A Cowboy's Claim Read Free Page A

obsessed over was you. You got under his skin.”
    â€œI barely know the guy.”
    â€œDoesn’t matter. You bother Beau because he can’t figure out what you’re thinking.”
    Half the time Vic didn’t know what he was thinking.
    â€œYou scare him and it’s not because of the scar on your face.” Her casual mention of his disfigurement took Vic by surprise. “Sure, the scar makes you appear intimidating and unapproachable, but there’s more to it than that.”
    Really?
    â€œBeau knows he doesn’t have your natural ability.”
    Vic swallowed the last bite of his corn dog. “It’s not talent, it’s hard work.”
    â€œWhatever you want to call it. Beau doesn’t have your smarts.”
    Damn, Tanya was good for his ego.
    â€œA lot of cowboys study the way you ride, but none of them, including Beau, has ever picked up on the way you hold the buck rein.” She smiled. “But I did.”
    Learning that his competition paid close attention to his performances was unnerving. He’d rather believe the cowboys were just watching to see if he’d fall on his head. “What about the buck rein?”
    â€œMost of the guys prefer a thicker, tightly braided rein and a full handgrip. But your buck rein is loosely braided and you hold it between your third and fourth fingers.”
    â€œYou’re very observant.”
    â€œI know.” Her eyes sparkled. “I also noticed that you feed extra rein to the horse when his head drops too low.”
    â€œEverybody has their own technique.”
    â€œTrue, but the thick rein is less flexible.” She sucked her drink dry. “Beau tried to copy you, but he never got the hang of it. Now you’re just stuck in his head.”
    â€œI had a little help early on in my career.”
    â€œFrom who?”
    â€œA friend.” He didn’t want to go into detail about his relationship with Riley Fitzgerald. Vic liked to keep his past private. No one needed to know he’d been raised in one of the most dangerous barrios in Albuquerque.
    â€œLadies and gentlemen, up next is Beau Billings!” A throng of women screamed the cowboy’s name and held up signs with their phone numbers on them. Vic found it amusing that Tanya appeared unfazed by her ex-husband’s fan club.
    â€œWhat?” she asked.
    He struggled not to grin. He hadn’t been tempted to smile this often in one day let alone one month since he suffered the injury to his face.
    â€œBeau Billings hails from Sierra Vista, Arizona, and right now this cowboy is ranked number sixteen in the country.” The announcer’s voice echoed through the sound system. It was time for Vic to leave, but he was reluctant to say goodbye—a first for him. Tanya was the only woman in longer than he could remember who appeared relaxed in his company. It would be too easy to let his guard down.
    Vic watched Billings prepare for his ride. He paced in front of the chute, his strides short and choppy. The man was nervous. He’d drawn a better bronc than Vic, so his chances of earning a higher score were his for the taking.
    â€œBillings has been paired with Shake Down, a three-year-old gelding from the Dale Anderson Ranch near Big Piney. Let’s see if this cowboy can beat Vicario’s eighty-nine.”
    Billings straddled the bronc, and Vic’s gaze zeroed in on the buck rein. The cowboy played with his grip and the horse grew nervous in the chute.
    â€œHe takes too long,” Tanya said. “You take ten seconds max.”
    Obviously she’d been watching Vic perform for a while. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. The chute opened and Shake Down lunged into the arena. The horse landed awkwardly on his front hooves and Billings had to fight from the get-go to keep from being bucked off. The bronc couldn’t find its rhythm and Billings’s spurring was erratic—the perfect