Cowboy Jackpot: St. Patrick's Day (10 page)

Golden. Was that all she was to him?
Gold?

“You okay, Storm?” He dropped the towel and
pulled on his underwear, made special with padding to protect his
jewels.

She looked at her ring. He’d been so sincere
when he’d given it to her. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Numb. She should be
crying like a baby right now, but everything inside her went dead.
“Just tired.”

He stood next to her, his hand slid over her
hair and he kissed the top of her head. “I have to get down to the
arena, but why don’t you stay and sleep a while. Set your alarm and
come down later.”

She nodded and stood, needing to be away from
him. “Good idea. I will.”

“Cutie, I need you there tonight. I’m going
to look up into the seats and see you, and know I can do this.”

She stood staring at the wall. Stunned.

“Stormie?”

She faced him as he pulled on his jeans.

“You sure you’re okay?” He slid his phone and
wallet into his pockets, never noticing the missing paper.

She nodded. “Have you ever thought about…?”
What the hell was she doing? Testing him? “You know, our businesses
would be perfect to merge.”

“I guess.” He held up the die, smiled, and
slipped it into his front pocket. “But right now, I gotta
concentrate on winning this rodeo.”

“You do.” Her stomach clenched as she turned
to ice inside. “You will.”

He strode up to her and took her shoulders in
his hands. “What’s wrong, Stormie? I know it’s something. I’ve got
time to talk.”

She dropped her head as tears choked up the
back of her throat.

He hooked a finger under her chin and tipped
up her head. “Everything else can wait. You’re my priority right
now.”

Because she was worth a quarter billion? She
pasted on the brightest smile she could create. “You’re going to
win tonight, and I’m going to be there to see it.” She turned him
around and gave him a little shove. Hard to do with all that
muscle. “You get going, and we’ll talk about my girly emotions
later.”

As he slid his arms into his shirt, he looked
unconvinced. “We will talk, Storm. There can’t be anything hanging
between us, or we don’t have a chance.” He buttoned his shirt and
slid into his boots. As he buckled his belt, he walked over to her.
“I want to make this work.” He kissed her on the forehead, grabbed
his hat, and was gone in seconds.

“You want to make this work so you can have
everything you’ve ever wanted in life.” Her eyes watered. “And to
have that, you’re stuck with me.” She felt the pain coming, rising
up out of her soul. Tears clouded her vision but she held them back
for another minute.

She pulled the paper from her pocket, slowly
unfolded it, and spread it flat next to Jayden’s clothes on the
dresser.

As she slid off her wedding ring, the ache
nearly doubled her over. Her heart skipped, her breath chugged in
and out, and her throat closed.

She set the beautiful gift on top of the
damning paper, backed up, and sat on the bed. She wanted to run,
but she had to be there for him. He deserved her support. He needed
to win today, because that was most important to him. Rodeo first,
money second. Which meant she came in dead last.

The first tear fell. Okay, she’d have a good
cry, pack her bag and bring it to the car, and sit in her seat
until he won the first round then the short go. She flopped back
onto the bed.

Then she’d head home, break the bad news to
her parents, and hope that their attorney could fix this so they
didn’t lose half of her share of the ranch. And possibly half of
the whole ranch when she inherited some day.

“Oh God, what more can I do wrong?” Sobs
wracked her body. She’d married a man she didn’t know, lied to her
parents to be with him, lost her innocence. “TSTL.” She rolled onto
her stomach and cried, loud and cleansing. Too Stupid To Live.

****

Jayden grabbed hold of the rigging on Betcha
Pony, jammed his hat down on his head, and looked up into the
audience. Stormie’s bright hair shone in the light. He raised his
free hand in a wave, and said, “Okay, okay, okay.”

The gate swing wide and the bronc bucked,
turned left, then spun right.

Jayden felt himself slipping off. “No.” He
bent his leg to feel the die in his pocket, touchstone. He would
ride this bastard the full eight. He took a firmer grip and
visualized himself staying on, tightened his legs.

The buzzer sounded.

Cheers went up from every part of the arena.
As he jumped onto the chase horse, he heard Boone ya-hooing, and
yelling his name. Dallas even shouted, “Way to cowboy up!” Rance
hooted wildly.

