Free The Ranger's Rodeo Rebel by Pamela Britton

breathing had quickened? Did he know she’d become frozen with anticipation as his head had lowered toward her own? It wasn’t right. They’d been talking about her twisted ex-boyfriend, for goodness’ sake. She should have sworn off men for the rest of her life, not been practically panting the first time someone new tried to kiss her.
    â€œI’ll unload the horses.” He put the truck in Park again, this time out back behind the rodeo grounds.
    â€œI’ll check in with the rodeo manager. Find out where it’s okay to set up.”
    He nodded. She waited for him to look her in the eyes, and when he didn’t, tried not to let her disappointment show as she inhaled a deep breath of pine-scented air. What a messed-up piece of work she’d turned out to be.
    But he doesn’t know about that other thing.
    And he wouldn’t, either. She would make sure of it, she vowed, heading for the rodeo office.
    â€œWell, lookee here,” said Hank Havens, a person who characterized the epitome of a rodeo man. Big hat, wide girth, cheesy smile. “If it isn’t Spider Woman in the flesh.”
    Spider Woman. The nickname he’d given her when she’d nearly had a wreck with her horse, somehow managing to hang on to the underside of her horse’s neck during the middle of a performance. That was when she’d first started out with the Galloping Girlz. She thanked the Lord it hadn’t ended badly.
    â€œHey, Hank.” She forced a smile. “Just checking in.”
    The man had the eyes of a laser scanner, and they beamed up and down, the wrinkles beneath his oversize cowboy hat deepening. “Why, you look as miserable as a herd of wet cattle.”
    She tried to muster a smile. She truly did. “Been a long drive.”
    His gray eyes narrowed, and she knew he didn’t believe her. She toyed with telling him all about James, but she hated to drag him into the whole mess. She didn’t want anyone to know how stupid she’d been.
    â€œOkay if we toss the horses in one of the stock contractor pens?” she asked.
    Hank’s big jowls quivered for a moment, as if he were about to say something. Then he smiled. “Why, sure. ’Course, honey. You don’t even have to ask.”
    She slipped outside before he could probe deeper and took a calming breath when she paused outside the portable trailer that served as the rodeo office. They were only an hour off the main highway, but it felt as if they were hours away from anywhere.
    The rodeo grounds were in a clearing ringed by tall pine trees. A massive arena was in the middle of it all. Grandstands stair-stepped their way toward the sky. It seemed like such an arbitrary location, as if God had plopped down a tiny toy rodeo play set in the middle of nowhere. Truth was, they were surrounded by a small logging town. There were homes in the hills around them, and one of the nation’s biggest sawmills was not far away. The townspeople loved their rodeo, too. They would celebrate tonight by hosting a big rodeo dance, an event Carolina always avoided like the plague.
    James stood in front of her.
    She almost screamed, realizing too late that it was actually Chance.
    â€œDid I scare you?”
    He knew he had, but she still said, “No.”
    He’d removed his hat. A red ring from the hat indented his forehead. He’d fluffed up his hair, too, and she realized he’d tried to look like her ex on purpose.
    â€œWhere’s your cat key chain?”
    â€œIn my purse. In the truck.”
    â€œGood place for it.”
    â€œI was just walking to the rodeo office.”
    â€œYou could be walking to an outhouse and be attacked, which is why you need to carry it around with you at all times,” he said sternly. “Don’t go around with your head down. Look up and survey your surroundings, and most of all, be prepared.”
    He was still angry, although not at her, she