Page 45 of The Wildest Ride

“Why rodeo to save it? Why don’t you just make a donation? Did you lose all your money?”

AJ held a hand up to stop the barrage of questions. “One at a time,” he laughed. “First: it’s neverwhyrodeo. Rodeo is always the answer. The question is,howrodeo? Plus Henry wouldn’t take money from me directly. This way he’ll be taking it from PBRA—and he loves to do that.”

“Assuming you win...”

AJ loved it when Lil’s voice dropped like that, its general dryness taking on an intriguing depth, like a whisper with a kick—aged bourbon, or a Santa Ana wind.

A corner of AJ’s lips lifted absently. “I always win,” he said.

“That hasn’t been my experience.” She delivered the line stoically, while squinting off into the horizon, as if she were commenting on an upcoming storm.

AJ laughed out loud, if only because she was right. Having some real competition again felt great, though. It’d been a long time since he’d been given a run for his money.

Now he just needed to catch up.

Changing the subject, he asked, “So back to this interview.”

Lil frowned. “Past is past. There’s no use dwelling on what’s done.”

He loved it when she went full cowboy on him. Almost as much as he loved it when he knew more than she did, rare as that had shown to be. “Ah, ah, ah, young Padawan. There is always something to be learned from past rides. You have to have analyzed videos of your rides in training.”

Lil snorted. “Videos? Who’s got time—or money—for videos? Granddad gave me all the feedback I needed, most of it ‘needs improvement.’”

AJ smacked his palm on his forehead. “Unbelievable. Nothing is a better teacher than seeing how embarrassing your form is for yourself. I’m recording your next ride. That’s it.”

Lil laughed. “You go ahead and do that, but there won’t be anything embarrassing about my form.”

For a moment, her words hung between them, hot and heavy, until her lips parted and her pulse beat fast in her neck, and he gave them both the break they needed before things went somewhere they might not be able to control.

Clearing his throat, he chuckled, “You’re probably right about that. But that kind of talk is best saved for the locker room. I hope you went more hopeful and inspiring for your interview.”

Lil stiffened, an expression of discomfort coming to her face. “What do you mean?”

“Ranch girl with big dreams to change the world of rodeo?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows. It was the obvious angle.

Her shoulders relaxed. “Something like that.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “Did you tell them where you’re from?”

Once again she squirmed. “You mean, Muskogee?”

“No. I mean where you’ve been to get to be so good? Where you learned moves I’ve never seen or heard of.”

“And you’ve been everywhere?” Lil asked.

“Just got back.” He grinned.

Lil smiled and AJ’s gaze caught on her lips.

What was going on with him? She’d proven time and again he couldn’t afford any distractions. And he knew from personal experience just how distracting her lips could be.

“Obviously not everywhere,” she said.

“Where’d I miss?”

“The middle of nowhere.” She lifted an eyebrow at him. “Youradviceis starting to sound a lot like spying.”

His answering grin was as unrepentant as it was bold. “I need every advantage I can get when it comes to you.” The sad thing was, it was true.