Chapter Two
Priscilla nodded, liking that he was a man of manners, and followed him to the steps leading to the door. Of course, once there, she proceeded to trip on the bottom step. The heat poured into her cheeks when he turned to stop her from falling.
“Are you all right?” he asked her with honest concern.
“Yes, I’m a little bit of a klutz,” she said shoving her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she followed him up the steps to the back door. Her eyes couldn’t stay off his ass and she couldn’t ignore the way his jeans stretched tight over it.
He stopped at the door, shifted her bags in his hands, and opened it before motioning for her to enter. She stepped past him and walked into a beautiful kitchen. Stainless steel appliances sat nestled between gray marble countertops. The floor and cabinets were wide dark oak planks. A matching table sat centered in the room. She spun around to look at him.
“This is gorgeous.”
“Thanks. Follow me.” Without hesitation, he left the kitchen making her practically jog to keep up with him. They entered a large, open great room with high ceilings and the largest stone fireplace she’d ever seen. The entire front of the room was windows, from floor to ceiling.
“This way,” Roark said from behind her. She turned to follow him down a hallway where he opened a door on the left. “You can stay in here. This room has its own bathroom. My room is down the hall, last door on the right. Just in case, you want to use the hot tub. It sits on the porch outside my room.”
She looked up at him. “I might take you up on that, if you’re serious.”
His eyebrows rose. “Of course. That hot water does wonders for muscle aches and trust me, darlin’, you’re going to be aching if you try to keep up with me for your story.”
“Is that a challenge?”
One side of his sexy mouth rose in a smirk. “You can bet on it.” He set her suitcases inside the door. “I’m going to hit the hot tub now and then take a nap. I’m damn tired. It’s possible I’ll be out all night. If so, I’ll see you in the morning. Make yourself at home.”
“Do you mind if I look around outside and take some photos?”
Roark shrugged. “Do whatever you want.” He strode down the hall and entered his bedroom and the door closed behind him.
So much for joining him in the hot tub. Her muscles hurt too. Sighing, Priscilla entered her room and closed the door. She pulled out her cell phone, called the office, and asked to speak to Earl.
“Well, did you get in touch with Callahan,” he asked in way of answering.
“Yes. I’m at his ranch––”
“What the hell are you doing at his ranch? You’re supposed to be following him around the circuit.”
“He’s been eliminated.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Outlaw Callahan? Eliminated?”
“Yes—”
“Holy shit. He’s the best. What happened?”
“I don’t know. Some other guy won…whatever it is they win. ”
“Christ, tell me it wasn’t Burke.”
“Yes, that was his name.”
“Shit, I bet Callahan is more than pissed about that.”
Priscilla pinched the bridge of her nose and blew out a breath. Earl Sanders rarely said a sentence without a swear word in it. She was no prude but he could at least try to have the decency to dial it back around her, especially on the phone.
“I think he’s more disappointed than anything.”
“So, why are you at his ranch? I wanted the circuit story. Since he didn’t move on, I could have had you follow Burke around—”
“No! That man is an ass. I convinced Mister Callahan to let me observe him on his ranch. You know…let the readers know what a bull rider does when he’s not following the circuit.” Her pitch was met with a few seconds of silence.
“That could work. All right. Same amount of time then.”
“Wait. You expect me to stay here for three weeks?”
“Hey, it was your idea. That’s how long you would have followed him around the circuit. The belt may have been won today, but there were still other venues to go to. Roark would have participated in others just for the hell of it. I suppose, since he lost the buckle, he didn’t feel like doing any of the others. Do it this way or find another job.”
She really hated him at times. She took a deep breath and blew it out.
“All right. I’ll send updates through email. Goodbye.” She hung up and tossed the phone onto the bed. Earl didn’t like her working there but a few days after she mentioned to her mother that she’d love to work at the magazine, Earl had called her and offered her a job. At first, he gave her the worst jobs he could, possibly hoping she’d quit, but she hung in there. She wasn’t sure what kind of hold her mother had over Earl, but it was because of Jackie Butler that Priscilla worked there at all.
After changing into her sneakers, Priscilla took her glasses off and placed them on the bedside table. After picking up her camera, she left her room, walked to the kitchen and then out the back door. The heat hit her hard even before she stepped off the porch. It was incredible that it was late May and the heat was already staggering.
Skipping down the steps, she headed toward the barn. She shaded her eyes and glanced around. Horses stood in pastures, along with cows, munching on grass. Their tails swishing to chase away flies. The area between the house and barn was dirt with no grass growing and her footsteps stirred up little puffs of dust.
Priscilla smiled as she entered the barn. A blended aroma of horses, hay, leather, and manure assaulted her nostrils. She stopped to let her eyes adjust to the dimness of the barn, and then walked down the center aisle. However, the inside of the barn wasn’t much cooler than outside. She lifted her hair off her neck and fanned it with her hand. An older man came striding toward her.
