4. Sierra
Sierra
Iwas scrolling through my camera, checking to see how many money-maker shots I’d caught when a deep voice rumbled behind me.
“Tell me you got my good side.”
I looked up, knowing before I did that it was going to be him. The sexy man who’d caught my eye.
I didn’t say anything for a moment. I just looked him up and down, drinking him in.
Up close, the man was even taller than I’d thought, almost larger than life. And it was obvious why he’d stood out to me from the rest of the rodeo crowd.
In a sea of stiff Stetsons, pearl-snap shirts, and flashy belt buckles, Carl was a completely different breed of rugged.
He had a long, burly beard that somehow looked soft rather than scruffy, and thick hair that fell past his wide shoulders, tied back into a loose, messy ponytail.
The boots planted in the dirt in front of me weren’t cowboy boots. They were heavy-duty work boots, thick-soled and laced tight. They were spattered with old mud so thick I could instantly tell he was a man who worked hard for his money.
Did I mention he had the muscles to prove it, too?
My throat went dry as I realized I was thirsty for him. Real thirsty.
“I got a few decent ones,” I said, keeping my voice perfectly steady despite the sudden thump of my pulse. “Assuming you have a good side.”
The man chuckled, the sound warm and easy. “Fair enough. Listen, I’m Carl, and I wanted to come find you. My buddy Eric put this event together for his Wounded Veterans charity. It’s something that’s real close to my heart.”
Carl.
He looked like a Carl. The name suited him.
“Nice to meet you, Carl. I’m Sierra.”
He shifted his weight, his thumbs hooking loosely into the front pockets of his jeans, as his lips tilted up.
I wonder how many women have fallen for him as soon as he flashed that smile at them?
Add me to the list.
Sparks of heat flew through me just from standing close to him.
“Sierra.” He held out a massive, calloused hand. “That’s a good name.”
I took it, my hand practically vanishing inside his grip. “Is it?”
“Yeah.” His eyes hung on me for a moment too long, warming my skin. “I like it.”
Oh, he knew how to get a woman hot and bothered just from the heat in his eyes and the purr in his voice. This man was dangerous.
“I saw you shooting the event,” he drawled, his eyes holding mine. “I was wondering how it usually works with you photographers. I’d like to pay you for the photos so I can send them over to Eric for his marketing materials.”
I stared at him for a second. Most guys who approached me while I was working usually tried to win me over with a tired pickup line or by reciting their rodeo scores. I was used to cocky men and cockier men.
This one was different.
“I got some good shots of the event,” I told him. “And a few great ones of you playing traffic cop with that runaway steer. But I don’t charge for charity stuff. If you give me your email, I can put the high-res files in a digital drop box for you.”
My heart pounded in my chest. I wasn’t really trying to fish for his contact info, was I?
His eyebrows drew together. “You sure? I don’t mind paying.”
“I’m sure,” I said. “Consider it a donation.”
Then he looked around where the event staff was already transforming the arena for the next event, a sheep parade for the kids.
“Looks like we’re in their way. You feel like taking a stroll with me, or do you need to get back to work?”
Work was what I should be doing. But that didn’t stop me from saying yes.
“Sure. I can stroll with you for a while.” My feet were already moving, matching his rambling pace as we left the arena.
“So, do you do this full-time?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“It seems exciting. Like every day must be an adventure.”
“Maybe in the beginning it felt like that. But rodeo life can get old when it’s all you live, eat, and breathe. Each stop blurs together after a while.”
“Mm.” He nodded. “I can see that. Even adventure can get boring if it’s all you do.”
I grinned up at him, ready for whatever adventure he wanted to take me on.
Carl rumbled, “I wonder if astronauts ever feel that way.”
“What way?”
“Like the adventure gets old.”
“Astronauts? I don’t know. That’s a little different. I mean, they leave the planet for a living.”
“Yeah, but the ones up in those space stations. You think they ever wake up and go about their business without really thinking about it? Just another day in orbit?”
I laughed. “Is that how you would be up there?”
He grinned at me. “Naw. But… I don’t think they could drag me up into outer space. I like having my feet right here on the ground. Give me some good dirt underfoot every day of the week and I’m a happy man.”
Note to self. Don’t take the hottie into space.
As we walked past the food trucks, my stomach gave an embarrassing little rumble. I’d skipped lunch earlier. The sweet smell of funnel cake wrapped around us.
