“I know.” He still loved the rodeo. But since he and Ella got together it didn’t hold quite the same appeal. He began to seriously think about retiring. Possibly even at the end of this season. But he didn’t say anything to Ella. He wanted to be certain before he admitted it to anyone and he wasn’t. Not yet.
They talked a while longer, Ella filling him in on what had been going on at the ranch, and then there was a knock on his door. “There’s my pizza.”
“I’ll let you go. I need to go get Dawn. She’s in Midnight’s stall as usual.”
“Okay. I’ll be home tomorrow but it will be late.” Driving home from Tulsa would take a while. If his last ride hadn’t been at eight p.m. or it had been a shorter drive he’d have headed home that night.
He ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed. Picking up his wallet on the way to answer the door, he pulled it open. It wasn’t his pizza.
“Hi, Chase.”
A pretty, dark-haired cowgirl stood on his doorstep. Gina Hudson was an ex-girlfriend he’d dated for a few weeks shortly after his six-month relationship had ended. “Gina. I thought you were my pizza.”
She laughed. “That’s the first time I’ve been mistaken for a pizza delivery person.”
To say he was surprised to see her was an understatement. Since they both rodeoed he’d seen her around, of course. But they hadn’t done more than exchange greetings since they broke up. As breakups went, it hadn’t been a bad one. He didn’t think she’d been any more serious about him than he’d been about her.
“Can I come in?”
He realized he’d been standing in the doorway staring at her. But he couldn’t figure out why she was there. Still, what else could he do? “Sure. Come on in.” He stood aside and she walked in.
“Thank you.” She entered and sat on the bed. “How have you been, Chase? I wondered when you were coming back. I was so worried. That was a nasty fall you took.”
Gina had been worried about him? Funny, she hadn’t even sent him a card. “It wasn’t fun. But I’m okay now. What can I do for you?”
“I’ve been thinking about you lately. I’m so glad you’re back. It must have been hard having to miss out on so many rodeos. Are you still going to qualify for the National Finals?”
Originally, he’d hoped he’d still be able to qualify for the biggest event of the year, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, but he’d been out too long and there was no way he could do it. However, there were other high-profile rodeos where he could still make money and possibly even snare a big win.
“Not this year.”
“Oh, Chase, I’m so sorry.”
“Them’s the breaks,” he said with a shrug. “But that’s not why you’re here.”
“No.” She crossed her legs, causing the very short skirt she wore to expose more leg. A lot of leg. “I’ve missed you. We had a good thing going once, didn’t we, Chase?”
Uh-oh. Deciding to head her off before she got going he said, “I’m involved with someone, Gina.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize.” She pouted a little, thrusting out her slick red bottom lip. “Is it serious?”
“Headed that way.” Crap. He should have said yes, unequivocally.
“I was involved with someone until recently. We broke up.” She drew a finger down her throat to the opening of her blouse, unbuttoned until he could see her bra peeking out.
Shit. She’d never been this obvious in the past. Had she? Not wanting to sit on the bed next to her, he stood beside the dresser.
Gina rose and walked over to him. Put her hand on his chest and looked up at him with big brown eyes. “I realized it when I saw you again a couple of weeks ago. I missed you, Chase. So much. I miss what we had.”
He removed her hand and stepped back. Clearly he was going to have to be firm. “We had a fling, Gina. A long time ago.”
“It was more than a fling. And it wasn’t so long ago.”
“Months. And it was definitely a fling. I don’t want to hurt you, Gina, but I’m—” He started to repeat what he’d said earlier but it hit him square between the eyes. “I’m in love with someone.” He’d known Ella was important to him but he hadn’t realized he was in love with her until that moment.Damn. I’m in love.
He wanted to go home and tell Ella. Wanted to make love to her and tell her he loved her. He knew she cared about him but did she love him?
First he had to get rid of Gina. It took him a while but he finally managed to convince her to leave. Even so, he couldn’t avoid the kiss she laid on him at the open doorway to his room, just before leaving.
