Page 44 of The Wildest Ride

When he was done, his horses stopped circling, standing panting in three bunches, a group of two, a group of three, and a singleton.

He started with the group of three. They were already the most docile. The group of two were more standoffish but got in line with the rest soon enough. Brute strength brought in the last one, shaving off valuable extra time to come in at six-point-five minutes.

When the challenge was over, he went looking for Lil.

He found her sitting in the shade of an old barn, possibly the only shade to be had on the flat farm.

AJ said, “Great work out there. And thanks again for the advice. It worked.”

Lil jumped at the sound of his voice, gray eyes going a little too wide before she replied, “Oh yeah. No problem.”

“How’d the interview go?”

Lil frowned. “It was fine. Didn’t seem like many of the questions had anything to do with rodeo.”

“It’s not supposed to be about rodeo. They want to know about you. Your backstory. The things that tug the heartstrings.”

“Oh. Well I don’t have much of that.”

AJ laughed, “Everybody’s got that.”

Digging in, Lil shook her head. “Not me. I just ranch and that’s it.”

AJ said dryly, “You’re the first female rough stock rider to win a PBRA buckle. Lead with that.”

Lil sighed, the sound weighted with real emotion. “I’m not the first the female to love rodeo, though, and that’s really what it all comes down to—the same as every other cowboy out there.”

“With one important difference—” he began.

“My anatomy?” she cut in with disgust.

He lifted an eyebrow. “It’s about more than that and you can’t pretend otherwise. You represent something. Every time you go out there, you don’t just show them what you can do. You show them how foolish and artificial the barriers ever were to begin with.”

For a moment she was quiet, just staring at him gray-eyed and serious, as beautiful in thought and open to setting down a little bit of her stubborn as she was in the arena and on the winner’s podium.

Then she smiled, and he felt it like a warm snake uncoiling in his belly.

Humor brought honey to the whiskey of her voice when she said, “You should have done the interview for me. That was better than what I said.”

Laughing, AJ turned away, if only to give his system a break from mainlining Lil. The effect she had on him was something else. Keeping his voice casual, he replied, “What can I say? I’ve been in the game a long time.”

This time it was Lil who got a faraway look in her eye, letting out a dry scoff. “It sure seems like everywhere I turn someone is quick to remind me that I haven’t been—no matter that I’ve been riding my whole life and this isn’t my first rodeo.”

He gave her shoulder a light nudge. “Everybody loves a mystery. It’s an advantage.”

When she laughed, the sound was lukewarm and limp, not the lively thing he was coming to know and love. “In the hands of someone more skilled, maybe.” She held up her palms and looked at them. “Not as much in these ones. No sir, indeed. These hands really have no business being this far from the ranch.”

She joked, but it would be impossible to miss the thread of real weariness that wove through her words. She was out of her depth. The idea was laughable, she was doing so well, but her fear was real.

“I tell you what. How about I help you out on that front. It’s the least I could do after all your help. As long as you’re willing to take some tips and hints from an old-timer, that is.” He flashed his cheering-up grumpy women grin again and tried to ignore the feeling of triumph when a little lightning spark came back to her eyes.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, the corner of her mouth lifting, she said, “I don’t know. Depends on how yours went.”

As he wasn’t lying, the cockiness in AJ’s tone came backed by confidence. “Exactly how I planned it. Talked about CityBoyz the whole time. ‘The organization that birthed the great AJ Garza threatened with closing its doors.’”

Lil rolled her eyes but nodded. “That’s good. I’ll consider your offer. So why rodeo?”

AJ frowned. “What?”