The Cowboy Way Read online

  She studied Jake. He was clean-shaven. She looked for signs of a hangover, but his eyes were bright and clear. He tipped his hat back with a thumb, a gesture she had seen more than once. It was as if he were saying “Look me over. I don’t care.”

  So she looked.

  “Kev’s not bothering me. I enjoy his company.”

  “That may be true, but Kevin shouldn’t have left the cabin without letting me know.”

  “He said he didn’t want to wake you, and that you were snoring up a storm.” Jake chuckled.

  “I certainly do not snore!” Beth protested.

  “Mom, you were sucking the walls in.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. Running a hand through her hair, she realized that it was tangled. In spite of the cold, she felt a warm flush as Jake Dixon’s blatant gaze swept over her again.

  “Mr. Dixon, may I impose on you to watch Kevin a while longer while I get dressed?”

  “Of course. I’m just going to let Kevin walk Killer around the paddock. Take your time.”

  “Be careful, Kevin. Nothing fancy, okay? And listen to Mr. Dixon.”

  “I will. I will.” His voice had that “quit nagging me” tone to it, but she couldn’t help herself. She always worried.

  As she was about to go back into the cabin, Emily Dixon turned the corner and waved to her. “Beth, you’re just the person I’m looking for.”

  “Good morning, Emily.” She slumped over in another attempt to make her nightgown appear longer. “Please come inside. I need to get dressed.”

  “Good morning, boys.” She gave Kevin and Jake a wave. Turning back to Beth, she said, “Stay put. I’ll make it quick. I need another volunteer for the overnight campout, a woman to assist the girls in the program. Now, I know you are on vacation, and you need a break from— Well, I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. Can you help us out?”

  “Certainly,” she said without hesitation. If she was assisting Wheelchair Rodeo, she could keep an eye on Kevin.

  “But, Mrs. Dixon, my mom doesn’t know how to ride,” Kevin said. “She won’t be able to go on the trail ride and campout.”

  “I can take care of teaching your mother how to ride,” Jake said.

  His blue eyes sparkled in the morning sun like twin sapphires. She didn’t particularly want to be in Jake Dixon’s company all that much. In just the short time she’d known him, she was already feeling a pull toward him. And now she was having erotic dreams about him. Why?

  He was stirring up feelings that she hadn’t known she had, as well as fears about Brad and his drinking that she’d tried to bury, along with her husband.

  She saw an amused look on Emily Dixon’s face. It was as if she knew that Beth was trying to fight an attraction to Jake.

  “Thank you, son.” Emily kissed Jake on the cheek as she walked by him, then she was off down the path that led to the ranch house. “Breakfast is still being served in the mess hall, Beth,” she said over her shoulder as she disappeared around the corner.

  Beth was suddenly too nervous to eat. “I’ll be ready in a half hour,” she said to Jake. “I guess I should pick out a horse.”

  “I’ll pick one out for you if you’d like,” Jake said.

  She nodded and turned to go into the cabin, then turned back. “Jake? Mr. Dixon?”

  “Yes, ma’am?” He waited patiently for her to continue.

  She didn’t know if she could ask the question she wanted to without sounding like a fool. But what the heck? “Do you have a black horse with four white socks?”

  He studied her as if trying to figure out the reason for her request. To his credit, he didn’t laugh. “I believe I do.”

  Well, she was in this far, she might as well let him think she was completely out of her mind. “Do you have a horse with four white socks named Thunder, by any chance?” she asked.

  “Thunder?” He raised an eyebrow.

  His eyes met hers. The moment hung between them and then he smiled. A look of gentle understanding crossed his tanned face.

  “Yeah. Yes. I do have a horse named Thunder. And he has four white socks.”

  She knew he wasn’t telling the truth, but the white lie moved him up a couple of notches in her estimation.

  “Could I have that horse?” she asked.

  “Sure.”

  Smiling, she hurried into the cabin and shut the door. Leaning against it, she clamped a hand over her mouth to control the giddiness that bubbled up from somewhere. She felt happy, euphoric, as if she were flying. She released her hand and her laughter overflowed.