“Can I help you?” he asked stopping a few feet from her.
“I’m just looking around.” She smiled at him.
“Why? For what?” he asked with a frown.
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you looking around? Does Roark know you’re here? Who are you?”
“Okay, first, I’m just looking at the horses. Second…yes, he knows I’m here. Third, my name is Priscilla Butler. I’m a writer with Western Cowboy magazine.”
His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. “Magazine? Are you sure Roark knows you’re here?”
“Of course I’m sure. He brought me here.”
“Ah, I see.” The man folded his arms across his chest and nodded in a far too condescending way.
“I don’t think you do. I’m not a… buckle bunny. Lord, who thought of that name anyway?” she muttered.
The man laughed. “Just another term for groupie. Those women follow the circuit hoping to land a night with a cowboy. Their kind of rock star.”
Priscilla smiled. “Well, I’m not one of them. Cowboys don’t interest me.” At least they hadn’t…until she’d seen Roark Callahan.
“You’re here to interview Roark then?”
“I was going to follow him around the circuit…you know, get his story but he was eliminated today.”
“Yeah, I saw it. That damn Burke won. I’m sure Roark is finding that hard to swallow. They hate each other.”
“I don’t think Burke would be loved by many.”
“You got that right.” With a chuckle, he stuck his hand out. “I’m Roy Jefferies. I’m the ranch manager.”
She put her hand in his. “Nice to meet you, Mister Jefferies.”
“Call me Roy. We’re not formal around here. Where’s Roark?”
“He said he was going to soak in the hot tub and then get some sleep.”
Roy nodded. “I’ll get with him tomorrow then. You have a nice day, Priscilla. Be careful walking around. Snakes are looking for shade and if you see one, whatever you do, don’t antagonize it. They’ll strike.” He tipped his hat and walked off.
Snakes? Antagonize it? There was no way she’d ever provoke a snake—not on purpose, anyway. Priscilla glanced around the floor. Bits of straw lay scattered around. Hay was stacked against one wall and the opposite one had a row of stalls. She wasn’t going to either side. Staying in the center seemed like the safer thing to do. She knew she would seriously freak if she saw a snake. She trembled as if chilled. God! She hated snakes.
****
Roark sat in the hot tub with his head resting against the side. The water felt fantastic. The jets were doing their job of soothing his tired muscles. Damn Justin Burke! There was no other cowboy on the circuit he hated more. Hate was such a strong word, he supposed. Disliked immensely? Oh, yeah. He certainly disliked him immensely. Shit, who was he trying to kid? He fucking hated the man.
Shutting the jets off, he reached for the towel hanging next to the tub and stood. After stepping out, he dried off and entered his bedroom. He dropped the towel onto the floor and crawled between the sheets. He’d just closed his eyes when a distinctly feminine blood-curdling scream ripped through the air.
Damn! He sprang from the bed and quickly pulled his jeans on and ran from his room, down the hall, tugging up the zipper as he did, hoping he didn’t catch something between the teeth. He ran through the kitchen, out the door, jumped down over the porch steps, and rushed toward the barn. He saw Roy come running out of it with the same urgency.
“What the hell was that?” Roark yelled.
“I think it was your guest,” Roy yelled back then skidded to a stop to look around. “There she is.” He pointed toward one of the corrals so both men ran that way.
“Priscilla, do not move,” Roark called out to her as he came to a stop when he saw a rattlesnake very close to her feet.
“I’m too scared to move.” Her voice shook when she spoke in not much more than a whisper. He knew she had to be terrified.
“Good. Stay still. Roy, get me the rifle.” Roark walked to the corral and climbed the rails, then jumped down and slowly walked to within a few of feet of her.
“You’re not going to kill it, are you?”
Roark stopped and stared at her with disbelief. “What do you want me to do with it? Take it inside for a pet?”
“No, but I hate to see anything killed. It’s not his fault I’m terrified of him.”
“Son of a bitch,” Roark muttered. Damn, he knew she was going to be trouble. “Get the rake, Roy.”
“Boss—”
“Just get me the rake. Please.” Roark hung his head and saw he was barefoot. Hell, he didn’t even have a shirt on. She was damn lucky that he’d taken the time to pull his jeans on. He raised his head when Roy tossed him the rake from over the rails. Roark narrowed his eyes at his manager. “ Pussy.”
Roy grinned. “I hate snakes and you damn well know it. It’s all yours, boss.”
“I could make you do it.” Roark picked up the rake and walked to where the snake had slithered to the shade beside the barn. He glanced at Priscilla. “Are you all right? He didn’t strike, did he?”
“No. I think I scared him as much as he scared me. Please get him away or I’m going to pee my pants.”
Roark chuckled. “Can’t have that.”
