Page 18 of Filthy and Fierce

He rubs his belly. “Well, ya know, there’s a few guys that want to have dinner with the legend.”

Faith rolls her eyes. “Oh, you humble guy…”

Charlie just raises his shoulders in a shrug. “What? It was their words, not mine.”

Faith laughs. “I bet.”

I force myself to look away from Faith because there’s no hiding my feelings from her or her dad, but Faith and I need to talk before anything.

Charlie puts a hand on Faith’s shoulder. “I can skip the dinner, though, and you and I can go out.”

Faith waves him off. “No way. I can entertain myself, Dad.”

“Come with us,” Charlie encourages her.

But she’s shaking her head. “No, really, Dad, I didn’t sleep much last night, and I could honestly get some food from a tent or a truck and go straight to bed.”

Charlie’s eyes widen, and he looks suspiciously from Faith to me. Shit, he’s putting things together. Faith said almost the exact same thing I said to him about getting no sleep last night. “Okay, well, I’m off to celebrate. I’ll see you two in the morning.”

I avoid Faith’s gaze completely and slap her dad on the back. “Call me if you get into trouble tonight, ol’ man! Don’t make me bail you out again.”

Faith gasps, and I realize my mistake. She must not have heard this story. Well, I’ll hear about it later. Right now, I’mgoing to get as far away as I can from Faith because there’s no way I can be around her and just act like there’s nothing between us.

Tucker Yates stops me. He’s the number one bull rider in the state. He’s a single dad that is busy raising a son while also riding the circuit. “Congratulations on your ride today.”

I nod. “Just the first round. Good luck to you. I hear you drew Warrior. He’s a mean son of a bitch.”

Tucker nods. “Yeah, but I got him.”

I’m about to ask him about his son when another cowboy comes up to talk to him. I pat him on the back, wish him luck again, and then walk away.

I’m almost to the exit when Karla stops me. She puts her hands on my shoulders, pressing her breasts against me. I grab her hands and hold them away from me. I obviously have it bad because I don’t want Karla touching me. Hell, the only woman I want to touch me is Faith Allen—the one woman I shouldn’t want.

“Karla,” I say, blowing out a breath. “I’m not interested.”

She flinches but recovers quickly. She’s a woman who is not used to being told no, so I’m fully expecting a tantrum, a scene, or worse. She rubs against me. “You know how good we are together, Dixon.”

I laugh, trying to take the bite out of my refusal. “Sorry, Karla. I need to focus on my ride tomorrow.” I put her away from me. “I’m not interested.”

She gasps, and her mouth falls open. “Fine, but we both know you’ll be crawling back to me at the next circuit. We’re explosive together, and you know it.”

She leans up and presses a kiss to my lips, and I jerk away. It all happened so fast, and as Karla walks away, I’m wiping my mouth as I turn around to look where Charlie and Faith were standing. She saw. Faith saw Karla’s little scene. Even from here, I can tell she’s not happy. Charlie is talking to some cowboy, and Faith is watching me with a pained expression. Her face is pale and drawn. I want to talk to her and try to explain, but Charlie grabs her attention, and I’m left standing here, trying to figure out what to do.

I can’t fix anything with Charlie around. I need to talk to Faith, but I’m going to have to do it without her father here.

Reluctantly, I walk out of the arena because I know if I don’t, I’m going to make a scene, and Faith and her father could end up hating me for it.

CHAPTER 12

FAITH

I haven’t eaten all day, so I stop at a food stand and order a hamburger. I’m trying to act normal when on the inside, my heart is breaking in two. I should have known that Dixon gets around. He is famous on the circuit, and even when I was younger, I remember women throwing themselves at him. I’m not sure what I expected, but I sure didn’t think he would be kissing someone after everything.

“Here you go, little filly. Hamburger with tomato and lettuce.” He points to the counter. “Ketchup, mustard, and anything else you’d want is right over there.”

Forcing a smile to my face, I thank him.

I take one bite of the sandwich and drop it into the little tray. I can’t do it. I feel sick, and it has nothing to do with the food. It has everything to do with that woman throwing herself at Dixon.

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