Page 10 of The Undercover Cowboy

It gave her the shivers when he called her that, even if she knew he didn’t mean anything by it. When he first came to the rodeo, she thought he was just some shady cowboy. But then he stood by her sister Reba and believed that she had been innocent last year when some bulls tested positive for enhancement drugs. Reba was one of the veterinarians that the UPRC kept on staff.

When Shelby had trusted Reba and Dolly with the knowledge that her brother was undercover, Dolly decided to cut Nash some slack. But not that much slack. She still had a job to do. “Do you miss being a Fed?”

“No comment,” he said.

“Oooh, touched a nerve, did I?” But he didn’t look like he was in the mood for teasing. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to pry. Just trying to get to know you.”

“Why?”

“It makes my job easier.” And she was borderline obsessed with him. It wasn’t pretty, but she found herself taking more pictures than necessary of him. She wanted to get to know himbetter, but she had been holding herself back because if he decided to investigate her, he’d come up with an eyeful. And she didn’t want him to know about the poor choices she had made. Not until she was sure he wouldn’t judge her for them.

“Yeah, but you’re not trying to promote me: Nash Weaver, former Fed. You’re trying to make Nash Weaver, shitty bull rider, go viral. All you have to do is lie.”

The way he said lie—like it was “murder” or “kick a kitten”—made her uncomfortable. “It’s not lying to create a good story.”

“Yes, it is.”

It took everything she had not to come back with, “No, it isn’t.” Because she could seriously see them taunting each other like a couple of toddlers. She decided to change the subject. “What have you got on Blevins?”

“Nothing actionable.” He shifted his weight and glanced around the rodeo grounds, eyes narrowing. “But he’s got something on Victor Lance that’s making him clam up and take the blame for doping up Sverre last season.”

“Vanessa is going to push for manslaughter,” Dolly said. Vanessa Sunderland was Ronnie’s widow. “It was hard enough to get her to lay off putting Sverre down.” Sverre was her brother-in-law’s bull. Shane agreed to put him out to pasture, and once the bull had a year of clean health, he was planning on selling him out to stud.

“Maybe when it gets more real for him, Lance will cut a deal.”

“What if he doesn’t?” she asked.

“Then I’ll catch Blevins on something else. I have a feeling that there’s something suspicious about the stock contractors he’s hand selected.”

“Well, you can cross Shane Calland and the Viking Ranch off your list,” she said, trying not to let her anger show.

“Ooh touched a nerve, did I?” Nash used her own words against her.

She just wanted to smack him sometimes. “They have nothing to do with whatever illegal shit Blevins is up to.”

“Why? Because your sister Reba is going to marry Shane?”

“Yes,” she said honestly. “You know from all the nonsense that went on last year that Shane wouldn’t do anything to harm his bulls. And Reba hates Blevins after that ‘Killer on a Killer’ event he wanted to do, showcasing LeAnn riding Sverre.” Their sister LeAnn’s nickname was Killer Keller and Sverre had just killed Ronnie Sunderland. Blevins’s bright idea had been to capitalize on that. That was when Dolly became invested in taking the son of a bitch down.

“I haven’t crossed anyone off the list yet.”

The urge to shove him into a nearby pile of horseshit was almost overwhelming. But then she realized it was better if she just tormented him with social media.

“Keep posing and smiling for these pictures. Can you undo a few buttons on your shirt? And maybe take that stick out of your ass?” She pretended not to notice the irritated glare he shot her way.

“Dolly, come here,” she heard her sister Reba call out to her.

The midday sun beat down on the rodeo grounds, casting long shadows behind the barns and animal pens. Dolly shielded her eyes with a hand, scanning the area until she spotted Reba.

“I’m a little busy.”

“Don’t put your sister off on my account,” Nash said. “We can be done here.”

“Not yet we’re not,” she said. “Let’s go see what she wants.”

“Why do I have to go?”

“I don’t know. Maybe there’ll be a clue as to what Blevins is up to over there?”

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