BOYD
Igave Russell a look that threatened don’t hurt my woman.
He saw it, clenched his jaw and nodded. The bull started up, so slow that it was like Audrey was on the kiddie horse that cost a penny to ride at the grocery store.
When someone to my left shouted to speed it up, I whipped my head his way and glared, throwing off all the wolf energy I had, even though he was human.
The guy turned and walked away from the rail. The fucker.
The bar was packed. People walked by and slapped me on the shoulder in greeting. I paid them no attention. I could only see Audrey. Hell, if a fight broke out behind me, I doubt I’d know. I certainly wouldn’t care.
Audrey’s bare knees tightened on the bull’s sides, and her knuckles went white around the handhold. The bull’s pace increased, but it was a slow adjustment, and she seemed to be doing okay. When it moved a little faster, her motions became awkward.
“Go with it. Relax. Lift your free arm up in the air to counteract the motion,” I instructed, and she did as I said, her movement improving.
Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty. She wasn’t going to stay on going much faster though.
I could see it in every line of her body—and I was watching every single curvy line—and the way she was tiring.
It didn’t look like strenuous work hanging on for only eight seconds, but Audrey had been on for much longer, and the mechanical bull’s faux leather was pretty fucking slippery. I doubted I’d be able to stay on if I had to wear a dang skirt and ride the thing.
I sliced my hand back and forth across my throat, indicating to Russell to shut ‘er down. The bull immediately slowed, then came to a stop. I didn’t hop the rail like I wanted but let her carefully kick a leg over then slide down and off on her own.
She stumbled when the soft mat gave beneath her feet and put a hand on the side of the bull to steady herself.
When she came over to the rail, I flipped opened the sides of her glasses and carefully set them over her ears. “You did it, darlin’. In a skirt, no less.”
Relief must’ve made her a little punch drunk because she let out a breathy laugh. “I did, didn’t I? Not quite as good as—”
“Better,” I interrupted. I knew she was comparing herself with Karen, the show-off who went before her, but the truth was, there was no comparing.
Karen was a backwoods shifter from one of the families living up in the mountains.
She’d moved to town when she was eighteen, probably in hopes of snagging one of the Wolf brothers as a mate, but obviously that never took.
Rob wasn’t interested in any woman. He wasn’t gay, but he hadn’t met his mate yet.
He’d have to soon. I was starting to feel the itch of moon madness, and I was the youngest of the three of us.
I’d think he was slowly losing his shit right about now.
Not that he’d let on. As for Colton, he was in the military out in North Carolina.
I hadn’t seen him in years although not because I avoided him.
His leave and my breaks from the rodeo rarely coincided.
Karen wasn’t going to ever have luck with him unless she hopped a plane east.
As for me? Not happening. Never had, never would. I knew who I wanted. Who my wolf wanted, and she was standing right in front of me.
I needed to show Audrey exactly how superior she was to every female here. I also needed to somehow prove to her she wasn’t another notch on my bedpost as she thought. She definitely had me filed in the player category.
The trouble was, there wasn’t much evidence against that theory at this point.
When she’d walked in, I’d been flanked by four women, all eager to get in my pants.
A previous night, I’d have taken any one of them up on her offer.
If she asked around, everyone in town who knew me would attest that I was a one-and-done kind of guy.
Dammit. It wasn’t because I wasn’t into the long haul with one woman, I just had never come across her before. I was no monk, so the women I’d slept with in the past had been fun. And that was it.
But now… fuck. I’d screwed up. Big time. I needed to get off the distract-her-with-sex train and get to know her. All of her, not just that beautiful, curvy body. To be her best friend. Not because Rob ordered me to but because that’s what mates were. Everything to each other.
Why did that suddenly make me feel like she was out of my league?
Because she was smart—a doctor—and here I hadn’t even been to college.
I practically burned rubber getting off the ranch at eighteen to join the rodeo circuit, and I never looked back.
Up until now, I’d relied heavily on my physical prowess and my ability to charm the panties off every female in a three-mile radius.
I’d had no skin in the game in the past. I’d been having fun, spreading orgasms across the country.
I hadn’t been trying to make anyone fall in love with me. I hadn’t found my mate.