The bronc raced out of the ring, Jayden slid
off the chase horse, and took off his hat. He tossed it like a
frisbee across the ring. He lifted his arms as a thanks to the
crowd, and turned to where Stormie sat with Gigi and Kira. They
were standing. No, jumping up and down shouting at the top of their
lungs. He pointed their way, directly at Stormie.

She’d done this for him. How could he ever
explain to her how much this had meant. He didn’t need the money.
He didn’t need the title. He needed the self-confidence.

Picking up his hat, he jogged out of the
ring. His brother pulled him into a fast hug, slapping his back.
“Perfect ride, little brother.”

Dallas smacked him on the back. “Best you’ve
ever ridden?” He gestured to the scoreboard. “Look at that
number.”

It wasn’t the best in his career, but it felt
better than any other ride.

He went back to the locker room and held the
die in his hand. The bull riders went next, then it’d be the saddle
bronc short go, then his category. One more ride, and he could be
with Stormie for another day. Hopefully talk her into taking him
home to meet her folks. Then back to Reno to meet his folks before
he had to go to Texas for the next rodeo. Would she come with
him?

He slid the touchstone back into his pocket.
“We’re gonna fly first class.”

“Oh yeah?” Rance walked up behind him. “You
rich guys got it made.”

“About that.” He turned toward the bull
rider. “I don’t want Stormie to get the wrong idea.”

Rance shook his head. “No, man. I was
referring to your jackpot money. Boone told me about it.” He held
up a hand in an oath. “Not another word about her ranch.” He worked
his jaw. “Except, you know, you could have a second rodeo school in
OKC.”

Jayden nodded once. Heck, with her money,
they could have rodeo schools in every state. He didn’t care to
think about her in terms of her bank account. That wasn’t who she
was to him. She was…a future. One that he could almost see
clearly.

“What happened out there today, buddy?” Rance
grinned. “How’d you make your ride?”

“Stormie got me goin’ on some visualization
thing.”

“Yeah.” Rance checked his spurs. “That shit’s
big in Cali. Works, too, I hear.”

“It’s working for me.” Jayden slipped the die
in his pocket.

“I gotta go.” He backed up a step. “She’s a
keeper, you know. Stormie, I mean.”

He just nodded. “Hey, have a good ride,
buddy.”

Rance grinned and touched the brim of his
hat. “Always.”

As he sat on the bench, he replayed his last
ride in his head, adopting a little of Rance’s cockiness. Couldn’t
hurt. When he heard the rider before Boone’s name called, he headed
to the arena. Looking up in the stands, he saw where Stormie, Kira
and Gigi were huddled together talking. He’d love go up there, hold
her and kiss her for luck, but he needed all his concentration on
the next ride.

He watched the women. Fingers were pointed,
heads were shaking. Were they arguing? What the hey?

He watched Boone hang on for eight, then
Dallas almost tie Boone’s score. They’d both be in the short go.
Although the ladies had stopped to watch their bull riders, they
were talking again, so Jayden walked back to the locker room and
went over his visualization.

A half hour later, in the chute on the back
of Fat Chance, he looked up in the stands to see Stormie
standing.

He raised his hand. She blew a kiss. He knew
he couldn’t lose.

“Okay, okay, okay.” The gate opened, he
tightened his grip, felt the horse’s muscles shift and adjusted his
body to match it. Eight seconds later, the buzzer rang, he jumped
onto the chase horse, waited until the bronc left the ring, and
threw his hat.

The crowd went wild but he turned to find
Stormie. Kira was there, Gigi next to her, but Stormie was gone.
Wait, was that her walking up the steps?

Jayden waved to the crowd, keeping one eye on
Stormie and ignoring the replay of his ride on the big screen. He
grabbed his hat and dusted it off. Was Stormie coming behind the
chutes to see him?

He headed out of the ring, and his brother,
Dallas, and Rance were there to smack him on the back and offer
congrats. He wouldn’t win a prize today since he hadn’t qualified
yesterday, but it felt good to have two good rides in a row.

He walked toward where guests could wait
outside the cowboy’s entrance and looked through the crowd of
buckle bunnies for Stormie.

She wasn’t there.