As I eyed the booth, he asked, “You want one? I usually get one every year.”
The trouble for me was I got one every rodeo. Which might explain why my jeans kept shrinking.
But maybe just this once.
“Yeah, let’s do it. Should we share?”
Carl guided me to the line. “I’m all about sharing, darlin’, but I’d be likely to eat the whole thing and only leave you a little bite. Let’s get one for each of us. My treat.”
“So,” I said, glancing up at him after he placed our order. “Where’d you learn to wrangle a panicked steer like that? You didn’t even flinch.”
Carl laughed, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “Just comes up when you’re a country boy, I guess. You spend enough time around big animals, you learn when to run and when to stand your ground.”
“You don’t look like a typical cowboy,” I said, pointing at his getup.
“That’s because I’m not.” He smiled, looking down at me with a glint of amusement in his eyes. “I’m just a lumberjack. I work at the Harrison Logging Camp, here on the mountain.”
Just a lumberjack. That explained the shoulders. And the beard. And the complete lack of cowboy vanity.
“But you learned how to handle a steer somewhere. So if you’re not a cowboy, where’d you learn?”
I’d spent enough time on the rodeo circuit that I could assess a man in moments. Carl was being humble. He’d handled that steer better than a lot of the cowboys I’d met would have been able to. He’d practically wooed it back.
He shrugged. “I spent a little time on a cattle ranch.”
“Ah… there’s the truth. What made you leave?”
A dark shadow passed behind his eyes. It was gone in a flash.
“Life changes sometimes,” he rumbled. “And that’s what happened.”
“I get it.” A man of mystery. But I could see that there was some emotion in him over it, so I didn’t press for details. After all, we’d just met. I didn’t expect him to spill out his whole life story to me while we strolled past the food trucks.
With our funnel cakes in hand, we drifted past the vendor tents, turning down a quieter pathway that ran behind the main bleachers.
Back here, the cheering crowd and the booming voice of the rodeo announcer faded in the distance. Despite the dense crowds at the rodeo, we were practically alone.
“What about you, Sierra?” Carl asked, his voice dropping a notch in the quieter space. “You just travel around taking pictures of guys making fools of themselves in the mud?”
“Basically,” I laughed as I finished a bite of my funnel cake, my stomach purring at me in satisfaction. “I travel the rodeo circuit. I’ve been doing it for years…”
“You like it?”
Five years ago, I would have said hell yes.
My lips dipped down into a tiny frown. “I like it well enough.”
He grunted out a laugh. “That was about as enthusiastic as some of the first-year loggers get right before they jump ship on us.”
“Perceptive.” I shrugged. “I guess I never thought I’d do anything else. But… sometimes I get a little tired of being on the road all the time.” I stuffed another bite of the funnel cake into my mouth when he looked away and chewed it down fast. This wasn’t exactly date-food. Way too messy.
“Ah. You’re getting homesick. I get it. This place is my home. I’ve never lived anywhere but Red Oak Mountain before. Never felt the urge to leave,” he said before demolishing the second half of his funnel cake.
“You’ve got sugar in your beard.”
“Oh, no. You caught me out. I’m a fucking barbarian, ma’am.” He gave me a wink and rubbed his hand through his beard, dislodging most of the powdered sugar.
I laughed. “Let me help with that. I think you could use a hand.”
He stood still, his eyes trained on mine, a curious expression on his face as I gently brushed the last of the sugar out of his beard.
Being this close, I caught the subtle scent of woods lingering on the man.
When I was done, I stepped back.
“Thanks,” he rumbled. “It helps to have a woman around sometimes for things like that. You never know when there’s going to be a funnel cake emergency.” Then he glanced down at my shirt. “I could help you with that, too, but it might be a little bold since we just met.”
I looked down and laughed. I was decked out in powdered sugar. My curves had caught most of it. It took more than a few quick wipes to get it off my shirt. “How embarrassing.”
“Naw. That’s the fun in funnel cakes. They’re always messy.”
We started walking again, past the bleachers now and into an open field. We were on the edge of the fairgrounds. There was a treeline off in the distance and wildflowers at our feet. It was beautiful out here.
“So where do you hang your camera when you’re not working, Sierra?”
I bit my lip.
“Um, Texas is technically home, but… I don’t have a real home base right now.”
