Read Wishing on a Rodeo Moon (Women of Character) for Free Online

you’ve made a great
success out of your father’s business. He said you work all the
time."
    Jake
turned slowly to face her, his brows lifted in surprise. "I’ve
always owned horses, Tye. I ride whenever I can. During the day they pretty
much fend for themselves." Something in his eyes reminded her of the Jake
she’d known long ago, the Jake she’d loved. There was almost a
softness when he spoke of his horses. Tye drew in a hard breath. She wondered fleetingly
if there was a woman in his life. How would his face look when he spoke about
the woman he loved? She swallowed hard, an edge of desperation gripping her.
    "So
you still enjoy make boxes for a living?" she quipped, needing to shake
the attraction nipping at her.
    "Sure,
why not? Miller manufactures the best cardboard boxes this side of the
Mississippi." Jake's mouth quirked up at the corners as if he were amused
by her.
    "I'm
having a hard time putting the two together," Tye said smartly. She put her
hands on her hips. "You know, man who makes boxes, horse that races like
the wind."
    Jake
looked at her thoughtfully. "After my dad’s accident I had to take
over the family business. That doesn't mean I’ve turned into a dead
bore," he finished dryly. "I have managed to come up with a semblance
of a life in the time you’ve been away." His words were smooth, but
cutting all the same.
    Tye felt
heat mount into her cheeks. Embarrassed by her own deliberate lack of finesse,
"I-I didn't mean that," she said hurriedly.
    Jake
dusted his hands off and moved away. "I think you did. I have a few things
to take care of before I leave, so if you'll excuse me."
    Tye knew
he didn’t give a damn if she minded him walking away. She had offended
him, unintentionally or perhaps intentionally. She had wanted to distance him
from herself and maybe that was her warped way of doing it. Nothing like
implying a guy was as boring as dirt or boxes. She didn't really believe that,
but she needed a defense. The same intense feelings she’d always felt for
Jake gripped her. She didn’t want to feel them. What Jake stirred in her
made her feel vulnerable. She’d never survive loving and leaving Jake a
second time. And she would leave. They both knew it was a given. There was no
place for her here, with Jake.
    Tye
could only guess at the pain Jake had experienced when he’d been forced
to give up a promising football career. He had been on the verge of a
scholarship. Then, abruptly, he’d had to shoulder responsibility for his
family, the business, his father’s care. Tye knew at the time they were
too young. She’d been too young. She had left and it had broken her and
his.
    Being
near him did something to her hormones, no doubt about it. The man was that
good-looking, but then, she had known plenty of good-looking men on the rodeo
circuit. Tye felt a momentary remorse for the partying lifestyle she had led,
then immediately put a rein on her thoughts. She had never worried about her
lifestyle before the accident, so why was she giving it a second thought now?
Darn Jake; it was his fault she was suffering all this introspection.
    Confused,
Tye stared after Jake as he walked away. He wore creased gray pants and a
pristine white shirt with a tie that looked like silk. He used to know how to
kick back and have a good time. Each time she had seen him since arriving here
he had been wearing a suit. Tye tried to recall that night he had stayed with
her while she was pinned under the bull, but most of it still remained hazy.
Except for his eyes. They haunted her still, but not in a bad way, and that
worried her.
    Since
she had left Jake all those years ago, she had never been tempted to spend too
much time with any one man. She had chosen her path and stuck to it. Rodeo,
first and foremost. Her mama had taken that path for a time, then quit to raise
Tye and Ben. Daddy had never left rodeo for very long, and probably wouldn't
until the day he died. The plan had always been for Tye to follow