“Mom! They’re doing it again!”
Lauren pulled her gaze away from the action in the arena and glanced in the direction her son had pointed, even though she knew what he looked at. A Jumbotron hung in the middle of the coliseum, and Kyle kept hoping they’d put his image up on-screen.
“Which camera is it?” Bren asked, glancing around as he tried to match up the camera angle to the people waving on TV.
“I think that one.” Kyle pointed. Bren leaned in and laughed with Kyle as they tried to get the attention of the cameraman.
He was good with kids. She had to look away because watching him with her son did funny things to her insides. Oh, heck. Just being with him did funny things to her insides.
The crowd erupted. Lauren sat at the edge of her seat as a bull shot out of the gate with its rider clinging to the back of the brindle-colored animal with all his might. Didn’t do him any good. With a snort and a spin, the bull was clearly going to unseat the cowboy. Lauren watched, breathless, as he tried—and failed—to hang on. He looked like a man dumped from a plane, arms akimbo, legs spread, only he didn’t have a parachute. She covered her eyes when he landed.
And this was what her son wanted to do. What he dreamed about doing. What the man next to her would teach him to do.
“It’s okay.”
She felt his warm hand on her jean-clad thigh and her whole body tensed in another way. She didn’t want to open her eyes. She really didn’t, but he lightly squeezed and she felt compelled to meet his gaze.
Dear goodness.
His gold eyes were full of reassuring compassion. “He’s got years before he’ll be riding at this level. Heck. He might never get to this level. He might forget all about bull riding once he discovers girls.”
She gulped and looked down at the fingers on her leg. “Maybe,” she muttered, then clasped her knees together and shifted away.
He withdrew his hand, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“You don’t look convinced.”
She wasn’t. There was just something about the way Kyle talked about growing up to become a cowboy. It wasn’t little-boy fantasies, she didn’t think. His feelings went deeper than that. Something in his eyes. It was there right now as he leaned forward and watched the bull in the arena. A fascination. A curiosity. But most important, a determination and a look of utter confidence. The bulls didn’t scare him.
“I have a feeling he’s in this for the long haul.”
When she glanced up at him, she saw it in his eyes, too. He knew. He wasn’t surprised by her answer. Not at all. He felt the same way.
“The good news is he’s going about things the right way. He’s learning. Not just jumping on any old thing that moves and hoping for the best. He’s working at it.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter how hard he works, does it?” She took a deep breath and said the words she’d been keeping to herself for weeks. “He’s going to get hurt.”
He nodded and she had to look away because just the thought of it scared her to death. That’s when she felt it again. His hand. This time it landed on her own hand, gently clasping it, and she looked into his eyes and it was as if the seats they sat on suddenly shot up to the heavens and it was just the two of them. She watched as his gaze moved to her lips and everything inside her tensed because it was almost as if...
He liked her.
She pulled back again.
He liked her.
As in found her attractive.
“They’re doing it again!”
The words jerked her back to earth. Her son pointed at the Jumbotron and a couple appeared on-screen, but only for a split second because a heart covered the screen, one that opened up to frame the couple’s heads, x’s and o’s dancing around the edges.
“What are they doing that for?”
“It’s the kissing cam,” Bren explained. “They’re supposed to kiss each other.”
“Eeeewwwww,” Kyle said.
The sound almost made her laugh, especially when the couple kissed. There was no mistaking Kyle’s groan of disgust.
“I’m thinking it might be a while before you have to worry about him kissing girls,” Bren said.
She nodded, not wanting to meet his gaze, worried about what she might see in it. “I think you’re right.”
The camera panned to another couple. In the arena someone else climbed aboard a big bull, one with horns the size of handlebars. They’d been chopped off at the ends, from what she could see between the bars of the bucking chute, but were no less intimidating.
“Why do they do that?” Kyle asked when the second couple kissed.
“It’s a game.” Bren leaned forward and smiled at her son. Once again her heart did that odd little flip. There was such kindness in his eyes. “If you don’t do it, you’ll get booed.”
“But what if you don’t want to kiss the girl?”
“Then you’re in trouble,” Bren provided.
The bull rider pulled on his rope, the long end of it held straight up in the air. Lauren tried to focus on the action in the arena, not what sitting next to Bren did to her heart. The crowd cheered and clapped because yet another couple on-screen had given each other pecks, this time on the cheek. Kyle wrinkled his nose, looking as grumpy as a ninety-year-old man.