“Oh. So you travel full-time?”
The way he said it made it sound like a bad thing. And honestly, that’s how I’d been feeling about it lately.
“It seemed easier to let my place go. I used to rent an apartment in Dallas, but then all the prices increased and… since I was hardly ever there.”
He nodded. “I get it. I don’t have my own place right now, either. I live in the bunkhouse at the logging camp. I could afford my own place but…”
“But what?”
His face fell. “Oh, you know. I think it would get a little lonely. I like having people around.”
That confirmed it. Sexy Carl was definitely single.
I chuckled. “If you announce that around town, I bet there’d be fifty local women ready to play house with you, Carl.”
He lifted a brow, and a tiny smile landed on his lips. “I don’t know. If so, I haven’t found those ladies yet.”
Impossible. Not with his good looks.
Then he shifted the spotlight off him and back onto me.
“You think you’ll do the rodeo circuit forever?”
I didn’t usually open up to strangers, but something about Carl made me want to share.
“I’m tired,” I admitted, looking away from him to stare at the grass underfoot. “I’m done with suitcase life. And cheap motels. I don’t think I’ll be doing this much longer, but I haven’t figured out what I want to do next.”
Carl went quiet for a long moment. When I glanced back up, his expression had softened, the charming flirt completely gone.
“Or where?”
Our eyes met, holding tight. “Yeah,” I breathed. “Dallas is nice, but I’d like to settle down somewhere smaller. Maybe have a few cows of my own.”
“Cows, huh? We’ve got cows right here. Mountain cows.”
I laughed. If that was a sales pitch, it was working.
“You want to buy a farm with me, Carl? Be my man?” I joked.
“Hell, yeah.” Then his tone changed, softening. “I’ve already got a farm. Sort of. How long are you in Red Oak Mountain for?”
That was cryptic. And he’d just told me he lived at a logging camp. What kind of farm could he have?
“I’ll be here a few more weeks,” I told him. “I’m contracted to shoot the whole event, so I’ll be here as long as the rodeo is.”
A bright spark glimmered in his eyes. “A few weeks? Well, that’s a decent stretch. You might actually have time to see something other than the rodeo. If you ever want a tour guide to show you the local sights, I’d be happy to volunteer.”
My stomach did that stupid little flip again. I hadn’t reacted this way to a man in years.
“What did you have in mind?”
He gave me that same easygoing smile. The one that was making me feel a little crazy inside.
“There are a lot of things to do around here. I could borrow my buddy’s boat and take you out to Hidden Lake.
It’s a spot that only the locals know about.
Or do something traditional, like visit the drive-in.
It’s not like a fancy drive-in. It’s just a projector screen on an old barn wall, but around here we like it well enough.
There’s a free viewing party every Saturday night during the summer.
Or… we could go look at my uncle’s cows, if that’s more your speed. ”
“Your uncle has cows?”
“Uh-huh. A few dozen dairy cows. I help him out during calving season.”
“So you are half cowboy then?”
“Naw.” His smile turned lazy. “What you see is what you get, hon. I’m a lumberjack who’s spent some time with cattle before.”
Carl wasn’t trying to impress me with a sexy swagger. I liked his laid-back attitude.
“Let’s do it all.”
He shot me a surprised look and stopped walking. “All of it? Yes, ma’am. That sounds great. Can we call it a date?”
I stopped, turning to face him. “A date.”
“Yeah… unless that’s too much to think about,” he rumbled as he took a half-step closer.
I swallowed hard, common sense telling me to take a step back.
He was just another handsome man. And I’d seen enough charming, handsome men in my life to know exactly how quickly their attention burned out.
I didn’t want to be someone’s weekend distraction anymore.
But looking up at Carl, maybe it was time to bend my rules.
Just once. Just for him.
“Yeah. Let’s call it a date,” I told him. Our eyes locked on each other with an intensity that said this wasn’t just a date. This was something else. Something bigger. Maybe even the start of something new.
Carl tilted his head, his eyes trailing down to my lips and back up as a slow, soft smile spread across his lips.
“We’re going to have a cow date, Sierra? Or should we do something fancier?” he murmured, the rough gravel of his voice sliding straight down my spine.
“I can’t imagine anything better,” I told him breathlessly.
His magic grin slipped onto his mouth, and I swear I practically went into a swoon.