Sunlight flickered into the room, and Malik worked to pull himself from his deep sleep. He looked beside him to find Letty’s smiling hazel eyes staring back at him. A soft smile lit her face.

“Well, good morning, sunshine,” Malik whispered.

“Mornin’,” she replied.

“You sleep okay?” He didn’t know if he should broach the subject of her breakdown last night or just pretend like it didn’t happen. He figured he’d let her choose.

She nodded. “Yeah. Oddly enough, I haven’t slept that good in nearly two years. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You never let me go all night. I woke up still curled against your chest. You kept your promise that you’d be there for me. I appreciate that.”

“That’s what friends do. They’re there for each other.”

“Friends, huh?” She smirked.

Malik’s heart nearly stopped at that seductive smirk on her kissable lips. He ached to lean down and take them with his mouth. “That’s what you wanted, right? Friends?”

A whispered sigh escaped her as she nodded. “Yeah, friends.”

“Well, I’m here if you need to talk about anything, friend. Like what had you so torn up last night.” He brushed a lock of hair drooping across her eyes.

“I’ve already bothered you enough. You don’t need to hear any of that.” She pushed herself up from the pillow and sat on the edge of the bed.

He slid a hand across her shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze, noticing the tense knot of muscle. “You sound like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Friends share that kind of stuff. Maybe there’s something I can do to help.

Pinching her shoulders together, she eased away from his touch. “You’ve done enough already. I’ll be fine. Let’s just forget about last night. I’m embarrassed enough. I just need to get through this day. We’ve got a lot to do.”

Malik sat up next to her. “Letty, please…let me in. I want to help. What if there’s some vital clue to all this buried in whatever it is you’re holding back from me?”

She cradled her head in her hands. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“Let’s start with your mom. You lost it after talking to her last night.” He clasped a hand over hers.

“Momma…well, she’s diabetic. Her health has been declining so fast over the last couple of years. She used to be so vibrant, a shining light in the dark. But her disease is killing her. She’s lost one leg already, and she may lose the other. She tries to get around on her own with her wheel chair, but she’s so stubborn and doesn’t want to ask for help and ends up injuring herself more. She also has severe sleep apnea, so she’s not getting enough oxygen in her blood, making her weak. Even with her C-Pap machine. Apparently last night, she was trying to stand to get something and her one leg collapsed out from under her and our nurse, Gabriel, found her and took her to the hospital.”

Malik squeezed her trembling hand as she sucked back tears before they could fall.

“I wanted to go home to her today. But she insisted I stay. She knows how much I need to win the rodeo purse. I’ve been hiding it from her for the last year about how far in debt the ranch is. I had a bad fall a couple of years ago and couldn’t work or compete for almost a year and a half. We only had enough savings to cover a year of expenses. That’s why I fought so hard to get back to my old self, so I could compete again and use the prize money to keep the ranch going.”

Her body gave out, and she leaned against Malik, burying her head. Curling her into his arms, he held tight to her, rubbing a hand down her back.

“And now with this cheating scandal and my life on the line, I just feel like the whole world is against me. If it were just me affected, I’d pack up and go home. But I have to press on, take a stand, and win this, because it’s not just my life at stake. I have to consider my mother’s and all the ranch employees.”

Sliding his hands along her cheeks, he raised her head to look in her eyes. “Well, you don’t have to do it alone, anymore. You’ve got me. You’ve got my family as well.”

She gripped his shirt in her fists and pulled him toward her, crashing her mouth against his. Her warm lips pressed against Malik’s as her tongue begged for entrance. He eased his mouth open and she deepened the kiss with fervor, hungry for more. She tasted as he expected, sweet and sensual, full of fire that electrified his entire body. But the fury in her kiss wasn’t fueled with passion, but with pain and anger. As much as he wanted to keep kissing her, he didn’t want it to be for the wrong reasons.

He pulled back and slid his hands to her shoulders as she panted for breath. “Letty,” he whispered.

“Make love to me, Malik. You want me, I know you do. Take me away from all this pain and fear, if only for a little while. Take me to a place filled with pleasure and desire, an escape.”

The desperation in her eyes stabbed at his heart, harder than any blade he’d ever thrown. He would have thrown her against the wall and fed off her body like she’d never known, but not like that. Not for the wrong reasons. He’d been an escape too many times. He’d used women for the same, even more. He didn’t want that any longer. He wanted Letty, pure and simple and with all of her problems. But he wanted her passion to be from love.