And then they were on-screen, she and Bren, and at first she couldn’t quite believe her eyes.
“It’s you!” Kyle was once again her little boy, evidently forgetting his disgust with the kissing game, because he bounced up and down in his seat, eyes bright with excitement.
The heart appeared. Lauren looked up at Bren, her eyes clearly telling him, No.
Why he ignored the silent message she had no idea, but she knew he was going to. There was heat in his eyes, and this time when his gaze landed on her lips, her entire body stiffened.
“Don’t you dare,” she warned.
“Oh, I dare,” he answered back.
And then he kissed her. Not harshly or even quickly, but slowly and softly and oh so sweetly that it reminded her of what it was like to be cherished and loved and cared for by a man.
She wanted to cry.
It was the kindest, most gentle of kisses and she could smell him and taste him and she wanted more. Damn it. She wanted more.
Bren increased the pressure and for just a moment she wondered what would happen if she opened her mouth, if she let him kiss her like she wanted to be kissed because, yes, damn it, she liked how he made her feel. Wanted to do something crazy and out of control...with him.
He pulled back. She stared up at him in shock. He had the same stunned expression on his face.
“You kissed my mom.”
Lauren’s gaze shot to Kyle. He stared at them both in horror, but then a funny thing happened to the dismay in his eyes. The horror turned to fascination and then to acceptance and then even to delight.
“You like my mom,” he announced, his frown turning to a smile as he leaned back, crossed his arms behind his head and turned his attention back to bull riding. “Cool.”
* * *
SHE BARELY LOOKED at him the rest of the night.
He shouldn’t have been surprised. He should have been relieved. A momentary lapse of judgment. A toe dipped in a pool. He’d discovered the water was hot.
He wanted to dive in.
The crowd cheered. The cowboy down below in the arena stuck to his bull like a flea on a dog. He watched, barely paying attention as the clock ticked. Two seconds. Three seconds. He shouldn’t have kissed her. Four seconds. But he didn’t regret it. Five seconds. Six seconds. The last thought worried him the most. Eight seconds.
Kyle jumped up.
It was only as he caught a glimpse of the look on Kyle’s face that he realized who it was that rode. Trent.
“He did it!” Kyle cried.
Yes. His friend had done it. And so had he, but he didn’t care. That was the most shocking thing of all. He didn’t care that tongues would wag and people would gawk if he dated someone at least ten years younger than himself. He liked her. And there was something there, something he couldn’t explain and that he wanted to explore. If the people of Via Del Caballo were that small-minded, maybe it was time he moved on.
“Can we go down and see him?”
He glanced at Lauren, but she still wouldn’t look at him. He would have to do something about that. She’d been working so hard lately. He doubted she’d had a break. He’d like to remind her that there was more to life than getting good grades and working your fingers to the bone.
“Sure, why not.” Kyle fist-pumped the air.
They had to wait for one more competitor, but it was a short ride. Trent was the only one to cover his bull, and Bren couldn’t help but beam with pride. There’d been a time when they weren’t even sure Trent would ride again. If it hadn’t been for Saedra, a barrel-racing friend from his rodeo days, forcing him into therapy, who knew what might have happened. That’s where he’d met Alana, his wife. And now look. Two kids and winning again.
“Ready?” He stood. So did everyone else around them, Kyle rushing into the aisle.
“Kyle!”
The kid paused, shoulder slumping. Lauren got bumped by someone in the crowd and, automatically, his hands landed on her waist to steady her. He felt her tense, but he didn’t let her go. She was warm to the touch and he caught a whiff of her—orange blossoms—and it was all he could do not to pull her up against him because she smelled so damn good.
“Come on. Come on.” Kyle did a little jig. “We’re going to miss seeing him.”
“No, we won’t.” He watched as Lauren rushed forward to catch Kyle’s hands. Clearly didn’t want to be near him. Just as clearly, he knew she felt the same connection he did. She just didn’t want to admit it.
They made it to the main foyer, Kyle sticking close to his mom as they retraced their steps. Their passes would get them to the arena floor and Kyle could barely contain his excitement when he realized he’d get to stand on the edge of the winner’s circle and watch Trent get his prize check. It was all Lauren could do to keep him from bolting through the security checkpoint. Somehow he managed to wedge his way through the crowd, dragging his mom along, until he stood at the perimeter, halting only when he was right in front.
“Well, looks who’s here.”
