Chapter 10
Hadley
“Come. On!” I slam a fist onto the steering wheel.
Turning the ignition once more, I hold my breath, eyes closed as I pray she starts. Just growls to life like always.
Nope.
Nothing.
Nada.
Not a fucking chance.
Of all the times and all the one-horse towns to crap out in . . . this would have to be the worst.
I’m last to leave.
The grounds went from a thriving hub of entertainment with a sea of pickup trucks and other vehicles to a vacant span of grass and yards where the wind tousles the stray trash left behind across the main arena.
The place is a ghost town . . . ghost grounds?
I try the old girl again, turning the key over as I hold my breath.
Nothing.
“Fuck.” My forehead hits the steering wheel.
I close my eyes, uttering every curse word I can round up, hating the fact that my inability to upgrade my truck is now affecting my earning capacity.
Dammit.
I need to get to the next event. I need another ride under my belt. Every event counts. The points need to increase steadily as the year progresses to make the finals.
If I’m honest, I—we—need a win soon. Or the payment that’s due in three weeks on the ranch is going to fall through.
Which will make three solid months of not making the mortgage.
A tap on the window sees me jerk up from the steering wheel. Rubbing a hand over my face, I glance at the person standing on the other side of the door.
Maggie.
I roll the window down, the glass groaning as it lowers. “You alright?”
Her green eyes are soft as she takes in the inside of my old truck. “Are you, Jones?”
I huff a pained laugh. “Yeah, not really. She won’t start.”
Her face falls under a frown as she glances at the hood. Sucking in a breath, her face twists up in a tentative smile. “You can ride with me, if you like.”
“No, that’s . . .”
“You have a better offer?” She raises an eyebrow, gaze sweeping the empty grounds as if driving home her point.
I clear my throat. “I don’t want to put you out.”
“You won’t.” She tugs the door open, not leaving me any choice. I grab up my belongings and lock up before she wanders back toward her van that’s idling not too far from where she was parked earlier.
She slides the side door open waving a hand toward the space inside. “Pop your stuff in here, you ride up front with me.”
I slide my overnight bag in. Then my gear bag. My bedroll. The small space fills up too quickly. “You sure about this?”
She’s in the driver’s seat already and turns back to give me a shrug. “Sure.”
I slide the door shut. Sliding my hat from my head, I open the passenger door and climb into the seat. I feel like a giant, folded up in the tight space between the seat and the simple old-school dash. My knees are almost touching the damn thing.
She shifts the VW into drive, and we roll along the gravel road and out of the rec grounds.
Maggie glances at me. “Think it’s the alternator?”
“Most likely. I’ll arrange for another one before the weekend is up. Have her running for the drive home.”
She just smiles like she knows something I don’t and indicates before turning onto the highway. Her window is rolled halfway down, the breeze funneling into the van sending her scent around me.
Fuck, it’s as mesmerizing as it was the first time I got a hint of it that first day in the chutes.
Only now, sitting in the cramped cab with her has my body coming alive in a way it shouldn’t.
I don’t date. Don’t really have time between rodeo and the ranch.
Besides, my nosy sisters would take the smallest interest I have in any woman and run with it like their lives depended on it.
“You’re quiet.” Maggie adjusts the window, rolling it up a little as if she’s aware of how her presence and proximity are affecting me. “Need to stop for food? There’s a gas station the next town over.”
My stomach’s been pinching with hunger since I woke up. One coffee isn’t going to cut it. “Yeah, that’d be great. I’m starving.”
“Great!” Her hands are set at ten and two as her hair wanders around her shoulders, the cool breeze obsessed with her. Who could blame it.
This girl is sunshine, sweet and . . . Fuuuuck.
I rub a hand behind my neck, forcing my focus out my window before my semi hard-on becomes a permanent fixture in my goddamn jeans.
Between her run in with Knox and last night’s nightmares, she’s growing on me. I’ve started to feel something.
Something that makes me wish I didn’t.
No distractions.
No wavering on my goal. The stakes are too high if I fail. I’ll either end up injured, or worse . . . We lose the ranch.
My gut flips.
We hit a pothole, my head hitting the roof of the van, and I round out a grunt. “Dammit.”
“Oh shoot, sorry, I didn’t see it.”
“You want me to drive?” I growl.