“Letty, listen to me, and believe me when I say, there is nothing in this world that I want more than to make love to you. But, listen to what you’re saying. You’re worth more than an escape. You’re worth more than using sex as a way to cover up what is going on inside you. Someday soon, I will make love to you, and it will be the most glorious, Earth-shattering experience, and I will worship your body from head to toe, but not like this. Okay? Right now, you need to talk things through. You need to clear your head and focus.”

The desperation in her eyes melded into anger, and if they’d been lasers, he’d be a pile of dust on the bed. “Just like a man, it’s okay when you want it, but not when a woman does? You’re just like Benedict.” She jumped off the bed and glared at him.

“Who’s Benedict?”

“My asshole of an ex-fiancé. The one who called off the wedding because he ‘wasn’t ready for marriage’, but still wanted to fuck me. He’s the reason I fell. He’s the reason I’m in this entire fucked-up situation period. It all snowballed because of that day. A week after he called it off, I was racing at an event. As I took off out of the gate and made my first turn, I saw him with another barrel racer making out under the bleachers. In the middle of my fucking race! I wasn’t paying attention to my horse and we went into the turn too steep, and she couldn’t hang on. She slid and went down, right on my left leg. Shattered the bones. I couldn’t walk for nearly a year. He broke my heart. He broke my horse. And he physically broke me and my career. I lost my title to Stevi and couldn’t compete for two years.”

“I’m so sorry he was such an asshole. But please don’t put me in the same category as him when I only want what’s best for you. I’m trying to tell you, yes, I want you. But I want to do it when it’s right. I’ve done the quick, mindless, escapism sex for twenty years. I never wanted to get attached to anyone because of my life, because being a SEAL means I may not come home one day. No attachments, no feelings, no problems. But I don’t want to do that to you. I want to make something of you and me. Yet, you’re accusing me of rejecting you, like your fucking ex?” Malik shook his head. “I get it, you’re hurting. You’re going through a hell of a lot. But don’t you dare compare me to someone who didn’t care about your feelings, when I’m the complete opposite of that.”

He jumped off the bed, grabbed his boots and stormed out the door.

* * *

What had she done? Malik had been nothing but nice to her since the moment she met him, and she just lumped him in with the biggest asshole on the planet. The one good thing she could have had in her life, she just pushed away. He’d held her all night long in the safety of his arms. He let her vent all of her frustrations, wanting nothing in return. And Letty had to go and blow everything out of fucking proportion.

What the hell was she thinking suggesting sex? But in that moment, looking into his eyes, so warm, comforting, sexy...it was all she craved. She wanted him like no other man, and she hardly knew him. Yet the little she did, he’d been nicer to her in three days than most people in her entire life. And she had to ruin it all. He was even being a gentleman, telling her he wanted to make love to her when the time was right. But Letty had to have it her way, right then, right now. Her greatest strength was her determination. Her greatest weakness, not knowing when to stop. Just like her dad.

She hugged the pillow next to her that still held his comforting scent, a mix of cologne and Malik. The only thing left to do was go to the rodeo board and then the authorities. Whoever that mystery man was didn’t matter. He had nothing on her. She didn’t even know the guy. Why should she be afraid about doing the right thing? It was time she took a stand for what was right. Get back to the person she was, the person she needed to be.

Someone her dad would be proud of.

Someone Malik would be proud of.

She wandered the grounds amid the crowds that had gathered early for the weekend festivities. Letty made her way to the back area looking for someone on the rodeo board or executive committee to talk to. She passed an office tucked in the corner and found Dell in his infamous white suit, and she wondered just how many of them he had. Behind him stood the mystery man, clad in a black leather jacket and jeans. This time she got a good look at his face.

As he shook Dell’s hand, it hit her. He’d been the flag timer at the last several events she’d done, the officiant that stood under the camera eye that timed the race, keeping a backup on a stopwatch should the camera timer fail. That was how they were cheating the system. He must have been feeding the incorrect time to the officials.

She had to call them out and stop pussyfooting around. Dell wouldn’t risk his reputation or career by retaliating. She wouldn’t give in to their fear tactics and refused to be bullied. Letty marched into the room and approached the men.

“Well, hello there, Miss Letty,” Dell said as he tipped his hat and cleared his throat. “What can we do for you today?” The quiver in his voice showed his unease.