He stepped around her, scooped the snake up onto the rake, and then tossed him over the fence. He heard Priscilla let a breath out and he turned in time to see her knees buckling. He caught her just before she fell to the dirt.
“She didn’t get bit, did she?” Roy asked in a concerned voice.
“She said she didn’t. Could you open the gate, please?” Roark carried Priscilla to the gate and waited while Roy opened it for him. “Too much excitement, I suppose.”
“City slicker,” Roy mumbled.
Roark chuckled. “This coming from the man who screams like a banshee when he sees a snake.”
“I’ll be in the barn,” Roy grumbled as he walked away.
“That’s what I thought.” Roark carried Priscilla across the yard and up the steps into the house. She began to stir as he carried her to the living room where he laid her on the sofa then stood back.
****
Priscilla stared up at Roark and her mouth went suddenly dry. He stood there looking down at her with nothing on but low-slung faded jeans. His chest was magnificent. Hard pecs and a six-pack stomach that she wanted to run her tongue down. A thin line of dark hair ran down from his belly button only to disappear into his jeans that were zipped, but not snapped. Her eyes followed the line down and lingered on his crotch. Well, she most certainly had the answer to her question. The chaps hadn’t been what had emphasized his sex. It was all him. Dayum! The man had one hell of a body. Down his legs, her eyes continued their perusal until she came upon his bare feet and then traveled back up only to linger on his fly again.
Oh, man! He had that sexy V too…that delicious V that pointed to the prize between the thighs.
She snorted then slowly tore her gaze from there to look up to where she met his eyes. When she saw him raise an eyebrow, she cursed her fair skin because she was positive he saw the blush staining her cheeks. She cleared her throat.
“Did I faint?”
“Yep.”
“I’ve never fainted in my life,” she murmured.
“First time for everything. Do you feel all right?”
She pushed herself up and leaned back against the sofa. “Yes. Thank you for carrying me inside.”
“No problem. Do you want something to eat? Water?”
“No, thanks. I just need to relax. I think the traveling has caught up with me.” She stood and bumped into him. “Sorry.”
“Did you have your glasses on? I didn’t think to look for them.”
“No. I don’t wear them all the time. Just when I want to see.” She smiled .
Roark stepped back and grinned. “Okay. I think I’ll go take that nap now. I’ll probably see you later. I can put some steaks out for dinner, if you’d like, or don’t you eat beef?”
“Why wouldn’t I eat beef?”
“I just figured anyone who hates to see anything killed would be a vegetarian.”
Priscilla laughed. “It would make sense, wouldn’t it? It just so happens, I love beef.”
Roark frowned at her. “I will never, for the life of me, figure out women.”
Shaking his head, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the kitchen. He returned and after giving her a nod, walked down the hallway. She heard his bedroom door close. Priscilla grinned and then headed to her room to relax in the tub and then maybe, just maybe, she’d take a nap too.
Over an hour later, she was still trying to fall asleep. The day had worn her down but she couldn’t wind down enough to nap. She wondered if Roark was asleep. Tossing the covers aside, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, reached for her glasses then stood. What to do now? She sighed as she put her glasses on, walked to the window, and looked out. It was still early enough to see the yard in front of the house. It really was a beautiful place. The yard was green and lush with no trees shading the front.
She walked out of her bedroom to the living room. The front door was solid mahogany and heavy when she pulled it open, to then step onto the front porch. A rocking chair beckoned to her. She took a seat and watched as the sunset turned the sky from bright blue to shades of darker blue, pink, and yellow. The air was still hot but she wanted to enjoy this. She rarely sat and watched the sun going down.
As it slowly sunk below the Glacier Mountains, she took a deep breath. The air was so clean here—nothing like the air in California. Even living in San Jose didn’t allow her to breathe fresh air like what they had in Montana. This was just… nice. It was real nice to be able to take a deep cleansing breath, and not cough. She loved California but at times, the air would get so heavy she hated to step outside.
She smiled as she stared at those beautiful mountains and wondered how they would look in the winter capped with snow. Hearing a sudden noise beside her, she glanced over to see Roark standing in the doorway. Her breath caught in her chest.
“Did you have a nice nap?”
He nodded. “Except it was too short,” Roark said, as he took a seat in another rocking chair.
“Sorry. By the way, how do you know Earl?” She removed her glasses and swung them from her fingers.
“He’s a friend of my dad’s—actually, my uncles’ too.”
“Hmm…he doesn’t seem like the type to have friends,” she muttered.
Roark chuckled. “He can be a bit gruff at times but then so can my dad and uncles.”
“How did he talk you into this anyway?” She looked at the sun setting because it was safer than looking at him. Dimples peeked out from his cheeks and his teeth were straight, white, and perfect. Was there anything wrong with the man?
