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TJ was sitting at her desk the next afternoon staring at her laptop. She had so much to do in the next two days before the rodeo. Instead of doing it, she was sitting there like a lost puppy dog.
Whatever had happened last night with Art had put a halt to her evening’s plans, which included showing Hank that she hadn’t even been wearing panties. She shifted in her chair, still consumed with the thought of being with Hank. Of touching him, of kissing him, of licking him.
“TJ? Where the hell are you, girl?”
Her father’s gruff voice slammed her back into reality. She jumped in the chair. Daydreaming about Hank’s body, for God’s sake!
“Sorry, Daddy. Got a lot on my mind.”
Big Tom Maguire towered over her desk. He had the same shock of red hair as TJ, only he had a lot missing on top. His bushy eyebrows were sprinkled with gray, as were his temples. His eyes were as blue as sapphires and just as hard. He was as big and tall as a bear, with a round belly and hairy arms, and a great big booming voice that could be heard for miles.
Big Tom’s wife, Teresa, had left him a year after he started the rodeo. She had also left TJ, who refused to leave her father. Theirs was a physically close but emotionally distant relationship. TJ ran Big Tom’s business and Big Tom let her. If there was work to be done, he was never around. But when the celebrating began, he was sure to be first in line.
“You better have a lot on your mind. We only got two more days! What are you doing in here sitting on your fanny when there’s work to be done?”
TJ glared up at her father. “You have no idea what’s left to be done and don’t pretend you do. What are you really doing here, Daddy?”
Big Tom sat down heavily in the chair in front of her desk. She couldn’t help but have a mental flashback to Hank sitting there, humming and staring at her last week.
“I heard some stuff.”
TJ rolled her eyes. “What stuff and from who?”
“I was talking to Art. He told me some stuff about you and some cowboy. I heard that he was sweet-talkin’ you into lifting a disqualification. Tell me that ain’t true, Tessa Jean.” He leaned forward and tried to look fierce.
“That’s none of your business.”
His eyebrows shot up. “None of my business? This is my business! If you are letting this yahoo lead you around by the nose, and putting aside the rules, that is definitely my business!”
TJ stood and threw down her pen, not that she was using it, and slammed her hands onto the desk.
“I would never compromise the integrity of Bar T Rodeos. And to think that you would even ask that pisses me off more than you can imagine!”
She was furious and, surprisingly, hurt that her father would even ask her that. He stood up and pointed at her.
“Don’t you get high and mighty with me, missy! You can just find yourself another job!”
TJ dropped back down in the chair. Her heart nearly stopped beating at his pronouncement. She had put her entire life, her heart, her soul, into this company and this job. Now, because of a rumor, her father was ready to kick her to the curb.
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“I can’t believe you would be putting your personal life in front of your job.”
That was it. TJ never put herself in front of the job. It was always about Bar T or the current rodeo. Even during the off-season, she worked on ideas and promos constantly. There was no TJ. There was just the manager of Bar T.
“I need to get out of here, Daddy.”
Without another word, she grabbed her keys and her phone and bolted out of the trailer. She decided to go for a ride on her mare, Sandy, a beautiful palomino she had bought five years ago. Escape. That’s what she needed to do.
*
Standing at the corral fence, Hank was taking a moment to catch his breath. He had just finished his practice time with the broncs. And damn, his ass was sore. He had landed wrong on that last run and bruised his tailbone. He unbuckled his chaps and slid them off. He hung them on the fence and leaned forward to stretch his tired muscles.
“Are you the cowboy sniffing around my daughter?”
Hank turned to look at the speaker and realized he was finally looking at Big Tom Maguire. If he hadn’t recognized the hair, he would have recognized the pugnacious jut of his chin. TJ had the same look when she had her feet planted in concrete.
“Pardon?”
Big Tom stepped a few feet closer and crowded Hank a bit. He wasn’t about to let this old cowboy win the pissing contest. Hank stepped closer and pushed his hat back.
“You got something to say?”
“You bet I do. Leave TJ alone. She don’t need a no-account cowboy messing with her head or her heart. She’s a good girl.”
Hank shook his head. “That’s your problem, Maguire. She’s not a girl. She’s a woman. And she can make her own choices.”
Big Tom frowned even harder. “She ain’t your woman. She ain’t gonna lift the disqualification on you. So you just get on your horse and ride outta her life.”
“Can’t do that.”
“You’d better.”
“It’s not your choice. And nobody, not you or any other son of a bitch here, is going to tell me who I can or can’t be with.”
Hank grabbed his chaps and started to walk away. Maguire huffed out a breath.
“You listen to what I told you, boy.”
Hank turned and pointed at the older man. “No, you listen to me. Tessa is a great person. I like her and she likes me. Where it goes from there is our business.”
He slapped the chaps against his leg and stalked off.