“I think what y’all are doing is disgusting and a disgrace to the sport of barrel racing. I just want you to know, I’ll be talking to the rodeo committee about it. Good day, gentlemen.” Letty turned to march away, until a hand grabbed her by the elbow and spun her back round.

“Just what are you referring to, Stephens?” the mystery man said.

“You know what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb with me. I saw you the other night, skimming time off the clock on Stevi’s practice run. You guys have been gaming the system all season. That’s how Stevi’s been able to beat me. You’re a bunch of dishonest bastards.” The knots in her stomach twisted tighter as the man’s fingertips burrowing into her skin.

“Your word against ours, and who are they gonna believe? The fallen champion full of jealousy? Or the rodeo commissioner.” The man nodded his head to Dell, who stood with worry in his eyes under a furrowed brow. Sweat beaded on his upper lip as it trembled. Letty wondered if he wasn’t being forced into this partnership, some kind of blackmail.

“Dell, I’ve always thought you to be an honest man. Someone to look up to, even a friend. I can’t believe you’d be in league with these kinds of people trying to cheat the system. Are they blackmailing you?” Letty approached his reputation, the most important thing to him, hoping he’d give her some information.

“Now, Letty, let’s not jump to conclusions. This is all a very big misunderstanding. What you thought you may have seen was not in fact cheating. We were just working out some bugs, you see. It’ll all be okay. I promise. You just go on your way, forget this ever happened, and it’ll all be made right.” A forced smile teetered on his lips as he tipped his hat to her.

Letty smirked. “Won’t hurt then to let the committee know we need a new flag timer for the final rounds, just to make sure. Right? If there’s nothing going on, then there should be no problem with covering our bases.”

“She ain’t gonna let this go, Dell. We gotta do something about this,” the man said, his stern tone sent a quiver through her knotted belly. He yanked her arm, tightening his grip. “You breathe one word about this to anyone, and you can kiss your career goodbye. Your family already fucked up my life. I won’t let them do it to my kid’s.”

Letty blinked. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

“What? You don’t remember me?” He tossed his head back with a hoarse laugh. “Guess you were too young when your father was stupid enough to get on that bull.”

“What? You knew my father?” A burst of anger and fear ripped through her heart, sinking it to her stomach.

“Hanson, this isn’t the time,” Dell quipped and yanked Letty from his grip.

“Hanson? Hanson Welder, the bull rider?” Letty blinked again as the shock settled in. “Stevi’s horse is named Hanson. Shit, she named it after her father?”

“You got it, Sweetheart, and I won’t have another fucking Stephens rip our future from us.”

“You are the one that ripped the future from my father, goading him into riding that bull. You’re the one who got caught shooting up the bulls with some hormone to calm them so your ass could stay on for eight seconds. You’ve been cheating since the day you were born, asshole.”

“Your father’s Texas-sized ego put me in jail. Thought he could tackle a bull. So I showed him just how fucking hard it was to ride one. So maybe I kicked the hormone injection up a notch. I didn’t know the fucker would fall off and the bull would gut the man. That moment ripped me of my life, my future, my kid’s future. Because your dad had to be the fucking center of attention.” Hanson stared her down, his eyes as black as his soul.

“Let her go, Hanson. We’re done. Just leave while you still can. This isn’t going to end well for any of us now,” Dell said behind her.

“You ripped me of my father. I grew up without a dad because you were stupid enough to mess with the hormone injections in the first place. I can’t believe you blame my dad for your assholery. You’re a fucking whack job! I’m out of here. You’ll never hurt anyone ever again.” Letty backed away and ran out of the office.

Her stomach roiled with unease, welling up until the world spun around her. Tears puddled in her eyes as she fought through the crowd, trying to make her way to the committee office. She had to collect her thoughts, had to get a grip in order to talk to them or she’d be a jumbled mess of emotions. The man who essentially killed her dad was now trying to kill her future as well. Her heart sunk, toppled with grief and anger, weighing down her limbs as she fought to walk.

She ducked out a side door toward the parking lot and leaned against the wall, sucking in deep breaths as she started hyperventilating. Clutching her arms around her stomach, she bent over and tried to keep the tears from falling.

Gravel crunched to her left. The scent of leather and cigarettes spiraled around her moments before the cloth covered her mouth and everything went black.