How to Lasso a Cowboy

For someone about to turn thirty, she hadn’t dated much at all. In fact, Jenna could count her dates on one hand—none of which resulted in a serious relationship.

As someone who wanted to get married and have a family, in that old-fashioned order, she hadn’t exactly had the time or the opportunity to meet many men.

But now she and Dustin were living together, so to speak, and she had the perfect opportunity to find out if she liked him as much as she’d always thought—and heaven knew she’d thought about him a lot throughout the years.

And she certainly wasn’t going to think twice about her brother’s silly command to stay away from Dustin, issued after her parents died when she was in her teens. Now, she could truthfully say they were acquaintances who only spoke when Tom was there to chaperone, come to think of it.

Dustin’s reputation and occupation spoke of experience with women. He’d always been a player, whereas she hadn’t even been in the game.

But she could change that. She remembered a magazine that she’d bought and stuck in her suitcase. It had advertised a specific article about how to catch a man and keep him.

Now, where did she put that magazine?

Dustin pretended to drop the ball, letting Andy retrieve it.

But his mind wasn’t on basketball. It was on Jenna and the increasingly obvious attraction between them. She’d ignored him in high school, but surprisingly, she was being nice now. And she’d changed so much. She seemed more relaxed and less stressed. He’d never lacked for female companionship, but this one girl from his past still had a hold on him—and she was the only one he could never have.

He couldn’t understand why he was noticing everything about her: the way her blond hair glinted in the desert sun. How her tank top lifted just an inch or so, showing a tanned, taut midriff whenever she threw the basketball. How her whole face lit up when she smiled.

Normally it might not be much of a challenge to use their close quarters as an opportunity to finally get her into bed, but she was Tom’s baby sister—and she was definitely off-limits. Even though they were the same age, that didn’t matter. She’d always be his best friend’s younger sister.

But he’d made his promise long ago. Maybe Tom had forgotten his edict by now. He must have, or else why would Tom push him toward recovering at the Bar R when he knew that Jenna would be there?

Dustin remembered back in high school when he’d told Tom that he wanted to date Jenna. Tom had squashed the idea in a hurry.

“Forget it,” Tom had said. “Jenna is something special—she’s not just another cheerleader. Keep your hands off her. Promise me.”

Dustin hoped that everything was cool with Tom. He knew that if he became involved with Jenna—even after all these years—it would be the end of his friendship with Tom.

He couldn’t blame Tom—after all, aside from Andy, Jenna was his only family.

It wasn’t worth risking Tom’s displeasure by dating Jenna, especially when they weren’t just friends, but business partners as well. They co-owned several rank bulls and broncs here on the Bar R.

He tried to concentrate on the game, but he missed his shot, and this time it wasn’t on purpose. Jenna was just too distracting.

Just then, she tripped on one of his crutches and fell into him. They both toppled into a heap on the blacktop.

“Are you okay, Jenna?” he asked after they both caught their breaths. He slipped a hand under her head to protect it from the hard surface.

“I’m fine. Just feeling a little clumsy.”

“These crutches …” he began. “It’s my fault.”

He continued to look into her eyes, her big, brilliant green eyes. It wouldn’t take much to close the distance between them and taste her full lips.

Something nagged at him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. All he wanted to savor right now was the unbelievable feeling of holding Jenna in his arms.

“I’m so sorry!” she gasped, leaping to her feet all too soon. “Oh, Dustin! Did I hurt you?”

Actually, it was a little bit of heaven. Her scent, her body close to his, her weight pressing on him. Nice. He didn’t give a hoot about the pain that throbbed around his ankle. “I’ll live.”

“That’s the second time you’ve been on the ground today. You must be—”

“I’m fine,” he said. But he wasn’t. He had parts that were killing him, and he didn’t mean the parts that were in the cast.

“Let me help you,” she said, brow furrowed in concern.

“Just hold on to my crutches, and I’ll use them to pull myself up.”

He did, but it took him four tries.

“Nice job, Andy.” He shook the boy’s hand, then hobbled over to the porch, and slumped into one of the rocking chairs. Looking down at the jeans he’d cut up to pull over his cast, he decided to get his mind off Jenna and think of something else.

Like his lack of clothes.

“Jenna, I’m going to get a ranch hand to give me a ride to my apartment so I can pick up some clothes and things.”

“I’d be glad to drive you to Tubac,” she said, taking a sip of water. “I don’t mind at all. Besides, Andy and I could both use a change of scenery. How about tomorrow morning?”

Dustin sighed. So much for trying to stay away from her. Still, there was no polite way to refuse. “I’m meeting with the ranch hands at the bunkhouse first thing in the morning. It shouldn’t take long. I just want to have a better handle on the workings of Tom’s ranch.”

“We can go after your meeting,” she said.

“That would be great. Thanks.”

He was looking forward to the meeting, and as much as it killed him to impose, the ride with Jenna and Andy would give him something else to look forward to in the morning …

The desert morning dawned hot and bright. Dustin washed his hair in the sink and the rest of him as best he could, vowing to rig up something so he could take a shower or a bath. He could already hear Jenna and Andy in the kitchen. The smell of coffee and something cooking, pancakes maybe, drifted in the air, making his stomach growl.

He could get used to this.

It was all so … homey.

He thought of all the buckle bunnies who hung around the rodeos. They were usually heavily made up and wore low-cut and tight-fitting clothes. Jenna wasn’t like them at all. With her no-frills beauty and modest clothes, Jenna was more attractive than any woman he’d met on the circuit.

He could get used to this, if he didn’t have other, more immediate goals. He needed to get back to riding bulls and win the PBR Finals in Vegas. That was his plan. Not giving in to a flirtation that could only lead to trouble.

Dustin lumbered into the kitchen and took a big whiff. He hadn’t had a good breakfast since … well, it had been a while.