Beauty and the Bull Rider (Hotel Rodeo #3)(6)

“Eight? Eight thousand anyone?” called the auctioneer.

“Neighbors?” Delaney stared back at him in confusion.

The auctioneer slammed the gavel for the last time. “P280 sold for seventy-five hundred.”

“I can’t believe you just stole my heifer! Why the hell did you do that?”

“I need some cows. Ty and I are partners now.”

“Partners?” Delaney said. “How?”

“Maybe you hadn’t heard? Tom left him the ranch.”

“The Circle B?” she repeated incredulously. “I don’t understand why. Ty bailed out of rough stock years ago.”

“He wants to give it another go.”

Ty was buying livestock? Was he looking to compete with her?

“Buy you dinner?” Zac asked.

Delaney glared. “You think I’m going to have dinner with you after what you just did to me?”

He ignored the question and placed his hand on the small of her back. The light touch sent ripples of physical awareness chasing down the length of her spine. Holy hell. He’d barely touched her.

“I know a good place over in Temple,” Zac continued, as if utterly unaware of his effect on her. “Let me just settle up here and I’ll buy you the best steak in Stephens County.”

Although she’d come to the sale with full pockets, it looked like she was leaving empty-handed. Zac now seemed her only chance of coming out ahead. She hesitated, both wary and all too aware of him for her comfort. “What do you want in return, Zac?”

He cocked a brow under his hat brim. “What makes you think I want anything besides the company of a pretty lady?” he asked.

Pretty? When was the last time a man had paid her an open compliment? Months? Years? Sure, their eyes tracked her all the time, but after countless brush-offs, most had given up on her. Coming from Zac, the remark surprised her. Ty was known as the charmer, while Zac was the silent, brooding type.

“C’mon, Delaney,” he urged softly. “It’s just a dinner.”

“Will you sell me the heifer?” she asked.

“Come to dinner and maybe we can talk about it.”

She eyed him narrowly. “Is that a bribe?”

He winced. “It’s an invitation. I thought maybe we could talk and get caught up.”

“There’s nothing to talk about . . . unless you’re willing to sell her to me.”

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “Have dinner and maybe we can work something out.”

One way or another, she was gonna have that cow. “All right, Zac.” She flashed her best beauty-queen smile. “I’ll have dinner with you.”



“How’s the steak?” Zac asked, an hour later.

“Better than I expected,” Delaney confessed. It was surprisingly good, although she’d barely eaten a bite. She was too nerved up to be alone with Zac. It felt far too much like a date for her comfort, not that she even remembered what a date was anymore. She’d only tested those waters once since her divorce from Ty—if attending a conference with her vet, Kevin, counted. Sadly, the test had failed. Although Kevin was a nice enough guy, the chemistry was better with her B.O.B., so there was no point in repeating the experiment. But that didn’t keep her from covertly studying Zac.

His eyes were deep set and his nose was slightly crooked with a small hump just below the bridge. His jaw was square and strong and his mouth firm and uncompromising. She’d always thought Ty was the better looking of the two men, but maybe a good part of that was Ty’s warm and flirtatious nature. Zac, by contrast, was as hard and cool as a Remington bronze.

Was he really as cool as the statue? She recalled how warm his hand had felt on her back and gave a slight shiver. Why this sudden fascination with the man?

“I’ve lived in this area eight years and didn’t even know this place existed,” she said conversationally.

“Growing up around here means I know all the well-hidden secrets,” Zac said.

“All right, since you seem to know the people here better than I do, can you please explain to me what was happening at that auction tonight?” she asked. “Why weren’t they acknowledging my bids? My money’s as green as anyone else’s.”

“That might be the problem. You’ve got too much green to throw around,” Zac replied.

“Are you saying they feel threatened by me?”

“Maybe some regard you as an upstart,” he said. “You gotta understand that there’s generations of cattlemen round here that don’t cotton to outsiders coming in, let alone a single woman. On top of that, Ty was well thought of. There’s some who don’t like what you did to him. A reputation’s worth more than money to a lotta folks ’round here.”

“What happened between Ty and me is none of their damned business!”

She’d upheld her marriage vows while he’d made a fool of her to the whole world. She’d run the ranch while he was on the road. When the settlement had granted her half interest in Ty’s ranch, he’d expected her to sell it back, but she didn’t want or need his money. She wanted and needed to be taken seriously.

In her whole life, no one had ever taken her seriously. One casual look had most folks classifying her as just another bubbleheaded beauty queen. She’d done little in her early years to dispel that misconception. Although she’d made passing grades, she’d never paid half as much attention to her studies as her social life, but her biggest mistake had been dropping out of college to elope with a rodeo cowboy.