Page 4 of Hooking Up

When her perfect ass hit the dirt, he reached for her. She took his hand, and he yanked her out of the way seconds before hooves pummeled the earth where she’d been lying.

His heart thumped so hard, he had no recollection of taking her out of the arena. His chest felt too tight, his adrenaline running too fast through his veins. Focusing on the feel of her soft palm against his, he fought for calm.

“Well that went better than I imagined.” Her voice was full of mischief, and she tugged her hand from his grasp.

He grasped her by the shoulders and pressed her against the wall. The building wasn’t well-lit, but a bare bulb somewhere down the passageway allowed him to see the laughter in Bella’s eyes.

Dammit, the woman had no clue what danger she’d just put herself in. She might have been killed, maimed.

“I don’t know what you were thinking getting on the back of that bull, but—”

“It was a dare.”

Quint nearly choked. “Who the hell dared you to ride that bull?” He’d better grab a shovel, because he’d be digging a grave later tonight.

Her eyes flared at his tone. “One of the guys asked me to come to his trailer after the competition.”

He dragged in a deep breath through his nose, battling fury. Bella didn’t know him, and his anger was nothing short of intense on a good day. But after seeing her being whipped…

“I said the guy couldn’t handle me. He asked who could. So I showed him.” She doubled up in laughter.

Quint couldn’t tear his gaze off her. God, she was breathtaking with those twinkling eyes and a strand of hair escaping her ponytail to graze her jaw.

Unable to resist, he pinched the tendril between his finger and thumb and swooped in to claim her lips. Her laugh died under his kiss. In a heartbeat, her surprise transformed to something bigger, hungrier. It clawed at him too, an animal waiting to be unleashed.

He plunged his tongue into her mouth and kissed her like a woman who’d just scared five years off his life deserved to be kissed—with rough passion and a craving for more.

She responded with a soft moan, which only fed his need. He dug his fingers into her back, lifting her against him. She was soft in all the right places with an underlying strength born from years of hard training.

Voices echoed down the passage, and it took everything in him to lift his head and break away from her. The burning need to show everyone who was kissing Bella was a bright spotlight inhis mind, but he knew she wouldn’t respond well to being put in such a situation.

Panting, she fell back to the heels of her boots. He hadn’t even realized she’d gone onto tiptoe to kiss him. A growl escaped him as he eased the errant strand of hair behind her ear.

“I’ll meet you right here after the competition.”

Some of her dazed expression vanished, and she shook her head. “What? No.”

“I’m your date tonight, Bella. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself before I saved you from being cut to ribbons by those hooves. I’m Quint Lopez, part of Team—”

“Fallon-Lopez, I know.” She looked a little squeamish and forced some distance between them as the passage flooded with cowboys. One called some congratulations on her ride, and she threw him a wave.

Quint lowered his head and glared. He wanted to throat-punch him.

He followed the man with a glare for a second before turning his attention back to the stunning woman in front of him. “Bella, you don’t just share a kiss with sparks like that and not even have a date with him.”

She took a step backward. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, cowboy. It was just a kiss. Same as any other kiss I’ve had today.”

He moved to trap her, but she ducked beneath his arm and made a fast getaway, leaving him to ponder how those curves would feel under him all night long.

*

Bella hadn’t been lying when she’d told Quint that his kiss was the same as any other she’d had that day—becausehis partner’s panty-melting assault had unraveled her the same exact way.

Dammit, she was slipping. Letting two guys corner her in the same day? And they were partners, for God’s sake.

She stopped walking. Had they teamed up onher? Were they playing her?

The taste of each man danced in her head. Hell, she hadn’t even eaten or brushed her teeth since Carter’s kiss, so his flavors mingled with Quint’s. She ran her tongue over her lower lip, still wet with Quint’s kiss.