Ride Me Cowboy #4 (The Cowboy Romance Series - Book #4) (3 page)

“No, you don’t.”

I smiled. She was so bossy. “Yes, I do. I have
feelings for you…strong ones. I don’t think of you as my sister, and the only
thing keeping me from announcing how I feel to the world is that I don't want to
hurt your mother.”

She smiled then and took my good hand in hers. “You
know what?”

“What?”

“I feel the same way.”

“Can you come down here a little closer?” She bent
over me and I lifted my head up to meet her lips with mine. God, when she
kissed me, a fire flared up in the pit of my belly and spread warm blood
through the rest of my body. I missed her so much and it had only been a couple
of days. How would I ever stand it when the summer was over and she went back
home?

“
Mmm
,” she said with a
smile when she lifted her head. “That was nice. I feel so much better.”

“Lot’s more where that came from,” I told her. “I’ve
got some on reserve that I haven’t even put out there yet. They’ll make your
toes curl.”

She kissed my lips again softly and said, “I can’t
wait.”

She smiled at me and I realized I’d gone from “Poor
me, I’m all alone” to, “I think I’m falling in love with this girl,” in just a
matter of minutes.

CHAPTER
THREE

LEXI

I was so glad to be here for Mark – I hoped that he
was just as glad that I was here. He acted genuinely happy to see me. It had to
be so hard being here all alone. On top of the fact that his father is treating
him so poorly, I had done the same. I couldn’t even think of all of the things
that could have happened to him without feeling sick to my stomach. I was
sitting at his bedside, watching him sleep. He had a little smile on his face
and I wondered what he was dreaming about. I found myself hoping it was me. I
know that since I met him, he tromps around a lot in mine.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and pulled it out.
It was Mom. I stepped outside the door so I didn’t wake him – the hospital
staff seemed to do enough of that every time the poor thing tried to rest. They
kept taking his vital signs and checking his pupils. I know that was necessary,
but even I was irritated by it and I wasn’t the patient.

“Hi, Mom,” I answered.

“Lexi, is Mark okay?”

“He’s doing well. His wrist is broken and fractured
in two places. He got dragged around by the bull. They’re keeping him overnight
to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion and they’re also going to do a
surgical consult on his wrist.”

“Oh, poor thing! He’s holding up okay, though?”

“Yeah, better now, I think. I think the poor guy was
feeling like no one cared about him. He’s glad to have me here.”

“Oh, good. Thank you for going, honey. I’m sorry you
had to drive all that way by yourself. You should have called. I would have
come home and gone with you.”

“I just wanted to get here as soon as I could. They
didn’t tell me much on the phone, so I was worried. It wasn’t a bad drive,” I
said. “I’ll stay here tonight and that way I’ll be here to drive him home
tomorrow. He’s on pain medication; he won’t be able to drive. Besides, his
truck has a manual transmission. I think he’d have a hard time doing that
one-handed. I’m not sure if leaving it here is okay, but we’ll figure it out.”

“I didn’t think about his truck…and
Sarge
! Oh no, we can’t leave him there. That poor horse. I
hope someone over at the rodeo grounds is looking out for him. I’ll see if
Cowboy Bob can get someone to help him go pick it up tonight or tomorrow. When
Mark wakes up, just find out where the extra keys are and where they should
pick it up, okay?”

“Sure, thanks, Mom. What about Rob? Does he know
Mark is here?”

Mom sighed heavily. “Yes. I went out to the pasture and
found him to tell him. I don’t know what’s wrong with this man of mine.”

“He’s not coming…obviously.”

“No, he’s not coming. He…never mind.”

“
It’s
okay, Mom. I know
you’re trying to stay loyal to him, but this is me, remember?”

“He’s just been so angry with Mark and he won’t talk
to me about it. When I told him Mark was hurt, he said, ‘How bad?’ I told him
what you put on the note, that it was nothing life-threatening, and he didn’t
even look relieved. He said, ‘Well, if he keeps doing this rodeo crap, it won’t
be the last time.’ He was just so cold about it.”

“Wow.”

“I know. It’s awful. I can’t imagine you being in
the hospital and me not being there. I’m really upset with Rob right now. I’m
so glad you went, honey. Thank you again.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Mom. I want to be here
for Mark…and for you. I’ll call you if anything changes.”

“I love you, Lexi. You’re a good girl. Tell Mark I love
him, too, and wish him a speedy recovery. Call if anything changes or you need
me, okay?”

Stab of guilt to the chest. I just kissed my stepbrother
and not for the first time. I could very well screw up my mother’s marriage
over it. I didn’t feel like a “good girl.”

“I love you, too, Mom. Talk to you soon.” I hung up
and went back in to the room. Mark was awake and when he saw me, his face
brightened up.

“I thought you left.”

I took his good hand. “I’m not going anywhere. Wild
bulls couldn’t drag me away. I’m going to stay until they discharge you and
drive you home.”

“Oh shit! I didn’t think about that. I’m not so much
worried about the truck and trailer, but
Sarge
is
here.”

“Mom said if we let her know where to pick up the
truck and where you keep your extra keys she’ll send Bob to get it.”

He got that stubborn look on his face that he gets
and he said, “I reckon there’s no reason I couldn’t drive it home…”

“No, I don’t see why driving an old truck with a
manual transmission with a broken and fractured wrist…and let’s not forget the
possibility of a concussion…”

“Fine. I’m just not sure my reputation will hold up
if I’m seen in that fancy little car of yours.”

I smiled. “You know you’re hoping people see you.”

He touched my face softly and said, “With you…for
sure.” It gave me butterflies in my belly. “Did your mom say if Dad knows I’m
here?” God, his eyes looked almost hopeful. I was furious at Rob for being such
an ass.

