Page 137 of Ride a Cowboy

“But you hate the idea of your brothers growing up to ride the bulls.”

“It terrifies me.”

He could understand her concerns. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think James will pursue a life on the circuit. It’s just a hobby for him. Sort of like the guys who play football in high school. They’re in it for the camaraderie, the fun, not the long run.”

Sienna added more balm to her hands, then started rubbing his other shoulder. He didn’t bother to tell her that arm was fine. Her caresses were addictive. “It’s not James I’m worried about. It’s Doug.”

“He’s young. A million things could come up between now and the time when he’s old enough to decide where he wants his life to take him.”

His words didn’t seem to comfort her. “Maybe. But maybe not. Doug’s a lot like me. Once he latches on to something, it’s next to impossible to sway him. He seems hell-bent on riding the circuit as soon as he’s old enough.”

“Does that mean you always knew you’d be a nurse?”

She nodded. “Aunt Lucy swears I came out of the womb with my future predetermined.”

Daniel wasn’t surprised. “Lucy is the aunt who is a nurse too, right?” Even after two weeks, he was still trying to put names with all the Compton faces. It was a big family.

“Yeah. She is. I used to love to follow her around when she made house calls. She’s an amazing caregiver, so compassionate, patient, kind. I spent every summer from the time I was twelve until I graduated from high school as her assistant.”

“You’re lucky.”

“How so?” she asked.

“I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life. Hell, I still don’t.”

Her hands left his shoulders, moving lower along his back. If he were a cat, he swore to God, he’d start purring. She was working her magic, alleviating every bit of tension in his body, offering him comfort, relieving the pain. Lucy was right. She was born to be a nurse.

“You didn’t always plan to ride bulls in the rodeo?”

He shook his head once, too lethargic for much more motion than that. “No. I guess I was just your typical kid, full of crazy dreams about futures that wouldn’t happen. In elementary school, I told everyone I was going to be a famous football quarterback with a handful of Super Bowl rings. Then, in middle school, I figured I’d make an awesome rock star even though I’d never picked up a guitar and my singing sounds more like frogs croaking.”

Sienna laughed. “Wow. There’s a perverse side of me that would like to hear you sing.”

Daniel grinned. “Seriously toyed with the idea of being a cop in high school, but I have an aversion to guns.”

“Really? So you aren’t a hunter?”

Daniel knew hunting was a popular form of recreation in Wyoming—for sport and for food—but he’d never felt compelled to go out and kill a defenseless creature. “Nope. Not going to shoot something that doesn’t have the ability to shoot me back. Doesn’t seem fair.”

He glanced over his shoulder in time to catch her impressed expression. “Good for you. Josh and his dad hunt all the time. Before we went off to college, they spent two weeks every fall on these big hunting excursions. The living room in his family’s home is filled with deer heads and stuffed turkeys, even a bobcat. It’s like Village of the Damned in there. Gives me the creeps.”

“I can imagine it would.” He resisted the urge to point out that if she married Josh it was likely she’d be living in her own creepy animal graveyard.

“So when did you realize you could ride the circuit?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Not sure there was an aha moment or if I just sort of fell into it. I graduated from high school and decided to take a year to travel around, see a bit more of this big-ass country of ours. I only made it as far as Colorado. Stopped off to see a rodeo. I’d participated in competitions most of my life, but in the East, it’s not quite at the same level as out here. Anyway, I was bitten. Signed up for some amateur shows, won more than I lost. Before I knew it, I was there, riding in the professional circuit. Best two years of my life.”

“And then the bull?”

“Yep. Bastard put a period to that career choice.”

Her hands stilled, but she left them lying in the middle of his back. They were warm, comforting. “So what now? You plan to be a ranch hand the rest of your life?”

He sat up, facing her. “I haven’t exactly figured that out yet.”

She shook her head, a wrinkle forming in the center of her brow. “How can you stand that?”

He chuckled. “Stand what?”

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