Page 18 of My Rancher Valentine

“I’m done.” I opened the door and jumped down.

“Wait.” He followed me out. “Where are you going?” He came around to meet me at the front of his car.

“I was going home, but someone forced me to spend the night here.” I tilted my head.

“In my room?”

“In Maddie’s room.”

Beau let out a breath, and his lips split into a smile. “Good. I’ll walk you there.”

“I can find my way.” I turned for the entrance. He raced up behind me and kept up until we reached Madison’s door.

“Do I at least get a goodnight kiss?”

I knocked and waited until she opened the door. “I would, but I think we’ve done enough performing for today.” I smiled. “Have a good night.” I let the door close behind me.

The bad thing about rooming with a rodeo rider is that they wake up before the sun has even rolled over and hit the snooze button. If I had gone home, I would have had to be up early, but this was the wrong side of the clock early.

Maddie tiptoed around the room as if the shower hadn’t woken me up already. Personally, I didn’t understand how she was even functional. We had stayed up for another hour or so after I showed up last night, talking about everything that happened yesterday.

“Leave it to Beau to think this was a good idea.” Maddie had laughed through most of my story. “Actually, this whole thing sounds like something my idiot brother would have thought up too. No wonder they are friends.”

The more I told her, the harder she laughed. I didn’t tell her about the kiss. I wasn’t sure why exactly I decided to keep it to myself, but I did.

I sat up and stretched. “I’m up.” I figured I’d go ahead and let her know so she could move freely.

“Oh, good.” Her shoulders dropped. “I was wondering if I needed to wake you up to see if you wanted to ride with us to the arena.”

“Well, crap.” I dropped my head into my hands. I had forgotten that my car wasn’t downstairs. Yet another thing I could blame Beau for. If he hadn’t been so heavy-handed, I would be at home and comfy in my bed, still fast asleep.

“What the hell am I going to wear?” I shook my head. “I can’t interview the people from last night in the same outfit.”

“Why not?”

I looked back up. “Cause it would look tacky.”

“To rodeo guys?” Maddie rolled her eyes. “Some of them have been around the bulls so long they still smell like shit. Most of them probably wouldn’t even notice if you wore the same thing every time you interviewed them.”

“But I’d know,” I argued, even though she was probably right. “And what if I run into the guys from Patchwork Leather? How am I supposed to explain not changing?”

The corner of Maddie's lip rose. “Smile bashfully and leave it to their imagination.” She chuckled. “That should sell the fake engagement.”

“Not helping.”

She kept laughing. “I can give you a shirt, but there’s no way you are going to fit my pants.”

She wasn’t wrong. Maddie was like supermodel tall, which worked, considering she was supermodel beautiful too. I wasn’t tiny, but I’d have to cut her pants a good three to five inches to fit.

“That could maybe work.” I thought about it. If most of the guys wouldn’t notice if I had on the same outfit, then they definitely wouldn’t notice the same pants.

“Sure.” She lifted her bag onto the bed. “Feel free to wear anything, and you can use whatever you need in the bathroom.”

“Thanks, Maddie.” I stood and headed in to start getting ready. If I was going to ride with her and her brother I needed to get a move on.

A knock sounded right after I stepped into the other room. Since I was closer, I reversed out and opened the door to see Beau standing there with a smile.

“Good morning, Kitten. I hope you slept well.”

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