Getting Ahead by Emily Cale Page B

work out.
    The corner of his mouth lifted as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Well, your room has already been rented out to a new boarder.”
    “Oh, I understand.” She tried to keep her face steady, but her bottom lip had already started to quiver. Now would be a great time for that food poisoning lie. At least she’d have a couple minutes alone to get the tears out of her system. And save some of her pride, but her heart squeezed at the thought of leaving him. She opened her mouth to retort until he spoke first.
    “However, if you were interested, I think I could find space for you in my house.”
    She froze, then scrunched up her face and slugged him in the shoulder. He’d actually had her going for a while.
    “I have one rule, though.” He paused for a moment and took a deep breath, settling his hands on her hips to draw her closer. “You have to keep up with your training. There will be no slacking off on my watch.”
    “Do you really think I can manage to handle you and a competitive career?” The question had been in her mind since the day she met him. Each of those individually sounded like a lot of work. Keeping up both would require a lot of effort. At this point, she couldn’t imagine having one without the other. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, her soft lips pressing against his.
    “I believe you can do anything you set your mind to. As long as this life is what you want, I’ll do anything I can to be sure you get it. The minute you want something else, I’ll support you in that as well.” He leaned in and captured her mouth again.
    It felt good to be in his arms. For the brief moment she had thought he might slip away forever, her heart felt as though it’d been ripped from her chest. Now, having him here, everything seemed to fall into place again.

Chapter Eight
     
    “Can we please go to dinner now?” Amber’s voice was whiny, but she was starving. All day, she’d been too nervous to eat, and now that everything was over, the only thing she could think about was getting a juicy steak and a bottle of beer.
    “Are you tired of the attention already?” He smiled and took her hand, bringing it to his lips and pressing them gently against her knuckles.
    “Not all of it. I’d take a little special attention from you.” She winked at him, sure he caught her meaning. The whole day seemed like one whirlwind. After all the work she’d put into winning in Cheyenne, she’d managed to place. It wasn’t first, but it was enough to give her back her confidence. For the last six months, she had been training constantly and competing everywhere. Today, she’d woken up on top of the world. Or, more accurately, Las Vegas. National Finals Rodeo. It was everything she’d ever dreamed of, and the day seemed to go by way too fast and way too slow.
    “In that case, why don’t we skip dinner and head straight back to the hotel?” He pulled her close to him, ran his hands over her back, and then planted them firmly on her ass.
    “Not so fast, don’t you think you need to help me regain my strength first?” She’d been a giant ball of nerves all day. When her turn finally came, she wasn’t sure if she should ride or throw up. She’d chosen to ride, and it’d paid off. She’d been announced as the winner.
    “I’d get you room service later.”
    Tonight, she had a more important announcement. One that Colt needed to hear before anyone else. “How about you buy me dinner now, then we can have dessert sent to the room later?”
    “Why do you want to go out so badly?” He looked exhausted.
    She was wired, though. She’d finally met her life’s goal, and it was time to move on to some of her other plans. No more competitions. She was ready to retire and put everything on the line for something else. A family. She looked down at the hand he was holding; the engagement ring he’d given her the week before sparkled brightly, even against her dirty skin. Now, with the