Rodeo King (Dustin Lovers Book 1) by Cheryl Yeko, Char Chaffin

him
back into her life—into her bed—as it was. He licked his suddenly dry lips.
“They offered me a job as Rodeo Announcer.”
    Rosemary inhaled sharply. “In Cheyenne?
Or on the statewide circuit?”
    “Rosie—”
    “Which, Caleb? Local or circuit?”
    Caleb’s heart beat frantically against
his chest, warning him things were about to go south if he didn’t do something
fast. Trouble was, the offer he’d been presented had been a bit vague. He
started to speak, hesitated, caught the fierce frown on Mason’s face, and
finally replied, “Circuit.”
    “And what did you tell them?” Her voice
shook. She leaned against the side of the car, as if her legs weren’t steady
enough to hold her.
    Caleb glanced past her to see Carson
strapped into the back seat, playing games on Rosemary’s cell phone, oblivious
to the tension outside the car. Thank God, because he didn’t want his son to
think for one instant that he didn’t rank as number one in his daddy’s
priorities.
    The phone call had come out of left
field and thrown him for a loop. His mind was still struggling with how he
could have both his family and his career. No way was he leaving Rosie
or Carson behind. But he couldn’t pull his son out of school to drag him around
the circuit.
    Damn it! I need time to think. Time to
negotiate.
    Only when Rosemary made a strangling
sound and spun to open the car door did he realize he’d been standing there
saying nothing as he’d contemplated his options. Which completely gave her the
wrong impression, like he’d really desert her again. Hell, no. He moved
forward, intent on begging her to listen.
    Mason stepped in the way, and they
bumped chests. His old buddy had murder in his eyes. “Let her go, Johnson.”
    “Out of my way, Mason.” His hands curled
into fists at his sides, a rush of adrenaline coursing through him, ramping up
a feeling of desperation as Rosemary slid behind the wheel of the car.
    “Rosie, come on. We need to talk about
this.” He made a move to dart around her brother, but Mason shoved him hard in
the chest with one hand, sending him back on his heels. His bad leg twinged
hard, but Caleb determinately ignored it. “Rosie,” he pleaded as he righted his
footing, their gazes meeting for a split second.
    The pain he saw reflected on her face
gutted him. Pain he’d once again caused her. She slammed the door shut,
starting the car.
    “Wait, damn it. Rosie!”
    Panic stabbed him straight through the
heart as the car drove away with everything that mattered to him inside. He’d
really screwed up this time.
    “Just go, Johnson,” Mason snapped. “Take
the damn job and get the hell out of town. That’s what you do best, remember?
Leave.”
    Caleb tensed as a surge of fury tore
through him. If her brother hadn’t gotten in the way, maybe he would have had a
chance to explain. Forgetting for a moment they were in the parking lot of
Safeway, he took a threatening stride toward Mason with every intention of
kicking some ass.
    Mason’s posture and clenched fists
indicated he was more than ready to have it out.
    “Mommy,” a young girl’s voice carried
over to them, halting Caleb in his tracks and making him look around. “Can we stop
and get ice cream on the way home?”
    Hell, the parking lot was full of women
and children. He needed to tamp it down.
    “Rosemary was devastated when you left,
Caleb.” Mason’s tone now sounded more tired than angry.
    Caleb lowered his head in defeat.
    That didn’t stop Mason from digging the
knife in deeper. “You took her innocence, and I’m not just talking about her
virginity, asshole.”
    So he knew that, too? Damn it, no wonder
the guy hated him. He kind of hated himself right now. Caleb swiped a hand down
his face. Yeah, he made a huge mistake when he’d walked away from Rosemary. Now
it was time to make things right.
    First, he had to figure out what the
hell he was going to do about the job offer, and his career. Then he needed to
find