Page 45 of His First Baby Rodeo

“Did I do something wrong?” She was embarrassed that she was even asking the question. Of course she hadn’t done anything wrong — nothing that he hadn’t done too. She knew what this was. He was intimidated. He was afraid of how close the two of them had gotten.

She was afraid of it too.

But unlike him, it didn’t make her want to pull away.

Maybe itshouldprovoke that response in her. Maybe he was the one who was being smart, and she was just following her heart right over a precipice. After all, was there even a version of this that ended happily? She was beginning to think that the answer could only be no.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “I just need a little time.”

But they were out of time. If they separated now, there would be no coming back together. There would be no opportunity for it.

El had promised herself — she had promisedhim— that she wouldn’t invest too much in this emotionally. And then she had gone and done exactly that. Whether it ended now or later, she was going to get her heart broken.

CHAPTER20

MAC

Avoiding El was as difficult as it was painful. Somehow, without Mac’s even meaning it to happen, she had permeated every aspect of his life. He couldn’t even remember how to get through a day without missing her.

He awoke in the morning feeling sour and unpleasant and lay in his bed smelling the aroma of some kind of hot cereal. She clearly wasn’t going to any outrageous effort with the breakfast she was making, but he could smell the differences between the hot cereal he’d have made for himself and what she was doing. Herbs and warm butter — it smelled amazing, and he wanted to go down and ask for a bowl.

He almost talked himself into it. There would be no harm in the two of them having breakfast together — that was something he could still permit himself, even if they had to be finished with everything else.

Except that he couldn’t do it. He knew what would happen if he so much as allowed himself to be in a room with her. He wouldn’t be able to resist joining her for the ranch chores, and that would take them to places the two of them had been intimate, and he would forget his resolve of the night before. The next thing he knew, they would be naked together again, in spite of the fact that it was categorically a terrible idea. In spite of the fact that he knew, now, that he couldn’t permit himself that kind of indulgence anymore.

So he stayed in bed until he heard her leave the house. Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he heard a bit of hesitation in her movements, as if she was deliberately taking longer to leave than she ordinarily would have. Maybe she was hoping he was going to make an appearance.

The idea that she might actually want to see him made it that much more difficult to stay in bed.

Finally, when he was sure the house was empty, he got up, went to his study, and locked himself in. Mac didn’t particularly enjoy a day spent inside, but itdidprovide him a good opportunity to catch up on his reading.

But he didn’t get any reading done all day. He kept looking out the window, hoping for a glimpse of her. He was unlucky every time he looked, which was probably to be expected, since most of her chores would keep her on the opposite side of the house. Still, he couldn’t help hoping that he’d see her eventually.

And eventually he did. But it didn’t happen until later that night, and it came at the least opportune moment.

He had abandoned the study and returned to his bedroom, and he was sitting on the edge of his bed and flipping through the screens on his favorite food delivery app. It seemed important to order in tonight; if he tried to fend for himself, not only would he run into El in the kitchen, he’d also be stuck eating his usual garbage while he had to smell whatever delicious thing she was making, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to stand it.

He had just about decided on Mexican food when the phone rang in his hand. He frowned. He was looking at an unknown number. Who would be calling him out of the blue?

He almost didn’t answer, figuring it had to be some sort of sales call. But then he heard the sound of footsteps outside his bedroom door, and in the moment, he panicked. Better to talk to a telemarketer than to try to confront El.

“Hello?” he said, raising his voice slightly in case El was thinking of knocking so that she would know he was on the phone.

“I’m looking for Mac Palmer,” said a businesslike voice on the other end of the line.

“You’ve got him.”

“Mr. Palmer, my name is Gregory Domingo,” the voice said. “I’m calling on behalf of the Western Rodeo Classic. I don’t know whether you’ve heard of us.”

“Sure I have.” Everybody had. The Western Classic was one of the most prestigious non-competitive rodeo tours around. Mac had always harbored ambitions of participating in the Classic — you had to be among the best of the best to be chosen — but it had always gotten in the way of the competition season, so he’d never been able to do it. He knew there were plenty of guys who took off-seasons from competition to focus on training — these were the kinds of guys you usually saw in the Classic. People in their recovery years.

It suddenly occurred to him what this call had to be about.

“I’ll cut right to the chase, Mr. Palmer,” Domingo said. “You’re someone the Classic has had an eye on for a while. When we found out about your injury, we thought we might have missed our window. And then it came out that you would be out for the season. We wanted to check in with you about your recovery.”

“Well… that was friendly,” Mac said, feeling rather taken aback.

“I confess I’ve got an ulterior motive,” Domingo said. “We’d very much like to get you on tour with us, if you’re up for it.”

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