‘Something like that,’ she said, glancing back to me. ‘You know I’m not technically single any more?’
‘People are bidding for adatewith you, Lil, not a wedding,’ I shrugged. ‘Besides, Jamie understands. You said he thought it was a great idea, right? It’ll be a couple of hours, a bit of conversation, a nice meal, maybe even . . . dessert – fuck it, breakfast, if things go really well?’
Even she cracked at that, looking over to the door, noticing the guy walking through it. ‘That’s John, the auctioneer guy. I’ll go get him set up, distract myself.’
I looked around the quiet bar, hoping . . . no, knowing that in a couple of hours it would be rammed with people here to support Jesse.
Every one of my requests for help to the Jackson community, although I’d been hesitant and apologetic at first, had been met with a yes. From displaying flyers and posters in local hotels and bars, to announcements at the Jackson rodeo. Prize donations from local stores and venues had all but flooded in, leading us to need professional help to conduct the auction, given its growing size. Shelby’s had offered to host it, even at this short notice, totally free of charge. Even the Cowboy Bar had lent their mechanical bull, which I’d been eyeing with a mix of suspicion and curiosity ever since.
‘You want a go?’ Lottie said, walking over as Cole disappeared to help get the small stage for the auction ready. She’d followed my gaze, nudging me with her elbow.
‘After those cocktails?’ I replied, only to be met with narrowed eyes.
‘Chickenshit,’ she hissed, walking over there, glancing back at me over her shoulder, waiting for me to follow.
Within another minute Lottie was on board, right arm up just like the real thing. I could see Cole from the corner of my eye, trying desperately to stay focused on building the stage, and failing miserably.
Rolling my eyes at her request to time her, she was eventually unseated twenty-eight seconds later as it changed direction erratically. Sliding off with a squeal into the mats below, she stayed down as she laughed, Cole chuckling to himself in the background.
‘Your turn,’ she said, breathing heavily. ‘Left hand to hold on, right arm up. Lean back and hold on tight.’
‘The fuck am I doing?’ I murmured, wondering how it was that lying down to get ink injected into my skin for hours on end was utterly fine, but twenty seconds on a plastic bull seemed unreasonable.
Bailey wolf-whistled as I climbed on board, chucking my hat over to Lottie as she pressed the button. Thankfully I’d gone with my corset top, and while it definitely emphasized my sizeable rack, it held them in tight too.
‘C’mon, Hes, just twenty-nine seconds to beat me,’ she called, holding up the timer on her phone.
‘What’s the forfeit?’ I yelled, hyper-aware that everyone in the bar was now watching.
‘You don’t want to know,’ she laughed, spinning out of focus as the bull twisted round.
I gripped on, leaning back like Lottie had said, imagining, for half a second, that this might be a fraction of what Jesse would feel.
People had started cheering as seconds ticked by, my knuckles on the rope going white with the effort of staying on, my head and body whipped around in every direction.
Eventually, barely able to make Lottie out any more, but catching her looking back towards the entrance, I fell to the side, managing to roll off and spring back up with ease.
‘Did I win?’ I said, shaking my hair back as I finally looked up. ‘What was my time?’
Only then did I realize that the rowdy cheering had stopped, and a different kind of sound – full of exclamation and surprise – had taken over. Right there, walking into the bar, was Jesse, staring straight ahead at me as Clara grinned.
‘Sorry, honey,’ she shouted over to me. ‘Your girl Lottie made me promise not to say a word.’
I just gaped for a moment as he took his hat off, looking me up and down from my now wild and tangled hair to the corset – the same one he’d instructed me to leave on in the truck all that time ago. His eyes lingered there before coming up to meet mine.
Running over the mats, I vaulted over the low fence in front without a thought and launched myself in his direction, only slowing very slightly as I reached him. I buried myself into his body on the left side, careful to avoid his right arm; the cast was visible under his jacket. He closed himself around me.
‘Jessica,’ he murmured, breathing in my hair, kissing my head. I lifted my face to him.
‘Bull riding’s a piece of fucking cake,’ I murmured, watching his slow smile break out, feeling my whole heart lift at the sight of it. ‘No idea how you fucked it up. I’ll do it next time, okay?’
‘Never again,’ he whispered. And right in front of the whole bar, he kissed me, hard.
It was like the time at the rodeo, when I’d left – a thousand thoughts and words all channelled into one feeling – but this time, unlike the last, I knew that he loved me as much as I did him.
He slowed as a chorus of cheers and whistles broke out, chuckling as I tried to carry on, not giving a flying fuck who saw.
‘Hold that thought, sweetheart,’ he murmured, his lips moving up to my forehead and kissing me there before he looked over towards Lottie. Grinning, barely able to contain her glee, she walked over and dropped a set of keys into his hand.