“He was visiting my dad and I just happened to be there. He asked about his magazine doing a piece on me.” Roark shrugged. “I didn’t think anything of it and said sure, why not. Hell, who knew he was serious?”
“I’ve never known him to not be serious.” Priscilla glanced at him then looked back to the setting sun.
“So, how did you get this job of following me around to document what a cowboy does on the circuit? Earl had mentioned a man.”
“Oh… well, Andrew Abbott was supposed to do it but he broke his leg. I begged Earl to let me do it instead. He finally gave in but told me if I screwed up this time, I’d be out of a job.”
“Nice guy.”
“This article means a lot to the magazine. I’ll try not to screw it up.”
“You said you’ve screwed up too many times before. How many and what happened?”
Priscilla groaned. “Twice actually. Once was when I was writing an article on a western style wedding. I had written an article that no one was supposed to see. It was just me ranting. The bride had been a total bitch and I wrote some nasty things. I sent the wrong copy to Earl. He chewed me a new one. The other time was at a dude ranch. Bees stung me several times and I had an allergic reaction. I had to cut the trip short and Earl was not at all happy when he had to send out a replacement two days before the article was due. I’d been there a week and hadn’t written a thing. I was having too much fun.”
Roark chuckled. “I guess I’d better not take you to my cousins’ place then. They own a guest ranch here in Spring City. ”
“You said uncles earlier. As in plural?” He nodded in response, but her curiosity got the better of her. “How many?”
“Four…three are married with sons. I’m real close to my cousins. Two of us, Reid and I, are the same age. Devin and Jackson are thirty-one.
“Four of you? Oh, wow. I bet you were a bunch of hellions.” She laughed.
“Oh, darlin’, you have no idea.” Roark chuckled.
“Do you all compete in the rodeo?” The thought of the possibility of three more like Roark made her heart speed up and other parts of her sit up and take notice. No way they could all be as hot as Roark—no way.
“Not anymore. Dev and Jax are both retired from bull riding now. Reid retired from bull riding about two years ago. He’s getting married this summer to Lucy Albright.”
Priscilla smiled because of the way Roark’s face lit up when he talked about his family. She was just about to comment when she noticed a vehicle coming up the road. Dust flew behind it, as it got closer to the house. When she glanced at Roark, she smiled seeing the big grin on his face.
“Speak of the devil. It’s Reid.”
She watched as Roark stood and walked down the steps. The truck came to a stop and dust swirled around it as the door opened and a tall man with a cowboy hat on stepped out. Wow. Were all the Callahan’s hot? She watched him grin at Roark and then they hugged. He glanced up and his brow furrowed when he saw her.
“Who’s this? You bringing ’em home now?”
Priscilla gasped and stood up quickly. “I am not a buckle bunny! ”
Roark laughed. “Reid, this is Priscilla Butler. She’s a writer for Western Cowboy magazine. She was to follow me around the circuit and write an article on my activities but you know how that went. Priscilla, this is my cousin, Reid Callahan.”
Reid stepped forward and removed his hat. “I apologize, ma’am. I was just teasing Roark. It’s nice to meet you.” He put his hand out to her.
“That’s all right. It’s nice to meet you too, Reid. I hear you’re getting married.”
A big grin split his handsome face. “Yes, ma’am. Next month. I can’t wait.” He turned to Roark. “Since you’re done on the circuit, you can be in the wedding. You said you would be, if you were eliminated.”
“Shit. I did, didn’t I? All right. I’ll do it.”
“Great. You’ll need to be fitted for your tux. Go into Paxton’s as soon as you can.” Reid winked at Priscilla.
She couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Roark’s face. He looked like he’d just tasted something bad and had nowhere to spit.
“I’ll go inside so you two can talk.” She entered the house and closed the door.
****
Roark knew he was in for it when Reid turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow.
“If she’s supposed to follow you around the circuit and you aren’t on the circuit, why is she here?”
Roark groaned. “She begged me to let her follow me around here…you know, to show what a bull rider does when he’s not on the circuit.”
“And you agreed?” Reid burst out laughing.
“Piss off, Reid. What was I supposed to do? Earl told her he’d fire her if she screwed this up.”
“Sanders? Ah, hell. Okay, I get it now. Good luck. Get to town as soon as you can though. The wedding isn’t far off.”
“I will. Hey, you know I’m really happy about you and Lucy. I know Zeke would be happy too.”
Reid grinned. “He is.”
“I didn’t mean little Zeke.” Roark stared at his cousin not wanting to bring up an old hurt.
Reid slapped him on the shoulder, and then walked to his truck before turning to look at him. “Yeah, I knew who you meant. Later, cuz.”
Roark frowned at the sudden sadness reflected in his cousin’s eyes then watched Reid climb into his truck and drive off. He shook his head as he walked up the steps and entered the house. He knew his cousin’s heart still ached over the loss of his best friend.