He almost didn’t recognize the voice, nor the dark-haired woman who stared up at him. The blue eyes, though, he recognized those. Alana Anderson. Trent’s wife. He hadn’t seen her since the birth of her first child, but she hadn’t changed at all in the years he’d known her.
“Alana.” He pulled her to him and hugged her, drawing back with a smile. “I was wondering where you’ve been hiding.”
Her grin was so big it rivaled the one on her husband’s face. “And I was wondering where you ran off to. Trent said he saw you earlier.”
“He did. I had to introduce him to a friend.”
Her gaze ducked past him, searching for that guest, no doubt. Her smile widened when she spotted Lauren. “Is that her? Is that your girlfriend?”
Bren drew back. So did Lauren, who was quick to shout over the din of the crowd, “I’m not his girlfriend.”
“She’s just a friend,” he quickly said to assuage her embarrassment. “And this is her son.” He motioned Kyle forward. “The future bull rider.”
Alana bent down so she could shake Kyle’s hand. “Nice to meet you, young man. Trent tells me you’re riding steers right now.”
“I am.” Kyle glanced up at her proudly. “I’m too young to ride bulls.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed.” She laughed a little, meeting Lauren’s gaze. “I’m sure you’ll be riding bulls soon enough.”
The two women exchanged glances and it wasn’t hard to understand what they said to each other so silently. Alana had just had her and Trent’s second child. A boy they’d named Justin after a mutual friend who’d died in the accident that had injured Trent. In this day and age of father-son rodeo performers, there was a good chance Justin would ride some day, and so she had to be feeling some of the same concerns that Lauren did. Bren could see it in her eyes.
“I have a competition next weekend.” Kyle’s eyes were as bright as the light above the arena. “You should come watch.”
“Kyle,” Lauren laughed, pulling her son up against the front of her legs. “I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have better things to do than drive two hours to Norco.”
“Actually, we were spending some time touring Southern California.” She smiled at him again, her dark hair coiling over one shoulder. “It’s so rare that we get away from the kids these days, we thought we’d spend a few days at the coast before Trent’s next performance in Las Vegas.”
“Does that mean you’ll come?”
Kyle looked like he’d died and gone to heaven. It made Bren’s heart swell with something—what, he couldn’t quite say. The kids was so obviously a fan of Trent’s, and a fan of the sport, it filled him with as much pride as if he were his own kid.
“We might. Let’s ask Trent.”
They all glanced in the man’s direction. He was just wrapping up his interview, one of those huge checks in front of him, and Bren whistled when he glimpsed the amount. Good payday. His friend’s eyes caught on his wife and he smiled and motioned her forward. They hugged and exchanged a big kiss while cameras flashed and in their eyes Bren saw something so precious and rare that it made him doubt his long-held belief that love was just for fairy tales. It was why he’d been single for so long. Why he planned to stay single. Not everyone could have what Trent had.
“Kyle, come on over,” Trent called.
Kyle’s fantasy day reached a whole new level. With Lauren watching, her son took picture after picture in the winner’s circle. Bren vowed to do something special for his friends because he honestly didn’t think they could be more kind to the little boy.
“Mom!” Kyle ran over to them once the crowd started breaking up. “Trent said he’d come to my rodeo next week. He said after the rodeo we can all drive to Bren’s place afterward and do dinner.”
“Dinner? Afterward?” Clearly Lauren didn’t know what to say. Just as clearly she didn’t want to disappoint her son. “I mean...that’s a lot of driving.”
“Actually, we’ll be in that area anyway. And we were planning on heading back to Bren’s place. It’s been a long time since we’ve spent some time with him,” Alana said.
“Yeah, but I’m sure you’re busy,” Lauren said.
Trent came up to them. “Never too busy to see a friend. And it’s been forever since I’ve watched a junior bull riding.” He glanced at Bren. “Why not make a whole weekend out of it?”
“Steer riding,” Lauren quickly corrected.
“For now,” Trent said with a smile.
Bren watched as Lauren looked down at her son. He wanted to go to her then for some reason. To reassure her. Instead he said, “It’ll be fun.”
She pulled herself together quickly. “Well, I—”
“So it’s a plan,” Alana said. “Rodeo and then dinner afterward.”
She wanted to wiggle out of it, but it hit him then that he didn’t want her to. That he wanted to spend more time with her and maybe see if that kiss they’d shared was just a fluke.
“I’ll text you directions to the rodeo grounds.” Bren took the decision out of her hands.
“Cool!” Kyle cried.