Chapter 12
reed
Lina barely spoke to me as we packed up and moved out, heading to the St. John Rodeo in Washington.
I wanted to explain to her the boundaries I’d set for myself after our night together.
It had to count for something. It didn’t excuse my behavior that night, but it had to lend weight to my apology now.
But the fact that she hadn’t responded to it only made me further disappointed. What was going on in her head?
By the day of her event, she wasn’t even making eye contact with me.
She had officially iced me out. It had only been a few days, and it was obvious she already needed a break.
And maybe I needed one, too. It didn’t help that I had to wake up every morning to her fumbling in the dark in nothing but a thong and thin sleepshirt while she made herself breakfast. Then being forced to give up my shitty bench bed so she could have her table back.
Thank God she used up all the hot water by the time I got to the shower.
Otherwise, my dick would be completely chafed by now.
My nerves were officially fraying at the edges.
Whatever frustration and anger Lina held inside she seemed to channel when it was her turn to run.
She powered all her aggression into her heels, giving Mushu his head and winning yet another event.
She was well on her way to being the top contender for the circuit finals in October.
And if it meant being an asshole to get her there, I’d do my best to challenge her and piss her off every damn day.
It definitely helped that she was sexy as hell when she was being pissy.
Mushu deserved all the praise and oats he could get for taking her to the top, and I’d gladly dish it out if it kept everyone happy.
Giving him the rubdown he earned in his pen beside the trailer, I nearly missed the flash of tan skin and the stomp of heeled boots on the trailer steps.
Lina was dressed in a tight black dress with a lace overlay that hit midthigh.
It hugged her curves and gave me a delicious peek of her perky tits.
I gripped the brush in my hand so hard, I didn’t realize I was pressing it against Mushu’s flank until he whipped his tail in my face.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I called after her, her back now to me as my gaze traveled down her body.
She looked sexy as hell in all black, and I wondered if her underwear matched.
I couldn’t help picturing my hands encompassing her bare waist while my pinky fingers dragged just beneath the waistband of those panties as she straddled me. My cock answered with a twitch.
Fuck. Yep, my nerves were fucking frayed.
She flipped her brown hair over her shoulder, her dark eyes slanting to mine. “Out. Christian and Kale offered to take me.”
“They better be fucking going with you,” I gritted out in near pain.
“My stalker isn’t here. He hasn’t been. Pretty sure he got the message when I kneed him in the balls weeks ago.”
Perhaps she was right. There hadn’t been any sign of the creep. I tried to ease the pain by exhaling a long breath. Fine. As much as I hated it, a break from being in her presence twenty-four seven would do my soul—and blue balls––some good.
“Do you have your phone?” I asked.
Her eyebrows shot up. “My phone? Yes …”
“Bring it here.” I set down the brush and dusted my hands off on my jeans.
She walked over to where I was in the pen, pulling her cell out of her purse, unlocking it, and handing it to me.
“I’m putting in my number. You’re going to call me when you’re ready to come home.
” I clamped my teeth together at my last word.
Home with her sounded way too good to my own ears.
My head bowed over her screen as I punched in my number.
I chanced a glance at her, but she didn’t seem fazed by my insinuation.
“Don’t leave the bar until I get there.”
“You’re not going to demand to go with me?” She seemed as surprised as I was that I was letting her go without me.
“You told me you needed space to breathe. The last thing I’d want to do is make you feel confined, like you need to be tamed, like you aren’t allowed to let loose sometimes.
” I handed back her phone, hoping my words sunk in.
I was tired of her putting herself out there for dudes who didn’t appreciate her wild side.
Lina Larsen wasn’t too much. To me, she was just right.
Lina’s eyes went wide with surprise, her mouth falling slightly open. “You’re really letting me go by myself?”
“With Christian and Kale. You’re not going to be by yourself, and you’re going to call me when you’re done so I can make sure you get back safely.”
She placed her phone back in her purse, nodding. “All right. I’ll call you when I’m ready to come home.” Her smile grew, turning to leave. Hearing her refer to our little camper trailer as “home,” just as I had, made my chest tighten.
“And if it’s past midnight, then I’m fucking coming after you!” I called after her.