He walked back to the spot where he could see
the arena seats. She wasn’t there, either. Then he grinned. She
must be in their room. He packed up his gear and left the arena,
signing slips of paper for the buckle bunnies as they followed him
through the casino to the elevator.

When he entered the suite, he dropped his
bag. “Stormie?”

No answer. He walked into the bedroom. Her
bright red suitcase was gone. His clothes from earlier today sat
folded neatly on the dresser. He pulled out his phone to call her
and saw a slip of paper next to his jeans.

On top of it sat the ring he’d given her.

“Oh man.” Pain clutched at his heart. What
had he done now? He picked up the paper, read the words in Rance’s
handwriting, and crumpled it in his fist. “Fuck.”

His stomach bucked, wanting to empty. “Shit.”
Where had she found it? Why hadn’t he thrown the damn thing
away?

He could almost feel her shock as she
realized what the numbers stood for. She figured he was after her
money. She had to be just sick—as sick as he felt right now.
Everything in his gut clawed to get out.

He turned and noticed the messy bed. The pile
of tissues in the trash can next to it. “Aw Storm.”

He sat on the bed and dropped his head in his
hands. His hat tipped off and fell to the floor. He kicked it
across the room.

She’d spent time crying. He was such a
fucking ass. He shoved Rance’s note in his pocket. No, he was
innocent this time. He just had to prove it to her. “Yeah, that
ain’t gonna be easy.”

He could sit there and feel sorry for
himself, or he could do something. Anything. He had to try. Had to
act. He stood and paced to the window and back. Should he call her?
His gut told him he had to do this in person. She’d be in her
little red sports car heading toward Oklahoma. He could catch her…
He didn’t have a truck. He’d ridden down with Boone and Gigi.

“Gigi.” The women had been arguing in the
stands. They’d know where Stormie was. He could get Boone’s truck
keys from her and go chase his woman. He’d bring her back here and
apologize the only way he knew would work. He’d beg her on his
knees then make love to her all night. Then beg some more, if
necessary.

He picked up his hat and stopped. “Just in
case.” He made a quick change from his horse-scented clothes into a
fresh shirt, regular underwear, and a clean pair of jeans. After
packing up everything in his duffle, he dropped it by the front
door, next to his gear bag. He’d give Gigi the key to the suite,
just in case he didn’t make it back.

He could see himself chasing Stormie all the
way to her ranch. He’d do it, too. He pulled out his phone and
brought up his contacts. “Gigi, where is she?”

Twenty minutes later, he sat between Kira and
Gigi on the bench seat of Dallas’s truck heading east on Highway 93
toward the Nevada state line.

He fisted and unfisted his hands as his body
grew more tense by the second. “Can’t this thing go any faster?”
The old pickup wasn’t meant for speed.

“Oh, so now you’re complaining?” Kira elbowed
him in the arm. “We concoct this elaborate scheme for you, rat out
our girl Stormie, and that’s what comes out of your mouth?”

Gigi patted his knee. “Don’t worry, Jay.
She’s just a few minutes ahead of us, and she’ll be stopping for
gas any minute now.”

He took a couple deep breaths. “Okay. Sorry.
I just need to get to her.”

His sister-in-law smiled so sweetly, but she
had such a cleverly devious mind. She’d decided that they needed to
get Jayden to Stormie and leave him there without a vehicle. That
way, Stormie couldn’t just abandon him at the gas station—they
hoped. They’d piled into Dallas’s truck because Kira had the keys
in her pocket when he’d met them in the casino. They agreed timing
was critical, and had been racing down the freeway in less than
five minutes.

Kira and Gigi had texted their men, but they
were still rodeoing, and their phones were locked away. That gave
the women a little time before all hell broke loose with Boone and
Dallas.

Kira had called Stormie then, and told her
they needed to talk. She told Stormie that Jayden was looking for
her, and Kira didn’t know what to tell him. She asked Stormie to
pull over in the next town and call her so she wouldn’t be driving
distracted.

Stormie had agreed to pull over at a gas
station just past Boulder City because she’d need gas anyway. She’d
call Kira back from there, but she needed Kira and Gigi to distract
Jayden so she could put distance between him and her.

Hearing that had damn near killed Jayden.

Now, staring out the windshield, he clenched
his hands, willing the truck to go faster. Needing to have Stormie
in his arms so he could explain.