****
Callie was in a bad mood. Even though she would be the first to deny it, she was mad enough to spit nails! She knew why she was angry though, but she was loathe to admit it even to herself.
Cade had been out all night and she was willing to bet he had been with some slut!
Angrily, she jerked the door open and strode into the other room, her gaze going unerringly to where he lay sleeping. She stalked towards the kitchen and immediately proceeded to begin making enough noise to wake the dead with the clang of pots and pans.
Cade groaned from his position on the cushion and Callie fought the urge to slap him silly as she began to rinse out some plates with angry, jerky, motions. She really needed to get a grip on her anger, she thought wildly. Today was the second to the last day of the competition. Madeline and Moore had advanced to a final stage along with some other couple. Since Callie and Cade had better scores than the other two, the other two would compete against each other and the winner would square off against Callie and Cade.
Cade finally rose from the cushion, and disappeared into the bathroom for a shower. She didn’t realize he was done until he came over to kiss the soft skin at the back of her neck.
Callie froze, disgust, disbelief and fury warring inside of her. Fury won. She flung the dish she was holding so hard against a wall behind her that it broke into a million pieces. Cade stilled behind her for a minute, and then he carefully detracted his arms from around her, and then gently turned her to face him.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, holding the tip of her chin with his hand.
She jerked her chin away as she hissed, “Why would there be anything wrong? We don’t have to be at the competition today since we only have to face whichever team wins today’s game tomorrow.”
“Callie why are you so mad at me?”
“Where were you last night?” she spat, her eyes like green fire.
“I was at a tavern looking for some company, or so I thought. But I ended up not wanting anyone because they didn’t have green eyes and blonde hair. They didn’t have a waist so tiny it seemed like I could span it with one palm. They didn’t have breasts the size of small pillows. They didn’t have legs that seemed to go on forever. They didn’t drive me crazy every time they looked at me out of twinkling green eyes.”
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
“I’m crazy about you, Callie. It probably doesn’t make sense because I have just known you for less than a week, but somehow, I know it’s you I have been searching for all my life.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, baby. I just know it’s you,” he murmured as he bent his head and took her lips in a slow, drugging kiss.
Passion unfurled inside her immediately and she clung to him, wondering why the world seemed to be whirling. His tongue met hers in a wild, exotic, mating dance and Callie melted against him, her senses whirling as he deepened the kiss.
A thought intruded and she leaned back in his arms to stare suspiciously up at him, “Then where were you all through last night?”
“I was trailing Madeline and Moore. They have been cheating.”
“What? How?”
“Injecting mares to make them go into heat,” he told her, his gaze scanning her face.
“But what if there are two mares?”
“Then one gets a stone in its hoof and the horse is replaced with a stallion.”
“What? Moore has been a champion several times. Are you saying he’s a cheat who probably cheated his way all those times?”
“Definitely. I watched them inject some more mares yesterday.”
“But the first couple got their replacement horses from the center.”
“Yeah. They’re in cahoots with someone there.”
“So what do we do?”
“They ain’t competing today. I sent the video to every judge on the panel.”
“You made a video?”
“You bet your ass I did,” he chuckled.
“Oh my goodness, in that case we’re already late. We gotta go,” Callie yelled excitedly as she hustled him towards the door, slamming it behind both of them.
There were lots of murmurs around the field as the two ladies in the team took their places. Their time started and they chased the steer around the circle. The header threw the rope over the bull’s horns in five seconds, but when the heeler attempted to rope the steer’s legs, the rope fell over one hind leg. The bell rang for time up and they left the field dejected.
Callie looked over at Cade, her eyes sparkling with excitement. He winked at her and murmured, “Let’s get that prize, Baby.”
Cade had left Caesar back at the cabin and picked a mare to ride. Lateefah wasn’t showing any signs of being in heat, but since their competitors had been exposed, he wasn’t taking any chances. They had been escorted off the premises by the police and they had looked very furious.
Callie was looking particularly fetching this morning with her hair done up in an intricate twist and left to hang down her back. She was extremely sexy; just watching her made his dick stir in his pants. He tamped down his rising arousal with difficulty and focused instead on the race.
Callie rode out, loving the feel of the wind in her hair as she moved as one with Lateefah. The steer raced full out across the circle and Cade bent low over his Thoroughbred, swung the rope high above his head and then thrust it forward, his palm facing downwards. The rope sailed smoothly through the air and landed right over the head of the bull just as Callie’s rope caught the steer’s legs.
The bell dinged even as the announcer crooned, “Peach team wins! Peach team wins! Just three seconds!”
The entire crowd erupted in screamed and hoots as they were announced winners. Cade jumped off his horse, yanked Callie off of hers and melded his lips with hers in a passionate, scorching kiss to the sound of catcalls.
He laughed down at her, swinging her up into his arms and swinging her around and around as he said, “We’re winners, Baby—we won!”
Callie stared up at him, her heart bursting in her chest as she grinned at him.
“We did it, we did it!”
“Cade Gallagher and Callie Tyler also get an Integrity Award for helping us reveal the unfortunate incidence of cheating by some team members,” the announcer crooned.