Free Riding the Line by Kate Pearce Page A

shy on me? You certainly weren’t shy last night when I ate that chocolate right out of your . . .’
    ‘More coffee, sir?’
    Dakota held up his mug. ‘Sure, thanks.’ He waited until the waitress retreated before focusing back on Robyn who was eating her omelet as if her life depended on it. For someone so tough, she sure had a sensitive side. He couldn’t resist needling her. ‘Why are you so edgy this morning anyway?’
    ‘As I said yesterday, Dakota. This is just how I am. Get used to it.’
    ‘And who are you, exactly?’ She glared at him but didn’t answer. ‘I don’t even know your real surname.’
    ‘Maybe I don’t have one.’
    He chuckled. ‘Yeah, like Sting or Madonna. Somehow I don’t buy that.’
    She avoided his gaze, stabbing her fork into the crust of her toast as if it was her enemy.
    ‘You crept out of that motel room this morning like you expected to be surrounded by the police. Did you rob a bank or something? Are we going to turn up on America’s Most Wanted in one of those car chases?’
    ‘I am not wanted by the police, OK?’
    ‘So what are you running from?’
    ‘You if you don’t shut up.’
    ‘Hell, no. I’m saving you, right? I’m your ride out of town.’
    Robyn set her jaw. ‘I am not running away from anything. I’m trying to get back to LA.’
    He watched her face, leant across to stroke her luscious lower lip. ‘Tell me what’s going on, honey. I promise I won’t be shocked whatever it is.’
    ‘There you go again. Trying to save me.’ She got to her feet. ‘I just need a ride in your truck, not a white knight on his horse.’
    Dakota kept his seat and stared up at her. ‘Good thing I don’t have Tommy with me then. Crazy horse has always wanted to be in a fairy tale.’
    Robyn raised her gaze skyward as if seeking divine help. ‘I’m going back to the motel.’
    ‘Fine, I’m going to check in at the garage and see if they can fix my truck. I’ll meet you back at the room.’
    She slipped past the waitress and went out the door leaving Dakota to his coffee and his thoughts.
    He’d tried to keep his tone light, unwilling to have yet another fight before he’d even digested his breakfast. Something was going on with her and he was determined to find out what it was. She was running all right. Part of him wished she had the courage to share her troubles with him.
    Through the window, he watched her pick her way across the dusty sun-streaked street, sunglasses on the end of her upturned nose, braid over one shoulder. Despite her surroundings she looked as if she walked off a fashion runway or a red carpet. Dakota frowned. Where had he seen her before? And how was he supposed to help her if she refused to let him? Did he really want to open that particular can of worms?
    They were only road-trip buddies, after all. He sensed she was just having fun with him and that was what he wanted, right? He had way too much on his plate to contemplate any kind of serious relationship. But he wanted her with an intensity that shook him to his boots.
    He drained his coffee and looked around for the waitress. Next week he had the Prairie Dawg Boots TV ad to shoot, and then he had to go check on his horses for the upcoming rodeo season. And yeah, he was supposed to be writing his thesis proposal for his master’s degree in rangeland ecology.
    He sighed deeply, paid the bill and headed out the door. His rodeo friends thought he was nuts going back to college when he could earn a good living as a cowboy. But Dakota had no intention of ending up injured and out of the sport like his brother Jay had, needing to find another career fast. He was going to be an overeducated employed cowboy if it killed him.
    To his relief, the doors to the garage were open and the sound of country music echoed through the old timber-framed building. Dakota made his way across the oil-stained floor to an elderly guy dressed in grubby overalls bent over an engine.
    ‘Good morning, are you Mr