  Maybe her strange mood was due to her relief that Kevin was okay. Maybe it was because she was going to ride a horse after all these years. Maybe it was because she got a good night’s sleep. But it was not, definitely not, because she had dreamed about Jake all night, then awoken to see him so attentive toward her son.

  Kevin would have memories that he’d cherish forever, and she’d always be grateful to Jake Dixon for that.

  She was glad that she was going to help out with Wheelchair Rodeo. Since they’d both received a “scholarship” to WR, it gave her the opportunity to contribute something to the program. WR was something special.

  She rushed to her room, plucked a pair of jeans and a T-shirt out of her suitcase and hurried to the shower.

  Twenty minutes later, refreshed and dressed, she stepped out onto the porch of her cabin. She walked toward the barn and saw Jake sitting on the corral fence, waiting for her.

  Jake felt Beth’s gaze on the back of his neck, watching his every move with Kevin. A prickle of irritation shot through him. What did she think he was going to do? Toss the boy, wheelchair and all, into his pickup and hit the honky-tonks?

  Finally, with her reluctant permission, he handed Kevin and Killer over to bronc rider K.C. Morris and sent them to the Chisholm Trail, a short, easy walking path that meandered behind the dining hall and the bunkhouse, then circled back to the barn.

  That would be enough for Kevin for the day. He was using new muscles, and Jake didn’t want to overwhelm the little guy. Then K.C. could help Kev unsaddle Killer, brush him down and clean the tack.

  “There isn’t anything K.C. doesn’t know about kids or horses,” he reassured Beth. “He comes from a family of nine kids and owns some of the finest horses in Texas.”

  That didn’t seem to impress her. It was Kevin’s hopeful “Please, Mom?” that did it.

  Jake felt sorry for the kid. Although he liked the thought that Beth would be helping out on the overnight, she was a bit too overprotective and stifling. He’d bet his last saddle that Kevin needed a break from her.

  And she needed to relax.

  As Kevin disappeared behind the pines, she bit her nails.

  “You’re next,” Jake said, jumping down from the fence. He winced from the pain.

  “Maybe when Kevin comes back.”

  “Beth, Kevin’s fine. He’s on a short, easy walking trail that we call the Chisolm Trail. I guarantee he’s having the time of his life. C’mon, it’s your turn. You’re going to love the horse I picked out for you.”

  He gave a shrill whistle and a horse came trotting over. He watched Beth’s face for her reaction. It was just as he’d expected. She broke into a big grin, and he swore she was going to jump right out of her skin.

  Sidewinder, with his two white socks, belonged to his friend Dan Montague’s son, Danny. Luckily, they’d loaned the gentle horse to Wheelchair Rodeo, along with several others they’d raised on their neighboring spread. Jake had painted two more socks on Sidewinder with white shoe polish. Beth’s bright eyes and grin told him that it was well worth the trouble.

  “She’s a beauty, Jake. I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “She’s a ‘he.’” He shook his head. “I can see my work is cut out for me!”

  “What’s his real name?”

  “Thunder.”

  “No. Really—”

  “Thunder,” Jake insisted. “And he’s ready for s
ome exercise. Let’s go saddle him up.”

  Jake opened the corral door for Beth. As Thunder nudged Beth’s shirt pocket with his nose, she stepped back laughing.

  He took her hand and dropped some sugar cubes onto her palm. “Flat on your hand.”

  “I remember.”

  His hand skimmed hers, and he felt as if he’d gone eight seconds with Prickly Pear again. When she looked up at him with her glittering green eyes, he felt as if he were free-falling. Sooner or later he knew he’d hit the ground and eat dirt.

  Why couldn’t he just walk away from Beth Conroy? He understood why he was drawn to her son. He saw the man he used to be in Kevin’s adoring eyes—not an over-the-hill, washed-up bull rider who’d been keeping the Justin Sports Medicine Program busy. Hell, Beth was everything he didn’t need—overprotective, stifling and bossy.