Now I was face-to-beautiful-face with her.
“Are you going to ride it?” she asked, her eyes glassy as she stared up at me through her sexy-as-fuck glasses. She was slightly tipsy, which I loved, but it made my job of proving I was into more than just pounding between those sweet thighs of hers even harder.
“Me? No.” I grinned.
“Oh, right. Of course not. You’re still hurt, right?
” Her palm brushed over my side, like she was seeking the wound, so I flinched away.
I couldn’t have her discovering there was no injury.
In fact, I should probably put a bandage on the area next time I was with her.
Especially since I was hoping we’d be naked and horizontal for that reunion.
“You want another drink?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. I’m driving. Have to sober up.”
“I’ll get you a bottle of water, then. Stay here.” I started to leave her, then turned back. “On second thought, I don’t trust Markle not to bother you.” I took her hand. “Come with me, darlin’.”
Her laugh was low and throaty. A normal human probably wouldn’t have been able to hear it over the music, but I did. It sounded like warm summer rain. A full moon run. Sunset on the back of a horse.
I elbowed my way in at the bar and charmed a female out of her stool before she realized it was for another woman. Then I picked my sweet doctor up by the waist, lifted her, and plopped her down on the stool. I shifted slightly so my thigh was between her knees.
Yeah, I might’ve been showing off my strength more than I should. But she was tipsy from the one shot of tequila, and I guessed not tremendously experienced with men. I didn’t think she’d notice or remember how easily I could manage her weight.
I ordered two bottles of water and slid my body closer to hers, the heat from her inner thighs on mine, my hand at her lower back. “How’d you end up in Cooper Valley, Doc?”
The bartender returned with the drinks, and I cracked open a lid on one and handed it to her. She drank a few sips, then rubbed her full lips together. “I always wanted to live somewhere this beautiful. I love the mountains. And the sky. It’s so big here in Montana.”
I smiled. Big Sky Country was certainly Montana’s motto, but she’d said it with reverence that I suddenly saw the area through her eyes.
It was true, the expanse of open blue sky against the rugged mountains made this a magnificent place to live.
Sometimes I forgot how lucky I had it having a place, a home… a fucking pack, to return to.
“Where are you from?”
“I grew up in Columbus, Ohio. But I moved from Chicago, where I did my residency.”
“What’s your area of expertise?”
“I’m an ObGyn.”
Oh yes. I should have remembered that from a comment she made when we met. “You deliver babies?”
“Among other responsibilities.”
“You picked the right field.”
“How so?”
I leaned on my elbow to consider my words. It seemed important I get this right, and I was out of my element. “I imagine you bring a lot of joy into this world.”
Her smile burst open like a blooming flower, and my chest warmed.
She leaned forward, and the intense pleasure I experienced at having her full attention made it easy not to succumb to the temptation of looking down at her sweet cleavage.
“That’s exactly why I love my job. Every baby is a tiny miracle.
I feel so honored to help usher them into the world. ”
I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “It was probably best that the rodeo guys you helped didn’t know you treat pregnant women and deliver babies. Might hurt their big egos.”
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because her smile dimmed, and she pulled her hand back. I tried to figure out what I’d said wrong, but it then became apparent.
“Remember, you can’t go back to the rodeo until you’ve had a full physical.” She drew a breath like she was going to continue on her lecture, but I interrupted.
“I may not go back.” I scratched the back of my neck, eyed the guy who was riding the mechanical bull, then looked back at her. “I’m, ah, hoping I find a reason to stay.”
Her eyes widened, and those full lips parted. Then her gaze dropped to her bottle of water, and she took a hasty drink, the droplets dribbling down her chin. “That’s laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?” she muttered.
Reaching out, I wiped the water away with my thumb. “Let me show you around, Audrey. Tomorrow.”
“Is that code for something?”
I shook my head. “No, Doc. I want to spend time with you.” I leaned in, so only she could hear my next words. “With our pants on. Maybe I got a little hasty at the barn, but I won’t apologize. I really want to know you better. Is that so strange?”
She met my gaze and finished off her water. “Um, I guess not.” Her gaze dropped again. “I work early tomorrow for a few scheduled patients, but I’m free after two, unless someone goes into labor.”