“I’m sorry, Mark. She told him, but he’s not
coming.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t expect him to come. It’s not
like I’m on my deathbed or anything…”

“He should still be here.”

“You’re here. That’s enough,” he said with a smile.

The nurse brought his dinner in. It looked terrible.

“You want to share with me?” he asked.

I made a face. “Um, no thanks. I’m allergic
to…whatever that is.”

He laughed. “I’m so hungry that I don’t care what it
is. Why don’t you go to the cafeteria and get something? I hate eating in front
of you.”

“I hate you eating that period,” I said as he put a
bite in his mouth.

“It’s not bad.”

“I can’t watch.” I went down to the cafeteria and
got a sandwich and a coffee. When I got back, the surgeon had just got there.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Haney,” he introduced himself. He had
dark, jet black hair and piercing gray eyes. He looked like what you’d expect a
surgeon to look like.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Mark’s stepsister, Lexi.”

“I was just telling Mark before you came in that I
had a look at the x-ray and MRI. I agree with the ER doctor that he’s going to
need surgery to set this right.” I could tell by Mark’s face that he wasn’t
happy about that.

“How long is the recovery process after that, Doctor?”
I asked him.

“At least eight weeks,” he said. Mark looked sick. I
felt so bad for him. He’d spent this entire year working towards the finals and
this could ruin all of that for him.

“So during those eight weeks, will he be able to do
any of his usual activities?”

“He won’t be able to do much at all with that hand.
It will be casted after surgery…”

“Yeah, the ER doc already told me all of that,” Mark
said. I’d never heard him be so short with anyone. It wasn’t normally in his
character.

The surgeon looked a little bit taken aback by his
tone, so in a rush to defend him I said, “He’s a bull rider, headed towards the
finals. He has another rodeo soon.”

The doctor looked sympathetically at Mark. “I really
wish I had better news. I suppose for now we can just be happy the bull didn’t
trample or gore you.” Mark gave him a weak smile. I could tell that he felt bad
for snapping at the doctor. “Do either of you have any questions for me?”

“When would you do the surgery?”

“I’d like to do it as soon as I can get him on the
schedule, tonight or tomorrow.”

Mark made a face. It wasn’t a happy one. I don’t
think he was concerned about the surgery. It was all about the recovery time. “Then
do I have to stay here longer?”

“No, it’s a same day surgery. You’ll be given
anesthetic, but a mild one. Even if we do the surgery in the morning, barring
anything unforeseen, you can go home by the afternoon.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Mark seemed to be trying to force a smile and he
muttered a, “Thanks,” as the doctor left the room.

When he was gone, I turned to Mark and said, “I’m
sorry. I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear.”

He nodded. “I just have to keep telling myself that
he’s right and I’m lucky to be alive.”

I put my hand on the side of his face. “I’m glad
you’re alive. You know, you’re pretty amazing, the way you can always stay calm
and look at things on the bright side. I wish that I was more like that.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s me…amazing.” He was being
facetious. I was being serious. It was going to be a long eight weeks for him,
and my heart was breaking. I found myself wanting to fix this, even though I
knew that I couldn’t. I was almost surprised at how badly I hated seeing him
suffer. It caused me physical pain.

When visiting hours ended, he told me to go and get
a hotel room for the night, but I didn’t want to leave him. I talked to the
nurse, and she said that it would be okay for me to stay in the recliner next
to his bed. She brought me a pillow and a blanket, and I sat with him through
the night. We watched television and I read to him and I fielded a lot of calls
for him from his rodeo friends. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just told
each of them that he was resting, but doing well. I wrote each name down so he
would know who all called. It was nice that they were all worried about him.

In the morning, they wouldn’t let him eat anything.
He was taken to surgery around noon and the whole time, he griped about being
hungry. If I had eaten that slop last night, I’d never want to be served
anything here again. I was a nervous wreck while I was waiting, so to alleviate
some of my obsessing, I went online and started researching the NFR rules. I
read a lot about qualified rides and aggregate scores. I read the entire
rulebook of the National Rodeo Cowboy Association. By the time the doctor came
out and told me Mark was in recovery and doing well, I had a ton of information
swimming in my head. The best that I could figure this all out was this: all of
the qualifying scores Mark received all year are averaged at the end of the
season. His total earnings are also taken into account. All of this is put up
against the other winner’s scores and the fifteen guys with the best overall
rankings get to go to the finals. Every cowboy doesn’t have to ride in every
rodeo to be a winner at the end of the season. He just has to do really well in
the ones that he’s entered and he has to have entered a lot. So far this year,
Mark told me he’d ridden in almost a hundred rodeos. He would have to miss some
of the big ones during Cowboy Christmas, but he would be able to make up
time…if he was willing to travel a whole hell of a lot in September and
October. The bottom line was he could still do this. I can’t believe how happy
that made me, especially since I also read the stats on injuries and
concussions. It was crazy what these men were willing to risk and the injuries
they were willing to endure to get back on that bull.

The doctor came out after about an hour and told me Mark
was waking up. He said they’d put some hardware in his wrist and set the bones.
It would be casted once the swelling went down and the surgical wounds healed.
He should be able to leave in a couple of hours.

“Hey, how did it go?” I asked
when
 
I
finally got to see him.

“I slept through it,” he said with a grin. “But I’m
told it went pretty good.”

“Yeah, that’s what they told me, too. The doc said
you can be out of here in a couple of hours.”

“Good, I’m ready. What have you been up to while
they were putting new hardware in me?”

“I was learning all about the PRCA,” I told him,
proudly.