Her eyes widen a little as her hands adjust around the wheel. “No, we’re good.”
“We?”
“Betsy is a one-woman van. Sorry, Jones.”
Now I’m raising a brow at her. “You named your van?”
“You didn’t?” She gives me a feigned shocked expression, hand over her heart.
I chuckle.
This beats hitching a lift with any of the guys. “Well, you tell Betsy thanks for the ride. Much appreciated.”
The megawatt smile stretching her face takes my breath away.
“You’re welcome,” she breathes.
Silence falls between us, eyes locked. We stay that way for a heartbeat as the tension rises.
I snap my gaze away. Maggie clears her throat, reaffirming her grip on the wheel, her focus back on the highway.
Ten minutes later, the outline of a gas station pops up on the horizon.
Thank god. The awkward in this little van is stifling.
We’re like one step forward and three back when it comes to being in the same space.
My stomach grumbles, but when I check my banking app, it’s in the red.
Again.
Three hundred came out for electricity this morning. All of the bills come out of my account. Mom’s still has a reasonable amount in it, but I won’t touch that.
I swipe a hand through my hair, muttering, “Fuck me.”
Maggie glances at me with a tight smile. I wouldn’t have been able to pay for the gas to make it to the next event and back home, anyway. I flip Kales a text for funds and toss my phone on the dash. Maggie pulls into the gas station, parking before she kills the engine. “You want something?”
Gaze set on my phone, I pluck it up, but there’s no reply from Kales.
“Nah, I’m good.”
Maggie worries her bottom lip through her teeth as she nods and climbs out, wandering toward the gas station store. I run both hands down my face. “Christ.”
It’s not like it’s the first time we’ve gone without when the ranch bills come out, but I’d forgotten the power bill was due this week.
Fuck, I’m an idiot.
A broke, hopeless idiot.
Five minutes pass before the driver’s door opens and Maggie slides into her seat with a bag full of items. She places a to-go coffee in the small holder on the dash by the steering wheel and then hands me one.
“I said I was good.” The words come out too harsh. But the last thing I want is to owe her. To owe anyone.
“I know, but you look like you could use a little kindness today.”
I stare at her.
How did I think she was irritating before?
She’s—
The bag of food drops onto my lap.
“I got two of everything. Feed me while I drive?”
I open my mouth to reply, but nothing comes.
“It’s okay, I won’t bite. At least, not while I’m driving.
” She chuckles, sipping her coffee before replacing it in the holder.
I don’t have one on my side, so I wedge the hot cup between my legs and open the bag.
There’s breakfast burritos wrapped in foil, two of them. Two bags of chips. Four candy bars.
“Oh, and I got you some shades, cowboy. How do you travel without sunglasses?”
I spot the aviators on the bottom of the bag. Hell.
She pushes hers back in her hair as she starts the van. It rumbles to life.
“Okay, Hadley. Feed me, I’m starving.”
Fuck me. Damn this little woman.
“Wha—” I clear my throat. “What do you want first?”
“Hmmm, chips?” She turns onto the highway. “No! Burrito.”
I can’t slap the grin from my face. I’m starting to like her particular brand of crazy happy.
It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed out loud, and so many times in one day.
I feel lighter around Maggie. So I busy myself with rummaging through the contents of the bag until I have a burrito out, unwrapping the foil down halfway.
I hold it out, expecting her to take it.
Instead, she leans over and takes a big bite.
Cheeks blown out with the huge bite, she chews, nodding her head. “Yo go da twy dis.”
I shake my head at her and unwrap one for myself.
The second my mouth closes around the savory goodness, I groan.
When she’s done swallowing her bite, Maggie’s mouth makes a little O shape as her eyes brighten with delight.
My throat bobs as I swallow and her gaze drops to the movement.
Not giving her a second to stare any longer, I shove her burrito toward her face.
She leans over, biting again. This time a smaller, more practical bite.
She imitates my groan, her face lit with mirth, but it comes out more like a soft moan. All of a sudden the food is forgotten. My cock is steel in my jeans, my grip around the wrapped delicacy turning punishing.
“God, I knew I was hungry, but this is . . .” she whispers.
“Yup, thanks for the breakfast. I’ll get the next one.”
“It’s not tit for tat, Hadley.” Her words are soft, matching those green eyes locked on me now.
