Read Online Crockett's Seduction by Tina Leonard - Free Book Online Page B

Mason. “Your brother’s got a stick up his backside. What’s his problem?”
    Mason shrugged. “I told him he had to ride the bounty bull because he’d been an ass to Last. Now he’s won the high score. And the bounty prize money. He just became the big man at the rodeo, unless Last can ride the bull and score higher.”
    Valentine’s breath caught inside her. “Why would Last ride?”
    “It’s just the way the challenge is done here. Bounty bulls usually never get ridden to the buzzer, especially not that one,” Mimi said. “I can’t believe I just saw that. It was amazing.”
    “It’s a stupid rule,” Valentine said, standing. “I’m going to go tell Last not to get on that crazy bull.”
    Mimi turned. “Mason, you tell him. He’ll take it better from you.”
    “That’s a great idea,” Valentine said. “Would you mind, Mason? Annette needs her father in one piece.”
    Mason and Mimi looked at her.
    “What?” Valentine asked uncomfortably.
    “You’re awfully worried about Last,” Mimi pointed out.
    “Of course I am! It would upset Annette dreadfully to see her father hurt.”
    Mason nodded. “I’ll tell Last to forfeit his ride. Although he may not listen.”
     
    I N A PEN TO THE SIDE of the breezeway, Last and Crockett were engaged in a heated battle. Valentine realized as soon as she stepped around the corner with Mason—Mimi had stayed in the stands with the children—that there was more at stake here than a winner’s buckle.
    “I don’t think you should,” Crockett said. “I think my spine is cracked, I swear.”
    “You’re in one piece. That’s good enough for me,” Last said stubbornly. “If you can do it, I can, too. And I plan on doing it better.”
    Valentine gasped. “Last, maybe you should listen to Crockett.”
    Turning, he glared. “Valentine, this does not concern you.”
    She stepped back, stunned. “Your daughter is in the stands.”
    “I’m going to ride.”
    Mason blew out a breath. “You’re being a jackass.”
    Last gestured at Crockett angrily. “If it was anybody else in the family, you’d be applauding their effort to grunt it out. Fight through it, ” he mimicked Mason. “Why is it different for me? It’s a rodeo. The rules are the rules. I want my chance to challenge the winner. It doesn’t matter that he’s my brother.”
    Crockett shook his head. “You shouldn’t do this. You owe it to Valentine and Annette.”
    Last sprang, landing on Crockett, and they flailed on the floor. Rolling and punching, fists flying, they each scrabbled for victory.
    “Mason! Stop them!” Valentine exclaimed.
    Mason shook his head. “Give it a few more minutes. It’s good for them to work some of this out of their systems.”
    Valentine felt ill. She had a funny feeling something more was going on between the brothers than a rodeo score; it felt uncomfortably as if they were fighting over her. But that was silly. Last didn’t want her; he never had. They were fine with their relationship the way it was.
    He was proving a point, Valentine realized. He was every bit as rough and tough as his brothers; he no longer wanted to be seen as the baby, though he was past that by many years. He was a man. He might have a child, which should prove his manliness well enough, but he wanted to prove his strength to his brothers, and to the people in the stands. And to himself.
    Valentine realized it was a challenge he could not back away from, and the fact that Crockett had won the undisputed crown just egged him on.He saw Crockett as a competitor, both in the rodeo arena and outside it.
    The men rolled by, sawdust and hay sticking to them.
    They were silly! She’d had enough of them and their machismo. “I can’t stand movie heroines who do nothing,” she said apologetically to Mason. Picking up a bucket of water meant for the horses, she tossed the cold liquid over the grunting, struggling men.
    They totally ignored the drenching.
    “Not much fazes a man when