Page 20 of Headstrong Cowboy (Montana’s Rodeo Cowboys #2)

S omething was up with Chrissy. Ryder didn’t know what it was, but ever since he’d arrived back at the farm after getting them dinner, Chrissy had been different around him. Standoffish, almost.

He could also be reading too much into it and her distant attitude could be because of all that was going on with the farm and the repairs.

He didn’t want to let himself think she’d found out about his interest in the land, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was.

Ryder rubbed his chest in an attempt to soothe the ache developing.

“Are you in pain, Ryder?” Eunice Bloom looked over the top of her reading glasses. They were seated in the living room, and she had a book resting on her lap.

“No, I’m fine. Why?”

“You were rubbing your chest. I was worried that you might be having a heart attack.”

“Mom! Why would you say something like that?” Chrissy demanded, but she was looking at him with concern coloring her brown eyes.

“What? It’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask when you see someone rubbing their chest. I’d rather be proactive than not say something, and the unthinkable happens,” Eunice responded without any guile, as if they had this type of conversation all the time.

He shouldn’t find it amusing, considering Eunice made a valid point, but he did. “Thanks for your concern, Eunice, but I really am okay. There’s no pain.”

There was still an ache, but he wasn’t about to tell Eunice that. Besides, it was an emotional ache, not a physical one.

“Are you sure?” This came from Chrissy, who was perched on the edge of the couch, still studying him intently. At least she’d lost her distant attitude with him.

“I really am, little flower,” he murmured, loving the way her cheeks pinkened at the nickname.

“Okay.”

As much as Ryder wanted to stay there, prolong the evening, his leg was beginning to throb from the strenuous physical activity of helping Chrissy and her sisters clean up the waterlogged structures. “I should go, though. It’s been a long day, and I’m sure you’re all exhausted.”

A flash of disappointment crossed Chrissy’s features before she plastered a smile on her face, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. The distance from earlier was crawling back and Ryder wanted to claw it back, but he wasn’t sure how to when he didn’t know what was causing it.

“Thank you for helping my girls, Ryder.” Eunice went to stand, and he strode across the floor to help her from her chair.

“It was my pleasure. I’m glad I was here for you all.”

Eunice patted his cheek, as if he were her son and not a man she’d only met that day. “Not all men are happy to be given instructions on what to do.”

“This is true, but your daughters knew what needed to be done. If they hadn’t told me where things went, I would’ve made many a mistake.”

Eunice studied him, not quite believing he was telling the truth. He wasn’t flat-out lying, but he knew how to deal with flooded floors. “Hmm, anyway, I hope we’ll see you again.”

“I’m sure you will, ma’am.” If he had his hat on, he would’ve tipped it toward Eunice, but it was sitting on a peg in the mudroom off the kitchen. He would collect it on his way out.

“Mom’s right. It would’ve taken us a lot longer to get everything done if you hadn’t been here,” Chrissy commented.

He wanted to sling his arm around her shoulders and pull her close to his side.

He didn’t, though, because he wasn’t sure if she would reject his touch.

“Always. Walk me out?” he asked, not wanting to say goodbye to her in front of her mom.

He wanted a few more seconds in private with this woman.

Wanted to hold her and tell her that everything would be alright when he didn’t have a clue about what was going on to put that wariness in her eyes.

“Of course.”

With one last goodnight to Eunice, Ryder followed Chrissy out, through the kitchen and into the mudroom, where he collected his hat.

The cool fall Montana air hit them as they exited the warm house.

Chrissy rubbed her hands up and down her arms and this time, he didn’t hesitate.

He cupped her elbow and turned her so that they faced each other.

“May I?” he asked. Considering the kisses and touches they’d shared over the last couple of weeks, he didn’t want to assume that she would be happy being hugged by him.

She nodded and he pulled her close, reveling in the way she fit perfectly within his arms. Her head reached his shoulder and, as she tucked her face against his neck, he sighed and closed his eyes.

They could’ve stood there all night, for all Ryder cared. He was just so grateful to have her close to him that he wondered if he had been projecting his own misgivings about the situation all night.

