Page 55 of Cowboy Seeks Husband
“Farm work,” Walker offered.
“I like that.”
Walker grinned. This could work. He felt nothing for Chad, no excited flip of his stomach and no racing heart. But he could flirt a little.
“So I was wondering,” he said, once he was sure John was close enough to hear. He glanced up at the camera in the corner and made sure the camera guy in the pen with them also had a clear shot. “How about we go on a date? Just you and me. And my calloused hands.”
To his credit, Chad really was a good actor. Flattered surprise washed over his features, and then he cast his eyes down, looking a little bit shy. “Gosh,” he said, pretending he was trying to suppress a smile. “I’d really love to.”
Ah well, in for a penny.
“Good,” Walker said. Then he caressed the side of Chad’s face and leaned in to press a very chaste, dry kiss to his mouth. Chad blinked in surprise when Walker pulled back but then grinned. He touched his fingers to his lips and grinned even bigger as he backed away. “Excited for our date, big guy.”
“Likewise.”
There. Molly had her kiss, and Walker had a date without having to worry about who to ask, and without acting on his jealousy by asking out Ben just to put a stop to his flirting with Roan. He finally felt like he had a handle on this thing. Maybe he could keep Chad and Roan until last and send everyone else home.
Automatically his eyes searched out Roan, who was still beside Callie, his fingers in her long mane and his gaze on Walker. Ben was there too, his expression conflicted but stoic, while Roan’s wounded hazel eyes told the whole story. He looked absolutely devastated.
Walker yanked his hat down again and walked toward Davis and Jaden to help them with grooming the horse again. Thunder clapped in the distance, and just like that his plans for the immediate future changed. Rain was coming and the horses—and more importantly their tack—needed to be inside. He ignored the guilty churning in his stomach as he showed everyone what to do next.
The crew hustled, too, to prepare their equipment for the sudden storm.
When Ben walked Callie inside, Roan wasn’t with him. Walker stepped out the stable door and looked around. The rain started to fall in fat drops, making rings in the dirt. Roan was nowhere to be seen.
The dress codefor the second horseshoe ceremony was a lot less strict. They were told to look nice, but no suits would be needed again until the final elimination. Roan had worn his favorite pair of jeans that made his ass look great and a red button-up that he knew made his pale skin and dark hair shine. Walker looked amazing in a dark pair of Wranglers and a green shirt that set off his eyes. Roan wondered if they were his own clothes, or if they’d been provided by wardrobe.
The ceremony was being held on the front porch of the farmhouse as the sun was going down. Andy was on the set again, running around like a headless chicken, screeching that there would be no room for error tonight. They had to catch the light. Not that they didn’t have artificial light, too. Six huge ones that made the swampy air even hotter.
Roan tugged at his collar and looked around at the remaining contestants. They all looked anxious, but it was clear some were more invested in staying than others. As they stood on the grass beneath the porch, awaiting their fate, Roan felt torn about what he hoped for the most. He wanted to stay, if he was being honest with himself. But he also wanted to be with his mom, because who knew how much time they might have left together. Muddling his clarity was the fact that they really needed the money for the clinical trial. How he really felt and what he really wanted was all mixed up in what he was supposed to feel and do.
He chewed on his lip and let his gaze settle on Walker, who was enduring another round with Kylie’s makeup brushes before they started filming again. He huffed a soft laugh as Walker grimaced and squirmed.
Then there was Walker to consider.
Roan liked Walker a lot. More than he’d ever expected when he signed up for the show, but Roan was also very aware how emotions were easily manipulated in situations like this. He’d read an article about these kinds of shows in preparation, explaining the psychological principles and biological forces at play that made it impossible for him to see Walker as anything other than desirable. He knew he was being manipulated, just from being around others who also wanted to get into Walker’s good graces, but it didn’t make it feel less real.
And even if in some crazy world they somehow ended up wanting to be together, how would it ever work? Walker obviously couldn’t leave his farm, and Roan wasn’t leaving his mother. Not until—
He winced and pushed the thought aside, concentrating instead on the clouds above. One looked like a frog. Another a bunny rabbit. There, that was better. One step at a time, that’s all it took. And an awareness that what he felt was artificially created and wouldn’t stand the test of time.
“Places! Let’s do this people!” Andy cried.
Molly was instantly in motion, cracking her whip, and the contestants lined up at their marks. Up on the porch, Walker did too.
Luke faced a camera and did his thing as a host, but Roan had trouble paying attention to it all. He struggled not to tug at his tie, feeling hot and weak in the humidity. He could hear the faint buzz of the cicadas in the trees. He knew they’d only grow louder as the evening wore on. He hoped Andy’s sound guys had a plan for that. On the horizon another thunderstorm threatened, making the air stifling with humidity. His fake glasses kept sliding off his nose and twice Ben leaned over to ask him if he was okay.
“I’m fine,” Roan told him, wishing it was all over so he could go inside. Win or lose, he’d at least be in the air conditioning again. “Just hot.”
Ben nodded, not saying anything because finally the moment was there. Walker was about to announce his first choice for a horseshoe. Roan’s stomach churned with anxiety and indecision. He didn’t know what he wanted to happen. He just hoped Walker didn’t leave him for last again. His nerves couldn’t take it.
But Walker walked up to him immediately and thrust out the first horseshoe. “I have a date in mind for next week that will beat the noodling,” he said, looking oddly bashful. As if anyone in this room would refuse him anything. “You in?”
“Yes,” Roan said, accepting the horseshoe. “Thank you.” He swallowed hard and Walker’s dark eyes narrowed a little, his brows drawing down. He opened his mouth to say something else when an almighty thunderclap sounded and Jaden let out a screech.
“I told them to check the Doppler,” Walker said. “They didn’t listen.”
Another thunderclap came and it sounded so close everyone jumped, even Roan.
