Reckless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell

Author:Kari Lynn Dell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2016-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

If there was anything better to do on a Saturday morning than prepping for a rodeo, Joe couldn’t imagine what it would be. He stood in the alley behind the bucking chutes watching the last three horses clatter down the loading chute from the truck and smiled from pure pleasure. The sound of hooves on metal and wood always got his juices flowing. Following Cole’s hand signals, he let the stud horse trot on past, then stepped out and waved his sorting stick to turn the two geldings into an open pen on his left.

Hank swung the gate shut behind them and secured the chain, then strolled over to Joe and did a double take. “Did you get a haircut?”

“Yeah.” Joe plucked his hat off and ruffled a hand over his head, feeling naked with parts of his neck exposed that hadn’t seen daylight in years. “I told him to just take a little off the ends.”

“You musta got it done at the barber shop in Earnest. Ol’ Leroy learned to cut hair back when high and tight was in style and he’s never bothered to learn anything else. But hey, if you get a sudden urge to enlist in the Army…”

Joe glared, but it didn’t take any of the shine off Hank’s grin.

“So…did you and Violet go out again last night?” Hank’s blatant emphasis on out made it clear he wasn’t asking if they’d caught another movie.

“Beni was home,” Joe said. “And Violet’s busy catching up on her book work.”

When Beni wasn’t two steps behind her, she’d been holed up in the office. Frustrating, but it had given Joe a chance to borrow her car to go get the haircut and few other odds and ends. He was flying blind when it came to courting, but ever since she’d laughed when he declared his intentions, he’d been bound and determined to prove her wrong.

“You going out tonight?” Hank persisted. “Assuming she still wants to be seen with you and that hair.”

“She said it looked fine.”

And she was a lousy liar, especially when she couldn’t stop smirking. Otherwise the day had clicked along right on schedule. No breakdowns or meltdowns in the process of transferring the stock to today’s rodeo, only an hour and a half from the ranch. Nice drive, through wide-open country. Violet had barely blinked when Joe climbed in her pickup. With Beni in the backseat, they’d had to watch what they said, but it turned out to be easy. They had plenty to talk about. Bucking stock, rodeos, ranches…a few times during the drive Joe had almost forgotten she was a girl. Almost.

“My sister said to tell you there’s a place called the Bootlegger on the south side of town,” Hank said. “It’s kind of a dump, but the music is good and the beer is cold.”

“I think I like your sister.”

“She’s a pain in the ass, but she’d know if it’s the place to party. She and Violet used to hit ’em all.”

Really? Now there was a side of Violet that Joe would like to see.

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