  He didn’t know the answer, but he was going to push it out of his mind and concentrate on Wheelchair Rodeo for now. If it killed him, he was going to be on top again. He’d win his event this Saturday, the Jake Dixon Gold Buckle Challenge. Then he’d pick up the PBR tour in August. He’d win the bull-riding Finals in Vegas in October. Maybe after that, he’d retire. Then again, maybe not.

  But if he did, he would retire a winner.

  “I’ll show you how to saddle and bridle your horse,” Jake said.

  Beth signaled her muscles to relax and not bunch. A nervous giggle escaped. She tried to cover it with a cough.

  “I’d bet my boots that you’ve never saddled a horse before,” Jake said.

  “Hope your socks are clean, because I’m going to win your boots.” She reached up and petted Thunder. “I did saddle a horse—once—many years ago. And I certainly read enough books about it when I was a kid. It’s probably like riding a bike. “

  “Don’t worry. I’m not going to let you do it alone, not the first time—but you’ll learn. Just like Kevin will learn. So will the rest of the kids who are cleared to ride. They’ll get a lot of help, and they’ll do what they can.”

  His hands moved to her waist. She jumped. He was only getting her into position, but her heart pumped hard, sending heat through her veins. His touch was harmless, not intimate at all. Yet it had been a long time since a man other than Brad had touched her. Every nerve in her body was humming.

  Jake lifted an orange-and-gray blanket that was draped over a metal stand and handed it to her. “Put that on his back. It’s made of heavy wool—cushions the horse from saddle sores and absorbs the sweat.”

  She took the blanket and placed it on Thunder.

  “Now the saddle. It weighs about thirty-five pounds. Can you handle it?”

  “Kevin weighs much more than that, and I lift him.”

  He felt the muscles in her upper arm and grinned. “I’m impressed. You’re a tough lady.”

  “I just do what I have to.”

  The smile left his face. “It must be difficult for you.”

  “He’s my son.”

  “If you don’t mind me saying so, you overprotect him.”

  She stared at him until she finally found her voice. “What gives you the right to judge me, Mr. Dixon?”

  “I can tell that—”

  “Do you have a degree in child psychology?” She picked up the saddle and flung it on Thunder’s back. She could have flung Jake Dixon up there, too.

  “I see you—”

  “Mr. Dixon, what I think you need to do is concentrate on roping and riding the range and doing whatever else a cowboy does. Leave the child rearing to someone who has a child to rear.”

  “How do you know I don’t have a child? Or a good dozen of them?”

  “All your publicity says…” A vein pumped on his temple. She’d hit a nerve.

  “Don’t believe everything you read,” he snapped. He took a couple of deep breaths and pushed his hat back. “Look, Beth, I didn’t mean to upset you. I was only going to say that you need to give the kid and yourself a break.”

  Maybe she was too overprotective of Kevin, but that was because she was determined not to let anything more happen to her son. She realized that she couldn’t guarantee she’d be able to keep him safe forever, but she could sure as hell try.

  “Let’s get back to the lesson,” she said.

  He held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll drop it.” He grinned. “For now.”

  “Forever.”

  He moved his hat back to its usual position. “Lift the left stirrup and hook it over the horn. Good. Grab the cinch strap. Good. Pull it through. Good. You got it. Nothing to it. Now tighten it up. Harder.”

  She grunted and tightened the strap as much as she could. She wasn’t a weakling. After the accident she had developed muscles that she hadn’t known she had.

  “Now what?”

  Jake gripped the saddle horn and jerked it. “Not good enough. Thunder puffed himself up.”

  “He did what?”

  “He doesn’t like being cinched, so he swells himself up. Brace yourself with a knee against his ribs—” he pointed “—about here.”

  “I can’t do that!”

  “It won’t hurt him.”

  “I still can’t do it.”

  “Okay.” He nudged Thunder with a knee. “Don’t make me get ugly in front of the lady, horse. She adores you. Knock it off.”

  Jake easily tightened the cinch another few inches.

  “Good boy.” Jake fed him a piece of carrot and turned to Beth.

