Page 9 of The Undercover Cowboy

“He likes to text me.” Dolly shuddered. Blevins gave her the creeps. She made sure she was never alone with him. He pushed all her warning buttons whenever he looked at her. “Anyway, I’m sorry you got cut.”

“I don’t get it. I finally went eight seconds today.” Nash moved up to walk next to her. She hated that the innocent brush of his arm against hers threw her off her game.

“Yeah, and we need to make the most of it on social media. If we can build the excitement, Blevins might put you back on the roster for Laredo.”

“You think?”

No, she didn’t. But she smiled anyway, as if she did. “But just in case, we’re going to do a deep dive on you to see what we can get traction on. So you’re mine, cowboy, for the next hour.” Dolly realized how that sounded and did her best to cover up her embarrassment. “I’ve got footage of your ride, but we’re going to do a lot of candid shots all around Killeen today to fill out your content.”

Nash grunted sourly.

Her attraction to Nash was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. It had slowly built between them all last year when all the sniping and snarling at each other turned to a weird type of flirtation. Weird because he wanted to keep things professional and she didn’t want him to look too closely at her past, and yet both of them found reasons to be together. There was something magnetic about his tall, dark-haired figure, even when he was grumpy and introverted. But his pissy attitude grated on her nerves something fierce.

Luckily, Nash was too annoyed to catch what could have been taken as a double entendre.

“It’s bad enough I’ve got to pretend to be a cowboy in real life. Now I’ve got to make up a fake persona online as well? Are you sure this is going to help? Sounds like a waste of time to me. And I don’t have a lot of time to waste—especially if my time at the rodeos will be limited.”

“You need to get some fans buzzing about you on our pages. If you get enough interest, Shelby can make a play for you sticking around on the PR side.”

Around them, the rodeo thrummed with life. Children shrieked with delight, while the scent of sizzling barbecue mingled with the earthy tang of livestock. Cowboys milled about, their spurs chiming like an erratic melody against the thumping bass of country rock blaring from speakers. The smell of manure and hay mixed with the scents of barbecue and popcorn from nearby food trucks.

Nash’s jaw clenched, his gaze lingering on a distant pen where a bronco kicked up a fierce protest. “I think it might be too late for all that.”

“It’s never too late,” Dolly said, forcing herself to be sunshiny and upbeat when truly all she wanted to do was take him by the ear and drag him over to the hay bales.

Nash sagged in defeat. “Fine. What do you suggest we do?”

“First, let’s get some pictures of you looking like a rodeo star.”

“I’m not a rodeo star,” he said, exasperated.

She held up a hand. “We’re pretending.”

“This is stupid,” he muttered.

“Here, stand next to this pen and look cool.” Dolly watched as Nash reluctantly posed.

“Look,” he said. “I don’t mean to give you a hard time. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I get it. I’ve been fired too. A few times. It’s something that doesn’t get better the more you experience it.”

“I guess not,” he said and gave her a smile that made her heart flutter.

“Yeah, just like that,” she said softly. She took a few photos from different angles. “Okay come on, let’s find more backgrounds.”

As they walked, Dolly glanced around and when they were alone she thought it was safe enough to talk about her theories about Blevins.

“So he’s got to be involved with either illegal gambling or doping, right?” Dolly said.

“I wouldn’t put it past him. Hickory Livestock was betting on the bulls that Blevins supplied the women’s rodeo before the companies merged. I don’t see him letting an opportunity for profit to go by. But he claims he didn’t know Hickory was betting on the outcome.”

“Shelby didn’t know,” Dolly pointed out.

“My sister likes to see the good in people.”

“And you don’t?”

“Sweetheart, I know better.”

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