“You should go back inside. It’s cold out,” he murmured after a few more moments of holding her close.

“I don’t want to. When I’m in your arms, I can forget everything that’s going on.”

Ryder didn’t know if Chrissy had set out to be so brutally honest with him, but he was glad she had. “I feel the same. Nothing seems insurmountable with you close.”

He framed her face and kissed her, pouring his growing feelings for her into the kiss. Telling her how she made his heart swell. How she took up all his thoughts when they weren’t together. They were words he couldn’t say out loud yet, but maybe he’d get the chance to—one day.

They broke apart, her mouth swollen and glistening in the moonlight. “You take my breath away, Chrysanthemum Bloom.”

“Ditto for me, Ryder Chamberlain.”

Their lips crashed together again, as if they couldn’t bear to be apart.

Which, for Ryder, was getting more and more believable with every passing second.

The second time they parted, Chrissy took a step back.

He wanted to reach out and pull her close.

Entice her into his truck so they could spend the whole night exploring each other’s bodies.

How he wanted to learn what made her sigh.

What made her laugh and what made her cry out with pleasure.

But he did none of that. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Tomorrow night is the barbecue on Main Street. Will you go with me?” Chrissy asked.

This was the second time she’d asked him out, and Ryder couldn’t deny that he liked her assertiveness. The way she went after something she wanted. That he was what she wanted was something he was grateful for. “I’d love to. I’ll come and pick you up.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that. It seems such a waste when you’re already in town. It’s easier for me to meet you there.”

Ryder didn’t want her to be the one always coming to him.

He wanted to come to her. Wanted to open his door for her and help her in.

He wanted to be able to reach out and take hold of her hand as they drove into town.

He wanted to talk with her in the privacy of the cab of his truck. “Let me do this, please?”

He withstood Chrissy’s scrutiny, and as if she could tell that he wasn’t going to budge from his stance, she gave a short nod. “Okay, I’d like that.”

“Good.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips quickly against hers. “Now get inside before you freeze and then you won’t be able to compete.”

“No, I need to compete. See you tomorrow night.”

Ryder nodded and didn’t get in his truck until he saw her standing on the back porch, her hand on the door, ready to go back inside. Once he started the truck and gave a quick wave of goodbye, she did the same and then went into the house.

I need to compete .

The words stayed with him the whole drive back to the Graff.

There was nothing untoward about them, except he thought she’d say she wanted to compete.

Or she couldn’t wait to compete. There was no excitement about the upcoming rodeo.

There was almost a sense of resignation that it was an obligation for her to compete.

Which couldn’t be right. When he’d first seen her racing around Riley’s circuit, the fire in her eyes was a combination of determination and happiness, as if being on the back of the horse was everything she’d ever wanted.

When had it changed?

Why had it changed?

The questions dogged him all the way to his room, and when he sat on the bed to pull his boots off, it hit him—the prize money.

She needed the money.

Before he’d had consistent success, he’d lived from prize money check to prize money check.

When the sponsorships came in and eased the financial strain a bit, he’d become more successful, as if the burden of needing to win had been lifted and the joy of winning became as natural to him as breathing.

Chrissy hadn’t competed for years and years. After he’d met her, and as hard as it had been, he’d looked up who were the current top barrel racers. From what he’d watched, Chrissy was right up there with her times, but practice and competing were two different beasts.

Nerves and the rush of competing affected people in different ways. Some people thrived on it and others found that it was too much. They’d given up on competing because it was too stressful, and they had little to no success because of their mixed emotions.

Had that happened to Chrissy? Was the reason she’d stopped competing because her nerves had gotten the better of her?

As soon as he thought it, he discarded it. He’d found old records that showed Chrissy had won a lot of competitions as a junior. She’d even won the Copper Mountain Rodeo when she was eighteen. That had been her last competition until now.

Ryder fell back on the bed. There was still so much they didn’t know about each other.

So much he had to tell her and so much he wanted to ask her.

He still didn’t know anything about her marriage.

Why was that? Had something bad happened in it that she didn’t want to talk about it? Or was it something else?

It looked like both of them had secrets they didn’t want to share.