A Cowboy's Claim

Vic didn’t care to talk about family—he hadn’t had a good experience with his. “I thought Slingshot might come through for you this afternoon. That horse can run.”

“I’m not crazy for thinking Slingshot has it in him to win, right?”

“Maybe after a year of competition he’ll get his legs under him.”

“I wish I had that long,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

Tanya nodded to the waitress heading their way with the food. After they were left alone, she said, “If I don’t win in New Mexico, my stepfather’s pulling his support. But I’m not ready to give up on Slingshot yet.”

“Then keep competing.” He bit into his burger, taking a small bite so his chewing wouldn’t distort his face, not that Tanya ever stared at his scar—it was as if she couldn’t see the puckered flesh dissecting his cheek.

“Easy for you to say when you place in the money at every event.” She waved a hand before her face. “I’m not throwing in the towel yet. I have enough in savings to last through the end of the month if we don’t win next time.”

“What did you do between your divorce and returning to the circuit?”

“I train Mason’s Appaloosas.” She snuck one of his fries and dipped it into the circle of ketchup he’d poured on his plate. “I consider myself a good trainer, but every technique I’ve tried with Slingshot has backfired.” She swallowed another bite, then said, “I worry that it’s me. That Slingshot doesn’t want me riding him.”

“Why do you think that?”

“He’s the first horse I’ve competed on that someone else worked with first.” A tiny wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. “Maybe he’s still attached to his previous trainer.”

Vic checked his cell phone. He still had plenty of time to get to the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo. “Where in New Mexico are you and Slingshot headed?”

“Moriarty for the WPRA barrel-racing event. What’s next after Vernal for you?”

“Steamboat Springs, Colorado, tomorrow afternoon, then Laramie, Wyoming, that night.”

“July’s a busy rodeo month, but what do you normally do between competitions the rest of the year?”

“Rest.” Vic used to spend time with Riley and Maria Fitzgerald at the Juan Alvarez Ranch for Boys in New Mexico, but when they hired Cruz as a wrangler after he got out of prison, Vic hadn’t had the guts to visit. Instead he hid out in cheap motel rooms and surfed the web or read the stash of books he carried on the road with him.

The bar was filling up. If he left now, he could catch a catnap in his truck before his next ride.

“Vic?”

He swung his gaze to Tanya.

“Ask me.” She tilted her head toward the dance floor.

He shouldn’t.

She smiled. “It’s just a dance.”

What could it hurt? One dance and then he’d leave. He stood and held out his hand. Her fingers slid across his palm and he fought the urge to hold her prisoner and never let her go. He found an open spot on the floor and Tanya snuggled close as if they were regular dance partners—make that lovers.

He placed his hand against her lower back and she pressed her palm to his chest. The floor was too crowded to move more than a few inches in any direction, so they stood in place, their hips swaying...bumping and oh man. Tanya’s warm body and soft curves put his willpower to the test. If he closed his eyes he could imagine they were alone in a dark room instead of standing in a crowd of sweaty bodies.

“It’s been forever since I’ve danced.” Tanya’s confession ignited a slow burn inside him. He tightened his arms around her. She felt small and vulnerable, which made it all the more impressive that she could handle a horse like Slingshot.

“Have you ever been married, Vic?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Never came close?”

“Nope.”

Her fingertip touched his cheek and he jumped inside. “Is it because of the scar?” She leaned back and looked him in the eye.

He admired Tanya for asking such a direct question. “I’ve never given much thought to the future.” Marriage had never been on his radar. Since he’d been nineteen he’d had one goal—winning a national title. He couldn’t move forward with his life until he put the past behind him.

“Mind if I cut in?” a feminine voice interrupted them.

Tanya stiffened in Vic’s arms a second before she smashed her breasts against his chest. The feel of her sent a rush of blood straight to his crotch. Then she bumped her pelvis—intentionally—against his erection before acknowledging the interruption.

“I’m Darcy.” The buxom blonde batted her butterfly lashes.

Vic opened his mouth to decline Darcy’s offer, but Tanya beat him to it. “No can do, Darcy.” Tanya’s fingers bit into his arm. “We were just leaving.” She stared at him. “Right, Vic?”

Tanya’s eyes flashed—from anger or desire, it didn’t matter. He was leaving the bar with her. “We’re out of here.”

Tanya stepped forward, but Darcy blocked her path. “Where are you leaving to...if I may ask?”

Tanya slid her arm through Vic’s. “Somewhere more private.”

Darcy’s eyes widened. “You two are sleeping together?”

Vic waited for Tanya to set Darcy straight, but instead of denying the accusation, she dragged him through the crowd and straight out the door.

After they got into the pickup, she spoke. “Vic?”

He stared out the windshield afraid to look at her. Afraid to see in her eyes the same yearning he was positive showed in his. “What?” He forced the word past his lips.

“I know you have another ride tonight, but I’m going to ask anyway.”

He stopped breathing.

“Do you want to get a motel room with me?”

Chapter Three (#ulink_056baece-022b-5617-a79d-641b4637185d)

There were a thousand reasons why he and Tanya shouldn’t get a motel room—the most important being that he had another go-round waiting for him in Vernal. But when he stared into her blue eyes, he couldn’t remember why that ride was important. He started the engine and drove three miles to an out-of-the way motel no other cowboys would stay at for the night.

When he pulled up in front of the office of the Sweet Dreams Inn, there was only one other customer—a red Mustang parked outside room 7. He’d ask Tanya one more time, hoping mostly for his sake that she’d change her mind. But before he voiced the question, she’d opened her door and with one boot on the pavement she said, “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

Nothing short of a bullet through the heart would stop him now. “You want to wait here while I register for a room?” Tanya wasn’t like other women he’d shared a motel bed with. She might care if someone recognized her. Thanks to her ex-husband’s wild ways, she’d already been the victim of gossip, and he didn’t want people talking bad about her because of him.