Love & Rodeo (23 page)

“
You okay?” he asked her.

She nodded.

“
Where’s the restroom around here?” he asked Luke.

Luke pointed in the direction as he and Kallie started back to the room.

An hour later, they were on their way back to the Lazy K and Nora was driving with Levi in the passenger seat, his blood still boiling. When they got home, he let Nora get out before opening his door and letting Kallie out from the back seat. He waited until Nora was far enough away that she wouldn’t hear what he was about to say.

“
So you and Luke were a thing after the world championship?”

“
What are you talking about? Luke and I are just friends.”

“
Really? Is he the reason we need to steer clear of one another?”

“
Levi, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried to push past him, but he caught her hips.

“
Well, enlighten me, because what I saw at the hospital was you crying over your married boyfriend having a baby.”

She laughed and shook her head. “You’re so off, Levi. You have no idea.”

“
Then tell me!” he shouted at her.

He’d never yelled at her before, but the thought of Kallie with someone else ate at him, especially if it was with Luke.

“
I’m not talking to you like this.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because you’re shouting, and the Levi I know would never shout at me.”

“
Well, that Levi died when you walked out on him.”

She opened her mouth to say something and then closed her mouth back. She stared into his eyes, maybe looking for the old Levi. He knew she’d never find him.

She shook her head as she retreated toward the house. He regretted saying it as soon as it came out of his mouth. He followed her up the steps, but instead of following her, he went up to his bed. That night, like almost every night before, he dreamed about Kallie.

The following day was Sunday and it was a relax day for the guests and for him. His only responsibility today was to help shuttle people to and from town. Only a few people went though, so Kallie and Nora handled the shuttle themselves.

Nora was starting school the following day, so Kallie would be bringing back an extra hand to help fill the gap that Nora would leave while she was at school.

That evening, everyone ate dinner and sat around the family room and chatted while Kallie helped Nora get her stuff ready for school. He walked into the kitchen to find Kallie and Nora going over her supplies and putting it in her book bag.

“
Kal?” Nora asked.

“
Nor?” Kallie stopped shuffling through Nora’s school supplies.

“
Nolan asked if he could take me to school in the morning.”

“
And you want me to say yes?” Kallie asked. “What happened to Benny driving you?”

Nora gave Kallie a look and Kallie laughed.

“
All right. I guess that’s fine. Will he be bringing you home as well?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Straight home! No pit stops. Promise?”

Nora squealed.

“
Promise!”

She hugged her sister tight and Levi smiled. Nora reminded him so much of Emma Jean, and he understood why Kallie had taken to Emma before.

“
All right. Get to bed. You have to get up extra early to get your morning chores done before school. Oh, and make sure you call Benny to tell him you don’t need a ride. There’s not enough caffeine in the world to deal with that boy in the morning,” Kallie called to her little sister as she hurried from the kitchen.

Levi took a seat at the bar and watched Kallie get into the refrigerator and pull out two beers. She handed one to him.

“
What’s this for?”

“
I’m pretty sure that my little sister is about to have her first boyfriend. I need a drink,” Kallie said taking a huge gulp of her beer.

Levi laughed as he followed suit. This was the first time she’d actually spoken to him all week. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve it, but he was going to take full advantage of it.

Kallie stood behind the counter. Her long hair was braided to the side and she looked good with a beer in her hand. Even knowing what he knew about her and Luke, he was still attracted to her. He still needed to hear her voice. Their eyes met.

“
Listen, about the other night. I’m sorry I yelled at you.” But he wasn’t sorry for accusing her.

She offered a weak smile. “It’s fine. I think I would’ve yelled too if I thought you were seeing your ex and you lied to me about it. Even if it was none of your business.”

“
Kallie, it’s okay if you guys did date. I mean, you weren’t mine anymore.” He took another drink.

She exhaled. “You just don’t get it. Luke is like a big brother to me. He was there to pick me up after I left you in Vegas. He helped me get this place together when I couldn’t do it anymore. Oh and when Grams died, I don’t know what I would’ve done without him. He’s my family, but that’s all he is. When he met Sophie, I was so happy for him. She came here for a barrel racing clinic and they hit it off immediately. She never left. They’re perfect together. Hell, I was the one who pushed her to him. He deserved to be happy.”

“
What about you, Kallie? Don’t you deserve to be happy?”

“
I was, but then life happened. Now I’m just content. Would I like to have a husband and maybe a few kids? Sure I would, but I don’t think that’s in the stars for me.”

He took another long swig of his beer and she did the same. The thought of Kallie without children pained him in ways he didn’t understand.

“
Kallie, you could have anyone you wanted. Don’t give me the ‘not in the stars’ crap.”

She finished her beer and grabbed two more. She slid one across the counter to him as she opened hers and took a swig.

“
Let’s go out front,” she suggested.

Levi picked up his beer and followed her out onto the front porch where Chip was resting on a pile of hay. He laughed at the sight of the little goat.

“
So I guess you gave up trying to keep him in his pen.”

