Holdhim.
She was on her feet without realizingit.
"Aunt Megan, we have to stay and watch the team roping," Julianneblurted.
Brady's eyes were a littlewild.
But Carrie's hand on Megan's arm was ashock.
"Sit down," the other womansaid.
Megan gestured toward the platform, but Dan had disappeared. "I haveto…"
Carrie shook her head, her wide eyes trying to communicate something. "Justwait."
Justwait.
What did thatmean?
"I'm gonna throw up."
Nate slapped Dan's shoulder, making his queasy stomach protest even moreloudly.
"You didn't eat any supper," Nate said cheerfully. "Nothing toupchuck."
Dan had been too nervous to eat. A nervous wreck allday.
Part one of his plan had gone off without a hitch. He'd made a fool of himself but apologized to everybody at the rodeo. Word would spread around town in a matter ofhours.
But that wasn't the reason for the nerves he felt rightnow.
He and Nate were going into thearena.
And he was goingto—
"We're next," Nate said with another of those slaps to Dan's back. He was going to be bruisedtomorrow.
Dan glared at him as the other man mounted up on his midnight-blackgelding.
Dan's gut heaved as he mounted his own horse, the bay he'd ridden the night he'd kissedMegan.
"How come you're not nervous?” he asked Nate. “You haven't roped inyears."
Nate smiled widely. "Ropedcompetitively. We use our lariats nearly every day on the ranch. Nothing to worryabout."
Maybe forhim.
The competition was fierce with cowboys from ten surroundingcounties.
Dan heard the announcer read their names over the loudspeaker. A whoop from the front of the stands might've been Brady. OrMiles.
And then everything was white noise except for his heartbeat and the beat of his horse's hooves as he and Nate raced into thearena.
Nate's lasso shot out first, snagging both of the steer'shorns.
Dan let his go only a fraction of a second later, tagging the back hooves. The steerfroze.
And the crowd wentwild.
