Page 34 of Cowboy Stolen Kiss for Christmas

“That doesn’t justify what Oak did.” Nash’s jaw tightened. “I’ll be having a sit-down with Roman over this. Angel, too.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Roman jogged down the ramp to catch up with them. “We’re gonna handle this just as soon as we locate Oak.”

But their newest wrangler was no longer in the theater. He’d emptied out his work locker, and his truck was missing from the parking lot.

He was gone.

Five minutes earlier

Laura collapsed in her seat as the crowd roared around her and her sister. She could barely breathe. Something had gone terribly wrong out there in the ring. She’d never before seen Ames turn so white beneath his tan. Sure, he’d played it off like the whole bronco bucking routine was part of the show, but she knew better. His horse had never jerked around so crazily before. It was like he was possessed or something.

Lucy jumped up and down in excitement beside her. Glancing down, she finally noticed that Laura had taken a seat.

She plopped down in the seat beside Laura, shouting to be heard. “What’s wrong?”

Laura shook her head, still too shaken to speak.

Frowning, Lucy angled her head like she was ready to leave. “Let’s get out of here.” The crowd was finally starting to quiet down a little. “Show’s almost over, anyway.”

Laura stood on knees that felt shaky. She whipped out her cell phone as they exited the amphitheater and shot off a text to Ames.

Are you okay?

His response came back in seconds. I’m good. Where are you?

She hoped that meant he had time to see her before they took off. Heading to the Jeep. And you?

Lucy glanced her way as they headed for the Jeep. “You chatting it up again with your not quite a boyfriend?”

Laura frowned at her phone screen. “I’m trying to figure out what happened to his horse.”

Her sister gave her an incredulous look. “Ames dug in his heels and made him jump a little. It was just for show.”

“No, it was more than that. Something was wrong.” Laura was sure of it. Her stomach was still in knots over it. “Didn’t you see the look on his face?”

“No. I was too busy watching his horse. He was really going to town, wasn’t he?”

“He was out of control,” Laura snapped.

Lucy blinked in surprise. “Ames and his brothers are champion bronc riders. He was in complete control out there. Trust me.”

Was he? Laura was far from an expert on horses, but she was pretty good at reading Ames, and her gut was telling her that something hadn’t gone right for him in the ring tonight.

The Personnel Only door flew open in the back of the building. Ames appeared, scanning the parking lot. Flint was right beside him.

Laura waved both arms at them. “Over here,” she called.

The two cowboys jogged in their direction.

Ignoring Flint, Laura flew up to Ames and threw her arms around him, burying her face against his shoulder. She was overwhelmed with gratitude that he was safe.

He lifted her feet off the ground, spinning her in a full circle before setting her down again. “Thanks for coming tonight,” he muttered huskily against her hair.

She couldn’t believe he was pretending like everything was okay when she knew it wasn’t. “Are you hurt?” She anxiously ran her hands up and down his arms.

“Nope.” He hugged her close again.

“What happened out there?” She leaned back in his embrace to gaze up at him, silently begging him to tell her the truth.

---