“You just don’t want to go to the barn in sweats with Elle there.Well, he hated to admit it, but that was probably the reason he was tottering back and forth on one foot and two sore armpits here in this insane closet that seemed about the same size as the house he and his dad used to live in.”

“Her face was flushed and dusty, her hair was falling out of its restraints all around her face in ragged curls, and sweat trickled down in front of her ears.“You’ve never looked more beautiful,” he told her with a grin.“Keep it professional, buddy,” she said.Her tone was stern, but she grinned back. Her eyes shone at him.His heart flipped over. She looked at him like she loved him. Did she?If she did, was he going to break her heart? He was a master at that. He’d never failed yet.“I don’t know if you oughtta enter that contest in Vegas,” he blurted.Her smile vanished. “You think I’ll bolt? Or get skunked?”Mentally, he gave himself a thousand lashes with a bullwhip.“No, ma’am,” he said.“Then what?”He tried, but he couldn’t lie to her. “It’ll put you back in the game,” he said, “and then you’ll be gone.”Chase wheeled his horse and rode away before he could see her reaction. He didn’t want to know. Whatever it was, he wouldn’t have a clue what to do about it.”

“Then he pulled back and looked at her shirt again. “Is this really true?”She nodded. “Every word of it.”“Okay, then. I say you won’t.”“Won’t do what?”He bent his head to whisper into her hair, his breath hot against her ear.“Before lunch, you won’t go to bed with me.”Elle reached around behind her and turned off the burner on the stove.”

“He advanced on her to steal a quick kiss, then took her by the shoulders and just stood there for a minute, rocking back and forth from his heels to the balls of his feet, smiling down at her, looking her over.“Like your shirt,” he said.She’d forgotten what she had on. She glanced down and watched his finger trace the words that scrolled across her chest. Just that light touch of his, even through her shirt, made her shiver with longing.The message was SAY I WON’T. Above that, in smaller letters, “Tell me that I won’t do it . . and I will.”“That inspires me,” he said, with his most wicked grin. “You know how I love a challenge.”

“We’d better be careful to each put our own clothes on or we will have some explaining to do,” she said. “Maybe we should turn on the light.”That made him really laugh. “As if I could get one toe of mine into anything of yours.”“I was thinking mostly of my bra,” she said. “You sure did seem interested in it.”“I am,” he said. “First I think I’d like for you to quit wearing it but then I remember how much fun we had with it on. I just can’t decide.”“I’m not gonna participate in that experiment,” she said.“But what if I decide you should go without?”“Too bad.”He started pulling on his jeans, then put his brace back on.“Take some time to think about it.”

“I realized something tonight when you were in the arena doing your thing.”She took another deep breath of the roses’ scent. “What was it?”“I love you, Elle.”Her eyes flared wide to search his and her heart stopped.“Do you love me?”“Yes, I love you, Chase.”Simple, sure, an indisputable fact she couldn’t’ve held on her tongue if she’d wanted to. But was she ready to love somebody who loved her back?Was she?“You had me since Spin Master,” he said, with that grin she loved. “But I didn’t know it ‘til tonight.”“Oh, well, then, I get it,” she said, smiling back. “You only loved me ‘cause I saved your life.”“I want you to save it again.”He stood up to pull something out of the front pocket of his starched jeans. He reached for her hand.“I’m asking you to marry me, Elle. Will you?”Tears blurred her vision. They caught in her throat. Oh, God, how could she ever be a wife again? But how could she ever leave Chase?She tried to buy herself a little time to think. “You said you don’t trust women.”“Only you. I trust you. I trusted you with my life the first time I ever saw you.”That made her grin. And then she felt very solemn. He was looking right into her soul, holding her hand in his big calloused one. She clung to it.“You’re in a league of your own, Elle. Not just was a bull-fighter, but in every way.”She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what to think. She knew she loved him, but this was scary.“You’re not the marrying kind, Chase. You’ve told me that a dozen times.”“I changed my mind.”“I’ve been married, Chase. It didn’t last. I left him.”He lifted one big shoulder.“What will last is that I love you,” he said. “That’ll never change. I’ll follow you all over the country if I have to, just to get a glimpse of you. Just to hear you laugh. You can work as many rodeos as you want. You can do anything you want and even if I’m not there, wherever I am, I’ll be loving you. Until I die.”“You’re looking at me as if it’s a done deal,” she said, smiling.His grin broadened. “It is. I can convince you. I know I’m good.”She laughed.“You might as well save us some time. You know I got no quit in me.”“Yes, I do know that.”“So what do you say?”“The main problem is that you’re not the man who’ll do everything I say. I told you that’s what I have to have before I’ll marry again.”“How d’you know I’m not him? I’ve been pretty pliable here lately, wouldn’t you say?”“You are so full of it, Chase Lomax.”“You’re the one who told me I have to get a life after rodeo. Well, that’s exactly what I’m tryin’ to do, right here.”

“What’s your answer, Elle?”“Yes,” she said.“Then here’s the rest of what I’ve been doing during your party,” he said.He knelt and slipped the ring onto her finger.“I’ll never be able to wear this in the pen,” she said. “It’s so heavy I won’t be able to run with it on.”“No problem,” he said. “I’ll be right there outside the gate holdin’ it for you until you come back.”