“I don’t want your charity.”
And . . . we’re back to awkward.
A long moment drags before she sighs. “You know, you can accept kindness. Not everything needs to be calculated. Not everyone wants something in return.”
Huffing, I volley back, “Yeah, right.”
I drop the bag to the footwell of the van’s cab.
“Eat your burrito, Jones. You’re hangry.”
That’s not the word I’d use . . . More like already hung up. More like rock-fucking-hard in this confined space with her. I do as she says and eat the damn burrito.
An hour later, she gestures for more. I bust open a bag of chips plus the chocolate bar she asks for, and I’m back to feeding her bites.
One mouthful at a time.
I can’t drag my gaze from her lips, the column of her throat as she swallows it down.
Her, period.
It’s a quiet ride the rest of the way to the event.
The small town it’s hosted in is bustling, though, and that’s the pull of rodeo right there.
Folks are filing in, vehicles rolling into the grounds as we join the lineup, and Maggie finds a spot under a big old weeping willow tree on the opposite side of the grounds.
I can’t blame her.
The last thing you want is having to get back to your digs among the party crowd. This ain’t no rager. This is our job, sometimes with back-to-back rides and events.
The VW rattles to a halt and Maggie reverses it under the tree, leaving room on the sliding door side for her to . . . set up?
The tree’s canopy hangs over the space between it and the van, making a shaded spot enclosed by the curtain of green. Almost like a treehouse.
“There you go. I assume you’re sleeping on the ground tonight?” Her attention alternates between me and the tree.
What is it with this girl and enormous trees?
“Um, yeah. Thanks.” I undo my seatbelt and push from the passenger door.
“Hadley.” I turn back to find her leaning over the seat toward me. “Leave your stuff here, we can set up later. Save someone running off with it.”
“Solid plan.” I push my hat onto my head and nod. The sliding door opens easily underhand and I pluck my gear bag out.
Maggie is close behind me, her camera equipment slung over her shoulder. I squint into the sun as it dips lower with the late afternoon. The humid air buzzes with life, the breeze playfully tugging the long spring grasses surrounding the arena grounds. The aroma of outdoor cooking reaches me.
“Hey, Jones.” I turn back to find her a few steps behind me.
She closes the distance, and I hold a hand up to block the sun to my right.
Pulling something from her back pocket, she slides them over my face, one elegant finger pushing the bridge of the aviators up my nose. “Break a leg, hey.”
We are barely inches apart, with her all but on her tiptoes. A breath later, she sinks back to the ground with a warm smile. “Thanks for riding with me, cowboy. I enjoyed the day so much better with you in it.”
With that, she slips past me. Hips swaying, she wanders for the office, leaving me standing rooted to the spot.
For weeks, we have been avoiding each other after our less-than-desirable first encounter. As she disappears into the office, I adjust the sunglasses on my face and swallow past the stone that formed with her so close. Willing my erratic heart to calm down.
It was only kindness and, in her words, better than bored and lonely.
Footsteps over the grassy ground snag my attention, and I turn to find Brady and Spencer.
“Yo! Jonesy. How the hell did you get here so early, bud?” Brady smiles, clapping a hand on my back.
Spencer looks around, bemused. “Didn’t see your rust bucket roll in.”
“Hitched a ride. You two came in together?” I ask.
“Yeah, catch my baby on the way back.” Spencer’s baby is a brand-new, state-of-the-art Ram. Not even a team bull rider could bankroll that one. Daddy must have bought it for him.
I feign shock. “You mean you left her behind? How could you?”
“She’s in good hands; left her with my sister who lives there.”
“If you’re done showing off, Lockwood, we should head to the office.” Brady nods to the small building Maggie disappeared into.
We make our way over and find Levi inside. The second I meet his gaze, he strides for me.
“One of the teams is out two riders, permanently. Scouts are looking for another draft. Time to give it all you’ve got, Jones.” He slaps me on the back.
Hell yes.
Today started out a shitstorm in a handbag and has improved more and more as it’s rolled on. I don’t know what there is to say, so I simply nod.
“I’ll make sure Maggie gets some great shots tonight. That’ll help.” Levi tilts his head as if imagining how the night will unfold.
“Yeah, having her hanging around your chute will absolutely help.” Brady gives me a shit-eating grin.
You’ll keep, bud.