“
Damn goat! He kept everyone up Friday night so I put him up here.”

“
He’ll be sleeping in your bed before the end of the week.”

“
You think? I guess it’s a good thing no one else sleeps there.” Kallie laughed and he could tell that she was buzzing already. She quieted and then looked over at him.

“
What?” he asked.

“
Tell me about your second world title.”

“
Why do you want to know about that?” Levi asked.

“
I don’t know. I just wish I could’ve been there. You were there for mine.”

He cupped her face with his hand. “You were there.”

It was true. She was there with him. In this thoughts at least. In his heart? That’s one place he was sure she’d always be. She was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

He smiled at her and released her face. He watched as she brought the bottle to her lips one more time. What he wouldn’t give to have her lips against his.

“
Well, I was first in points again for the year. I’d been riding real well. We got to Vegas and I drew that bull from the year you won. I rode him seconds after the buzzer. He turned left and then barreled right and it was like everything slowed down. He rocked back left and I lost my center. I thought I was done, but he rocked back right and he put me back in the center and I stayed that way until the end. I jumped off and got a ninety-five. No one even came close to touching that score the rest of the night. It was like the bull wanted me to win.”

“
No he didn’t. You’re just that good. You want to get us another?” Kallie asked.

He nodded and went in the house. Most of the guests had ventured back to the bunkhouse now, with the exception of two who were on their cell phones. Levi nodded at them as he went into the kitchen to get a few more beers. When he came back out on the porch, Chip was in Kallie’s lap and she was stroking his head as he fell asleep.

“
That goat loves you,” Levi said as he handed her the beer.

Their hands brushed and that familiar feeling of tingling remained where she touched him. He shook his hand as he sat back down in his chair.

“
You know he’s mine and Nora’s first family pet?”

“
A goat? Really? I mean, most people get a cat or a dog or something like that.”

Kallie laughed. “Well, we both know that I’m not normal.” Kallie gave him her best smile.

“
No, you’re definitely not normal.”

They laughed.

“
Well, neither are you. Wait. Never mind. You’re pretty perfect.”

“
Hardly. I wasn’t perfect enough to keep you.”

Her perfect smile faded into a frown. “What do you think would’ve happened if we stayed together?” she asked him.

“
I don’t know. I mean, maybe the Lazy K would’ve been ours instead of yours and Luke’s.”

“
Yeah. Maybe we would have had a baby,” Kallie whispered as a tear glistened in her eye.

It was the second time this week he’d seen her tear up.

“
Hey, hey. What’s going on? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

She looked at him with big eyes biting her lip as he kneeled in front of her. He rested his hand on her thigh and it felt good to touch her, even if it wasn’t the way he wanted to. Finally she shook her head and took a drink of her beer. She rested her hand on top of his.

“
One things for sure, you wouldn’t have the two world titles you have now,” Kallie told him as she gazed into his eyes.

With their eyes locked on one another, this was his chance. He leaned into her urging her to close the distance with his eyes. Just as she started to inch in the front door opened. The two guests that were in the living room walked out and Levi pulled away. They said their good nights to the guests. Levi picked the goat up from her lap and laid him on the bed of hay before he returned to Kallie. She was still sitting in the rocking chair sipping on her beer.

“
Let’s go inside,” Levi told her.

She tried to stand and stumbled a little. It was clear she wasn’t the drinker she used to be. He put his arm around her waist and they walked inside.

“
I’m fine, Levi. I can walk.”

“
Well, maybe I just want an excuse to put my arm around you.” He joked with her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

He felt her inhale. “You smell so good. Like leather and sandalwood. Oh, I used to love that smell,” she told him as they walked through the door.

He laughed. “I have a smell?”

“
Oh yeah, and you have a face for everything.”

He sat her down on the couch before retrieving water from the refrigerator. When he returned, he handed it to her.

“
So you were saying…”

She smiled. “You have a face for everything.”

“
What do you mean?”

She bit her lip and he wanted to touch them.

“
I mean, you have a face for when you’re mad, and one when you’re upset. You have one when you’re thinking really hard about something. One when you’re happy, and one when you’re blissfully happy. You had a face when you’d look at me.” She licked her lips. “Like right now. And you had one when we made love, like you lost yourself in me and you’d never find yourself again.” She cupped his face. “I loved that face.” She moved her hand back to the water. “You should tell Danielle that. What am I talking about? She probably knows already,” Kallie said as she took a drink of her water.

“
Well, if she did, she never told me about it.”

They were silent for a minute.

“
Levi? Are you afraid of anything?”

The question was out of the blue and he wasn’t prepared to answer it.

“
I don’t know. I mean, I guess I’m afraid of dying riding a bull or not telling the people I love that I love them enough.”

She nodded.

“
But you, you’re afraid of heights,” Levi recalled.

“
Oh gosh! I can’t believe you remember that.”

“
How could I forget? I had to kiss you to get you to forget about it.”

She put her head in her hands embarrassed. He put his arm on the back of the couch and turned his body so that they were facing one another. He rested his free hand on her shoulder.