It is a bachelor's
quarters after all," he told her with a grin.

Well, I guess that answers the
question about him being married or attached.
"Wow.
My God, Tucker, this is fabulous." She gasped as she stepped up to two
small stairs and got her first look inside.

A
large half circle leather couch took up the right side and a small dining room
table sat snuggled between another half circle seating area. One wall trimmed
with large windows of the tip-out on the trailer, reflected the sunlight and
brightened the room. The other wall had a fireplace with a huge flat-screen
television over the top. A small kitchen sat to her left with a copper sink,
solid maple on all the cabinets and a plank floor you would expect to see in
someone's home. She could see the presence of a man within the room as she
noticed boots in one corner, one of his shirts lying across the arm of the
couch and cold coffee in the coffee maker over the sink. The urge to pick up
the shirt and bring it to her nose to inhale his musky scent had her fingertips
tingling, but she fought the inclination with everything she had.

"With
the size of the trailer, you can see why I need a big rig to pull it."

"Uh,
yeah. Obviously, not only the bull rides in style."

"Would
you like something to drink? I've got soda and beer in the fridge or I can make
some coffee."

"Soda
is fine. Diet if you have some."

He
grabbed two cans. "Have a seat so we can work out the details."

She
made herself comfortable, popping the top on the can. Taking a sip, she eyed
him over the rim. Long lashes framed his ice-blue eyes. Sculpted cheek bones and
full lips made him about the most gorgeous thing she'd seen in a long time.
True, she'd been with her share of men in her lifetime, but definitely none that
could compare to Tucker. The first thing she'd noticed about him the night
before was his blue eyes. That gaze still held her spellbound whenever he gave
her a look or smile. It didn't take much of anything before she'd be ready to
melt all over his fancy ostrich skin boots.

"So,
how is this going to work?" she asked, dragging her thoughts away from how
hot he made her.

"We’ll
go by Kyle's shop. I'll pay for the tires for your rig. We'll get the animals
loaded and be on our way by tomorrow."

"He
might have to order the tires. It's a good possibility he won't have four of
the size I need, which was probably his plan in the first place. It would keep
me in town until he can order them."

"We
can always try another town," he replied with a shrug, holding her gaze.

"The
next closest truck stop or area big enough to carry truck tires is at least
fifty miles from here. Trust me, I run this route all the time. I can tell you
where every truck stop, roadside diner and hot shower is for a thousand miles."

"Okay,"
he said, leaning against the countertop, crossing his booted ankles. "So
we stay a couple more days. We have time to make it to Vegas."

"Not
by much."

"True,
but we have a little leeway for now."

His
tempting lips sipped from the can and she had to stifle the urge to moan.
 
He had
me hotter than a firecracker last night. Now he's ramping up the heat with just
a look or two.