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“The bullfighters will have my back. I know how to land. And Sverre knows me. It’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” she said.
“I do,” he said, giving in to temptation and rubbing her back.
“Shelby believed me,” Reba said. “She’s keeping this all quiet while she conducts her own investigation. She might know who is behind this.”
That was news to him. “Who?”
She tilted her head back. “Maybe if you called me back this week, you’d already know.”
His lips twitched in a smile. “I didn’t want you to break up with me over the phone.”
“Why would I break up with you? I may not like you riding Sverre, but I still care about you. Hell, I probably love you.” She looked a little shocked at the admission.
“Don’t play with my emotions,” he said gruffly.
“I’m not,” she said and tried to scoot off his lap.
He wouldn’t let her. “I care about you, too. Hell, I probably love you, as well. No, there’s no probably about it. I love you, Reba Keller.”
“Good, because I’m not going anywhere. If you’re determined to ride that stupid bull, at least he won’t be doped up.”
“We hope,” Shane said darkly. He had agreed to be lax in security and he hoped his bull didn’t suffer for it.
“Shelby has an undercover agent working in the bullpens.” She leaned in and whispered in his ear. “It’s Nash Weaver. He’s trying to catch the person drugging the bulls in the act. Or at least gather more evidence. If someone goes to inject Sverre, he’ll stop it.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I’m worried Sverre is going to throw you.”
“He probably will,” Shane admitted.
“Then why are you doing this?” She smacked his shoulders in exasperation.
“To prove that the bull isn’t a killer.”
“And if he is?” Reba nibbled on her lip.
“He’s not. I raised that bull. He’s going to buck and jump and whirl. But he’s not going to go after me once I’m on the ground. And if he does,” Shane hurried to say when she took a deep breath to say something. “Barney and Taylor and the rest of the boys will be right there to get me to safety.”
“I hate this,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
“I’ll survive this. I can survive anything as long as I know you’re going to be there after the ride.”
“I’ll be there,” she said. “You can count on it.” Her phone buzzed. She glared at it. “Shit, I’ve got to get back to work. Are we good?”
“We’re good,” he said.
“Call me back next time instead of having me eat voicemail?”
“I promise,” he said. Shane still held her close as she slid off his lap. “You really don’t want to dump me even if the ranch loses the UPRC contract?”
“Of course not,” she said. “You’ll bounce back from it and even if you don’t, it doesn’t matter to me. And based on Shelby’s Miller’s reaction about only having three breeders for the UPRC, I’m not sure that’s going to even be an issue anymore.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, frowning. “I signed a contract.”
Reba held up her hands. “I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t know how the UPRC is set up. All I’m saying is Shelby hadn’t known about the contract. But be that as it may, it doesn’t matter if you are in the UPRC or not. I want to be with you, Shane Calland. I don’t care if you’re a rancher, a bull rider, or a janitor. I just want you.”