  He handed her a bridle. “Go for it.”

  She stared down at the leather and metal in her hand, then at Thunder’s big yellow teeth. “I guess you can keep your boots on after all. I don’t remember this part.”

  “Hold the bridle like this, and slip it under his chin and up over his eyes like this.”

  She tried to concentrate as he demonstrated, but instead she noticed the faint scar that started just below Jake’s ear and ran to his jaw.

  “This is a split-ear bridle. It goes around each ear. The bit rests forward in the horse’s mouth.”

  He stopped as Thunder’s mouth opened. “See? Thunder’s used to it. He knows what to do even if you don’t.”

  “Thank goodness.”

  “You ready to try it?”

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  “Relax. He’s not going to bite you.”

  His arms wrapped around her from behind. She could feel every hard muscle, every mountain and valley of his body against hers. His crotch bumped against her backside. She tried not to notice.

  Oh, sure.

  He helped her guide the bridle into place. “See? Nothing to it,” he said.

  Why am I so warm?

  She turned and found herself staring at Jake’s full lips. They turned up into a sly grin.

  He was so close, so overwhelmingly masculine, and she had a strong desire to get away from him. She stepped back.

  “Drop ’em.”

  “What?”

  “Drop the reins to the ground. Thunder’s a cattle horse. He’s trained to stand still when the reins are dropped to the ground.”

  She just couldn’t think around him, and she hated to feel so out of control, so disjointed. “Oh. You want me to drop the reins.”

  She did as instructed. Thunder stood as still as a statue in a park.

  “Ready to ride?”

  She nodded, feeling like she was a kid again. She was at the horse barn at the state fair. Only this time, the horse was hers.

  He patted the horse’s neck. “Cowboy up!”

  Her cheeks were flushed. Jake suspected it was because he made her nervous and she wasn’t particularly fond of him. But perhaps she was just excited about riding the horse.

  She sucked in a deep breath. “I guess this is how Kevin feels. Maybe he’s more like me than I’ve given him credit for.”

  “Ah, so you’re a cowgirl at heart?”

  “When I was a girl, I wanted a horse more than anything in the world.” She petted Thunder’s neck. “We lived in a tract h
ouse, so there wasn’t enough land for a horse. Even if my father had bought one, he couldn’t afford to stable it.”

  Jake couldn’t imagine growing up without horses and cattle. He needed wide-open spaces. “Out here, just about every kid grows up with a horse, or dozens of them.”

  “This means a lot to me. How can I thank you, Mr. Dixon?”

  “By calling me Jake, for heaven’s sake.”

  She started to protest, then her jaws shut. “Okay.”

  He let out a long, low whistle. “Finally.”

  He held Sidewinder’s…er…Thunder’s reins and lightly touched her arm. “Up you go.”

  Jake gave her a gentle push on her cute behind. She landed in the saddle and grinned down at him. “It’s pretty high up here.”

  “You’ll get used to it.” He handed her the reins, and she took them. She clutched the saddle horn, her knuckles turning white. “Relax, Beth. Take a deep breath and relax. Thunder won’t do anything stupid.”

  She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “But I’m afraid I might.”

  “I personally tested him for Wheelchair Rodeo. He’s a good, calm horse. Just relax and enjoy.”

  He showed her how to hold the reins. “I’m just going to lead him around the corral until you get used to the motion.”

  “Ramon!” He cupped his hands and shouted to a group of cowboys who were watching intently. “As long as you’re just sitting there looking pretty, would you mind saddling Lance for me?”

  One of them jumped down from the fence. “You got it, bro.”

  Jake continued to walk Thunder around the corral. She noticed that the more they circled, the worse Jake limped. No doubt the loose soil was taking a toll on whatever was wrong with him.

  “I’m comfortable now, Jake. I can see you limping. Wait until Ramon brings your horse out.”

  “Move forward in the saddle.”

  “Huh?”

  “Move forward.”

  She did, and before she could blink, Jake had swung a leg up behind her and they were both sitting on the saddle. His arms and thighs were tight around her and she felt him snug against her bottom.