Page 20 of The Wildest Ride

There, a cleft chin jutted out from a large sharply square jaw.

His lips were wide and full and looked like they had been made for midnight in a dark room.

And they were frowning. At her.

An answering frown wrinkled her own brow.

His eyebrows, drawn together, were thick, straight, and jet-black, standing out in strong contrast against the warm golden brown of his skin. His eyes, almost black, were narrowed down at her. He wore a backward baseball hat.

A part of her mind broke off to wonder how it was possible for someone to pull offStern Disapprovalwhile wearing a backward baseball hat.

He managed it.

The lower half of his face was covered with something between a five-o’clock shadow and beard, which should have made him look lazy but instead accentuated the sculpted lines of his face.

He was the wordmasculinebrought to life, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

He was the one who broke their stare, opening and closing his right hand. His other hand was hooked into the front pocket of his jeans, tugging them tantalizingly lower on one side.

Lil’s eyes and brain fought over which hand to pay attention to. They compromised by darting away.

To his left stood an older Black man with a neatly groomed salt-and-pepper beard, his face shadowed by a well-worn cowboy hat, the scent of former champion all over him.

At his right was a man with Photoshop-perfect deep black skin and equally thick black eyebrows. He’d come to the rodeo dressed in a three-piece suit and casually held back the other half of the fight Lil had crashed as if that other half weren’t two hundred and fifty pounds of angry cattleman. In fact, the man in the suit looked bored with his job, like her brawl had underperformed.

Lil’s eyebrow and lip quirked up. She was so sorry to disappoint.

Behind and around the trio, the sea of people had parted like Moses was in the vicinity.

It wasn’t Moses, though.

It was AJ Garza.

Their gazes returned to each other like magnets, hers rolling like a dark storm coming in on the horizon. His deep, steady, and, upon closer inspection, rich brown rather than black, like a freshly turned field right after the rain.

She wanted to dig in and plant.

He broke the connection again, his eyes quickly darting to the rise and fall of her chest before jumping back to her face. His frown deepened to a scowl, carving deep grooves around his downturned mouth.

“Glad to see I finally have your attention.” His drawl screamedTexas!—like just about everything did about Texas.

“Now that I do,” he continued, “I would suggest that you refrain from starting fights outside rodeos. It’s not a good look.” He gestured to the cameras ringing them, as well as the security guards huffing in their direction. Then he nodded toward the suit that still held a brawler. “Not safe, either. Be a shame to get your head bashed in before you even get the opportunity to ride in your first rodeo...”

Nobody said it out loud, but a collective “Oooooooooo...” swept across the crowd. As far as rodeo insults went, AJ’s was palpable.

Heat darkened Lil’s cheeks.First rodeo, my ass.She gritted her teeth and held her tongue. It might be her firstPBRArodeo, but it wasn’t even her firstprofessionalrodeo, let alone her first rodeo.

They’d built the south barn with the prize money she’d won!

The hand that had been in his pocket slid out, and with it, a business card. He offered it to her.

“Good luck out there tonight, kid. Come and see us when you’re ready to get to the next level.” He sized her up once more before adding, “A piece of advice—don’t bite at bait like Hank’s. That kind of guy wins if he gets to you. Save the angry for the bull.” He tossed the last over his shoulder as he turned away, not bothering to see how his generous advice had been received.

The suit released the brawler and joined the old-timer in following AJ back along the way they came.

Lil steamed.

More like pressure-cooked.