Page 47 of A Cowboy Of Her Own

“I have to sign in for the bull riding. I’ll meet you at our seats. You remember where I told you they are?”

“Yep. I’ll see you in a while then.” She waved and walked through the barns where the animals were kept, snapping pictures as she moved through the buildings, and then out into the crowd again.

The aromas of funnel cakes, popcorn, and cotton candy filled her nose and screams cut the air from the midway rides as she made her way to the arena. She located their seats and sat down in front of the Callahan family. Lucy tapped her on the shoulder and smiled at her. Reid was sitting beside her with Zeke on his lap. In the row in front of her sat the women she’d met earlier. They all smiled at her andseemed very nice. It was a hot day and even hotter in the arena. She raised her camera and took pictures of the crowd and each event. Roark soon joined her and sat close next to her explaining each event to her.

“Next up is barrel racing. Jaxon is in this event. Reid was supposed to be but Lucy told him she didn’t want him in it in case he got hurt before the wedding.”

“You got that right. I would seriously be pissed if Reid got hurt right before the wedding,” Lucy said from behind her shoulder.

“I’ve seen barrel racing on TV and always thought it looked so fast.” Priscilla was fascinated with everything around her.

“It is. Emma used to do it until she had kids. Mostly women compete in it now, but Jax does it for fun. He has a horse that moves like a rocket. Zander can fly around those barrels.” She looked at him and their eyes met—and held.

“Jaxon’s up next, in case you weren’t paying attention,” Reid said from over their shoulders.

“I’m paying attention,” Roark snapped at his friend, clearing his throat and looking out over the staging area.

Reid laughed. “Sure you are.”

“Watch this,” Roark told her pointing to where Jaxon had ridden out on a black horse. The only colors on the horse were from the silver streamers hanging from the saddle.

Priscilla moved to the edge of her seat and watched as Jaxon rode the horse around the first barrel then ran for the second one and cleared it then on to the third one and after clearing it too, raced for the back of the arena. The crowd roaredwhen the announcer gave his time.

“Was that good?” Priscilla asked.

“It was great.” Roark stood. “I need to get down there and get ready. You can come down in a few minutes to see how it’s all done.”

“All right,” Priscilla said smiling but once he walked away, she slumped back on the bench.

How was she going to do this? She was scared to death something might happen to him. It had never mattered before because she hadn’t known him but now she did, and she was in love with him. She was… she was definitely in love with Roark Callahan. Her insides shook with nerves. She didn’t want to see anyone get hurt but especially someone she loved.

Standing, she moved to head toward the railing but only got a few rows down before she took a seat. She’d been thinking about it for days now, and it all terrified her. He hadn’t said anything. They’d agreed to be casual, but now she wanted more. He hadn’t said anything about how he might feel about her. She was so afraid of getting her heart broken. When it came time to leave, would she be able to walk away from him? Her heart hurt just thinking about it. If he does love her, could she deal with him continuing to ride bulls? No. She knew she couldn’t. It would be hard enough watching him ride now.

“Hey.”

She looked up to see Roark standing on the metal steps beside the bench she sat on.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah?You’re supposed to be down there with me if you want pictures and all. And why did you move down away from the family?”

“Because I didn’t want your family to see me make a fool out of myself by throwing up.”

Roark chuckled. “Come with me, darlin’. You’ll be fine. You might even enjoy watching me ride.” He leaned down and took her hand then led her down the steps.

She tugged on his hand and when he turned to look at her, she raised her camera and took his picture. She knew this picture would be the one she’d always cherish. Smiling at him, she nodded for him to go and she followed him down the steps to the back of the arena where other cowboys stood around waiting for their turn to ride.

“I’m up next so you might want to get up on the rail to get some pictures.”

“All right,” she said in a trembling voice.

“Aww, sweetheart, I’ll be fine,” Roark said and kissed her forehead then walked away from her.

The butterflies in her stomach were going crazy. She was so afraid she was going to be sick and look like a real idiot.

“Priscilla?”

She turned to see Devin standing beside her. “Hi, Devin.”

---