She grinned over her shoulder, her eyes twinkling, as she walked away. “I wouldn’t expect anything less, cowboy.”
My body was thrumming with anger and anticipation––anticipation of feeding the fire I was about to face as I stormed into the rodeo bar twenty minutes after midnight.
The full bar was loud with country music blaring from the speakers, drunken laughter and hollering, and boots clacking on the wood floors as dancers two-stepped.
She hadn’t called or texted. I had warned her I’d come after her.
My muscles tightened, preparing to mete out my anger and be verbally lashed by Lina’s viperous tongue.
If she would only fucking listen, I wouldn’t have to worry.
I kept telling myself she was fine as I walked the six minutes from our cowboy camp to the bar on the rodeo grounds. Gripping my cell phone in my hand, I kept checking my screen, expecting a text as I charged into the bar, ready to fight her if I had to.
My eyes scanned the dark room, searching for that tight black dress, my ears straining to hear her sexy, throaty laughter over the din of the bar. I could feel the fear rising in my chest, needing to see her, needing to find her and make sure she was safe.
I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t hear her. Where the hell was she?
I pushed through the crowd toward the bar, trying to home in on her, hoping I could tap into my inner compass and it would point to her. I spun on my heels, my vision narrowing.
She wasn’t here. I could feel it.
I spotted Christian and Kale, spinning girls on the dance floor, both of them oblivious to the fact that Lina wasn’t right where she needed to be. With them.
Navigating around the dancers, I grabbed Christian’s arm, halting him in his steps. Christian’s eyes went wide, surprised to see me, while his dance partner smiled up at me expectantly, as if she thought I was cutting in.
“Where is she?” I demanded.
“She’s … she’s.” Christian stumbled on his words, his own eyes taking in our surroundings, searching. “Shit, she was just over there at the bar.”
“What’s going on?” Kale asked, dancing with his date over to us.
“Where’s Lina?” I growled. My heart was starting to pound.
“She’s probably just in the bathroom,” Kale suggested, doing his own assessment of the room, looking toward the hallway marked Restrooms.
“Help me find her.”
Kale and Christian nodded, my own worry mirrored in their faces, before dismissing the girls as we picked our way through the crowd. I didn’t care one fucking bit when I swung open the door to the women’s restroom. Even when I got dirty looks and was told to “get the fuck out.”
“Lina? Are you in here?”
There was no fucking answer.
Panic gripped my throat.
“She didn’t leave with anyone?” I asked, running into Kale on the way out of the restroom.
“No. She’d tell us if she was leaving. We made her promise to let us know when you were coming to pick her up.”
I pushed out a breath, my hands resting on my hips, staring at my boots.
“She’s not here.” Christian confirmed our worries as he approached us in the hallway.
“Fuck.” She could be anywhere now.
I looked at my cell phone. Still nothing.
Christian and Kale pulled out their own phones, shooting texts to Lina before trying to call her.
My heart pounded in my ears. I couldn’t just stand here hoping they’d get ahold of her.
I had to fucking move. I had to fucking find her.
She could be anywhere. Every precious second we waited could be putting her closer to danger.
Christian had my number from working on the ranch. “Call me if you find her,” I told him, moving around them and heading toward the door. “I’m going to go find her.”
I didn’t wait for their reply, bulldozing my way out of the bar into the cool night air, the music fading behind me.
I searched the parking lot, which was more like an open field of trucks and trailers.
People still mingled, coming and going from the bar.
The electric guitar and drumbeats of the late-night concert on the grounds, followed by the crowd’s cheers, could be heard in the distance.
Weaving between the cars, my head on a swivel, my eyes narrowed in on every little flash of brown hair and tanned skin in my periphery. Where the fuck was she?
I turned down another parking lane, heading back in the direction of camp.
A man in a plaid shirt and jeans with an unkempt beard walked ahead of me, ducking between cars with his arm around someone.
I picked up my pace, following him. Black boots stumbled and he stopped, hoisting her back up on her feet.
Long legs in black boots. I jogged over. My heart pounded. Lina. He pulled her toward him, his arm around her waist.
“Get the fuck away from her!” I yelled, coming up behind him, my fists balling at my sides.
His head whipped toward me. Seeing me coming, he spun on his heels, planting his feet firmly to face me.