Love & Rodeo (6 page)

“
What does Grams think about that?”

“
She doesn’t want me to adopt her. She thinks I’m too young to take care of Nora and myself. Not because I won’t do a good job, but because of all the things I’ll have to give up. I don’t care about that though. Grams is getting older and it’s already hard for her to get around, let alone drive around a twelve-year-old all the time.”

“
What’ll you do when you get custody of her?”

“
I don’t know. I haven’t really thought that far ahead. I feel like I’m so far away from adopting her. I just want to get to that point, and then I’ll think about what’s next.”

“
Do you think you’ll still rodeo?”

“
I don’t know. I don’t see how I’ll be able to.”

“
But I mean, isn’t barrel racing what you want to do?”

“
It is, but I mean I already have one world title under my belt. There’s not really anywhere else to go from here.”

He frowned. “I see what your Grams means by you giving up so many things.”

“
My parents gave me everything for twenty-one years of my life. She only got eleven. I owe it to her and to them to do this,” Kallie said firmly.

“
When you put it that way.”

“
Yeah.” A tear moved down her face. He reached up and wiped it away.

About that time the dryers started to beep. They stood and started folding. Kallie went to the first dryer and pulled the clothes out, while Levi did the same. It wasn’t until he started to fold that he realized the clothes were Kallie’s. He lifted a zebra-striped bra and a pair of matching panties.

“
Oh, I have to see these on you,” he joked.

Kallie’s face turned bright red. She moved toward him. “Give me those!”

He held them high above his head, knowing Kallie wouldn’t be able to reach them, even with a small step stool.

“
Levi! Give them to me!”

He laughed. “You have to pay the toll first.”

“
And what would the toll be?”

He turned his head and raised his hand to his chin as if he were thinking really hard. Much to his surprise, she pushed him against one of the tall dryers. Her lips were on his before he could process what was happening. She pressed her body against him and he moaned. She deepened the kiss until he lowered his hands to her waist. All of a sudden, she pulled away with the bra and panties in her hand, smiling a sly smile at him before she went back to folding. Levi just stood there for a minute as if someone had splashed him with a bucket of cold water.

“
That was very mean. Very mean,” Levi told her.

She smiled at him sweetly and his heart warmed.

“
That cute smile isn’t going to get you anywhere. I’m going to get you back, and don’t think I won’t.”

“
I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

An hour later, they were back at the trailer and Kallie was leaving to exercise Blaze, while he headed to meet with Travis. The drive to the hotel was a short one, and when he got there, Travis was waiting outside the door. Levi didn’t have time to get out before Travis had climbed into the truck.

“
What’s going on?”

“
I’ve got to get away from her! She’s driving me crazy.”

“
What happened?”

“
I was talking to one of the other girls. Just talking and she flipped out on me. She thinks I’m cheating on her. She’s fucking psycho.”

“
So what? Are you guys done?”

“
I don’t know man. I just can’t be in the same room as her right now.”

“
All right. Well, what do you want to do?”

“
I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

“
We could go out tonight? Kallie will probably want to come out too.”

“
That’s cool. Deuce and Luke will probably tag along.”

“
All right. That sounds good. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Chapter Seven

Kallie rode Blaze around the arena and then let loose. He galloped around the arena while she shifted in the saddle as he turned. After a few rounds he slowed down.

“
You want to run a couple of patterns?” Kallie asked him.

She got down and put the reins on the ground. Rolling the barrels from their positions on the wall, she set them up before she climbed back on Blaze. She trotted toward the chute, circling him before they took off. They made it around the first barrel and headed toward the second. She dropped the outside rein and brought the inside one to her pocket. He rounded the barrel with perfection. They were off to the third barrel. They rounded it and headed home. Kallie lifted her head and closed her eyes for a second. This was her favorite part of barrel racing. When they headed home and Blaze galloped toward that imaginary line that signaled the end of the run. In those brief moments, she felt like she was flying and that feeling would never get old. She opened her eyes as they ran into the chute. She leaned back in her saddle until Blaze had slowed to a walk, so she could pat him on his neck.

“
Well done, boy!” she told him.

They trotted back out into the arena and put the barrels away. Climbing back on Blaze, she walked out to the parking lot where her trailer was parked. She unsaddled him and put all his tack away before climbing on him bareback. About that time, Levi pulled up with Travis. She watched as they climbed out.

“
Done already?” Levi smiled.

“
Already? I’ve been riding for an hour,” Kallie told him. “Hey, Travis.” Kallie looked at Travis and immediately could tell something was wrong.

“
We were thinking about going out tonight. You game?”

“
I’m up for whatever.” Kallie shrugged her shoulders.

“
We’ll go grab a bite to eat, and then see what we can get into.”

“
Okay. You want to come with me to put Blaze away?” Kallie asked Levi.

He looked at Travis. “Travis, the trailer’s unlocked. You might be able to get a couple of channels on the TV.”

“
All right. See you two in a bit.”

Levi patted Travis’s shoulder and climbed behind Kallie. Blaze just stood there unaffected by the extra body weight. She pushed him into a walk while Levi wrapped his arms around her. He pushed her braid aside and kissed her neck.

“
I don’t know if I should say this, but I think I missed you.”

Kallie giggled.

“
What’s going on with Travis?”

“
You saw that too?”

Kallie nodded.

“
Him and Cassidy are fighting. I guess driving together wasn’t a good idea.”

“
Yikes.”

“
Yeah. I’m glad I was with you instead of with them. I don’t know how much I could take of that.”

“
Luke told me they weren’t good for each other.”

“
Well, Luke’s right.”

They rode Blaze into the barn and Kallie waited for Levi to dismount. Next it was her turn. She threw her leg over and started to slide down Blaze when she felt Levi’s hands on her hips helping her.

“
It’s a little longer drop for you than it is for me,” he told her.

Kallie laughed. She’d been mounting and dismounting horses her whole life, but one man comes around and she suddenly needs help.

“
Yeah, well if you weren’t so ginormous.”

“
I thought you found my height sexy.”

“
Maybe I do.”

Kallie laughed and pulled Blaze toward the wash stall. She tied him to the wall and started spraying him down. She was spraying Blaze’s legs when she accidentally sprayed Levi’s legs on the other side.

She immediately started laughing.

“
I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that.”

Levi looked at her with wide eyes and then started toward her. She backed up.

“
Don’t come any closer or I’ll spray you.”

He took a step closer and she let loose on him. She sprayed his shirt and his face. He continued toward her until he had the hose in his hands. He fought with Kallie until it was pointed at her. He sprayed, and Kallie’s face was covered and her hair drenched. She took off to the other side of Blaze and Levi got her backside.

“
Save me, Blaze!” Kallie yelled as she ducked on the opposite side of her horse.

“
No one can save you!”

Levi came around Blaze and got the front side of her. She hurried around Blaze to the other side.

“
All right! Truce!” Kallie yelled.

“
What do I get?”

“
It’s a truce. I promise I won’t spray you, if you promise not to spray me.”

“
I have the hose. I get something.”

Kallie shook her head as he walked toward her, hose pointed and ready to shoot.

“
Throw in a kiss and you’ve got a deal”

She put her hands up.

“
All right. One kiss and no more water.”

Kallie smiled at him.

Levi dropped the hose and closed the space between them. He crushed her lips with his as he pushed her against the wall. She giggled a little under his mouth. He deepened the kiss and she entangled her hands in his wet shirt, pressing her breasts against his chest. She moaned as his hands worked up her sides.

“
Blaze? Kallie?”

Levi pulled away and rested his head against hers as they each tried to catch their breath. She squirmed out from under Levi to see Luke standing there looking at her with hurt in his eyes.

He turned and walked away.

“
Luke, wait!”

“
Let him go,” Levi told her.

She looked back in Luke’s direction as he walked out of the barn. She wouldn’t be able to catch up with him if she wanted to at that point. Turning her attention to Blaze, she started wiping him down, removing the excess water. When she was done, Levi walked Blaze to his stall, while Kallie grained him and made sure he had hay and water for the night. Kallie said goodnight to Blaze and together they started toward the trailer.

“
Look at us. We look ridiculous.” Kallie laughed and Levi joined her.

They turned the corner and nearly ran into Cassidy.

“
Hey, Levi! You wouldn’t—” Then she saw them. “What the hell happened to you two?”

“
We got into a fight with the water hose. He won.” Kallie nodded her head toward Levi.

Cassidy looked at them funny, and then turned her attention to Levi.

“
You don’t know where Travis is, do you?”

Levi looked at Kallie.

“
Uh… I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk to him right now. Give him some time to cool off.”

“
I just want to apologize.”

“
Yeah, but I think you’ll just make it worse.”

“
What do you know?” Cassidy started getting nasty.

Levi ignored her comment. “He’ll come to you when he’s ready to talk.”

Levi pushed past Cassidy with Kallie in tow. He grabbed her hand and they walked to the trailer.

“
That was awkward,” Kallie told him.

“
Just a little.”

They laughed and walked into the trailer. Travis was asleep on the couch, so they snuck past him. Kallie stripped out of her clothes and showered first, while Levi waited on her bed. She showered quickly, happy for the warm water. When she was finished, she wrapped the towel around herself and walked into the bedroom to find Levi lying on the bed.

“
Shower’s all yours,” she told him as she opened the small closet to remove her outfit for the night.

As she rummaged through the clothes, she found the zebra-print bra and panties. Kallie set them on the bed, and Levi shot her a smile, but not just any smile. It was the kind of smile that made her weak in the knees. She watched him sit up as she turned back to the closet, trying not to let him see the effect he had on her. She felt his hands at her waist and his mouth on her neck.

“
What are you doing?”

“
Nothing…” he said, trailing kisses up her neck to the spot just behind her ear.

She felt his hand at the hem of the towel on her thigh and her breath caught. “It doesn’t feel like nothing.”