Trish Milburn - The Texan's Cowgirl Bride

“Ha. You seem to have forgotten the part about me crashing and burning tonight.”

Travis shrugged. “We all slip at some point.”

“So you have a great P.I. boo-boo story?”

Travis helped her into the SUV and automatically reached for the seat belt. “I do.”

“Can it beat falling off a horse in front of hundreds of people?”

“Does following a fugitive and having half a dozen Rottweilers trap you in a tree count?”

The image made her giggle. She lifted her hand to her mouth. “Sorry. What did you do?”

“Before or after I had to call 911 to get help?”

This time she snorted.

“That’s it. I’m taking back the milkshake.” He reached for it.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” She pulled the cup out of his reach. A stab of pain in her side caused her to gasp.

“Sorry.” Travis placed his hand on her jean-clad leg. “I didn’t mean to make you hurt yourself.”

“It’s okay.” Savannah tried not to focus on the feel of his warm hand against her thigh. He wasn’t squeezing or pressing down, but she still sensed his strength. And felt an odd tingle, as if his flesh were touching hers.

“If it makes you feel better, you can pour the milkshake over my head,” he said.

She forced her focus off the weight of his hand and lifted a brow. “And waste a perfectly good milkshake?”

“Saved by a sweet tooth.” Travis smiled as he backed away from her and shut the door.

She tried not to think about how she was simultaneously glad he’d removed his hand while also missing the connection. Jeez, maybe the doctor had been wrong and she did conk her head.

The dose of extra-strength pain reliever she’d been given must be taking effect because the ride back to the rodeo grounds wasn’t as painful as the trip to the hospital.

Savannah directed Travis toward Abby’s rig. Before he even turned off the engine, Abby came bounding out of the trailer and straight for the passenger side of the SUV.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she opened the door.

Savannah told herself to ignore the twinge of loss that she wouldn’t get to enjoy Travis’s touch one more time. The truth was she needed to get away from him and the unexpected attraction toward him. “Fine. Just sporting the mother of all bruises. What about Bluebell?”

“She’s fine. A scratch, nothing more.”

Savannah breathed a sigh of relief. Bluebell wasn’t just a horse to her. She was a good friend, family, a trusted partner.

As Savannah unlatched her own seat belt this time and slid out of the truck, Abby spotted her bag of food and milkshake.

“Did you two go to the hospital or out on a date?”

Savannah shot her friend a “What the hell?” look but quickly hid it when Travis appeared at Abby’s side.

“Her stomach was growling so much that I was afraid the hospital staff would think a wild animal had gotten loose in the E.R.,” Travis said, a mischievous grin on his face.

Savannah wrinkled her nose at him. “Very funny.”

Travis gave a little bow, as if on stage. “Thank you. I’ll be here all week.”

This time, Savannah rolled her eyes and headed toward the trailer. “Well, this chick is done for the day. I’m going to bed and calling do-over for tomorrow.”

After shooting Savannah a wicked wink, Abby headed toward the trailer to get the door. When Savannah reached the bottom of the steps, she stopped and half turned toward Travis.

“Thanks for everything.”

“You’re welcome. Hope you feel better soon. Maybe we can catch up sometime when you’re not being carted off to the hospital.”

“Yeah.” Wow, that sounded enthusiastic. But it was as if her brain had finally said, “Enough. I’m shutting down now.” And she had a feeling it had more to do with the hunky version of Travis Shepard watching her than working late the night before or any physical trauma she’d endured.

She finally broke eye contact and climbed gingerly up into Abby’s trailer, not quite able to ignore Abby’s knowing smile.

“Too bad you’re injured,” Abby said as she shut the door to the sound of Travis’s vehicle starting. “Because you could have jumped that boy and I don’t think he would have minded.”

Damn if Savannah’s face didn’t flush at the image that popped into her mind. And of course Abby noticed.

“You do like him.”

“He’s a nice guy, and yes, he’s good-looking. But we’re just high school acquaintances who happened to bump into each other.”

“Him taking you to the hospital and buying you dinner isn’t just bumping into each other.”

“He was just being helpful. And it was the Burger Barn, not a five-star restaurant.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t think he’s interested in dating anyway, and I don’t blame him.” She recounted the incident with the nurse.

“Maybe he just wasn’t interested in her.”

With a shake of her head, Savannah left her friend behind and headed for that much-needed hot shower. If she avoided the topic of Travis for a couple of days, Abby would probably forget all about him.

When Savannah finally stepped under the water, it felt as if a week had passed since she’d left home instead of only half a day. She closed her eyes and let her mind float, and her thoughts drifted to Travis. In the solitude of the shower, she allowed herself to think about him, his striking good looks, the strength she sensed in him, the warmth of his hands as he’d helped her in and out of the SUV.

She ran her hand over the spot on her leg where he’d placed his palm, imagining she could still feel it. As her thoughts meandered down one path and then another, she found herself imagining him in the shower with her, water sluicing over both of their naked bodies as they pressed against each other.

Had her sister Lizzie finding love really sparked some sort of similar desire in Savannah?

She ran the soap over her aching body, picturing Travis’s hands doing it instead. Her skin grew warm and sensitive as she slid her hand up her torso and across her right breast. The image of Travis’s mouth settling against that breast had just formed in her mind when she froze and her eyes popped open.

Her heart skipped a beat as she moved her fingertips back over the area they’d just skimmed and then probed deeper. She bit her lip as the examination found what she’d feared. A lump, and it wasn’t on the side of her injuries.

* * *

HIDING HER CONCERN from Abby proved so difficult that Savannah used her injuries as an excuse the next morning to say she was going to head home. “We’ll plan another weekend soon. Hopefully, I won’t be so accident-prone next time.”

“I’ll forgive you for abandoning me if you ask Travis out and then tell me all about it.”

Savannah gave her friend a friendly punch in the shoulder. “Let it go.”

Abby looked over her shoulder as she cooked breakfast. “Don’t sit there and tell me you haven’t thought about it.”

Savannah remembered her imaginings in the shower the night before, before that lump in her breast had torpedoed her ability to think of anything else.

She didn’t give Abby the satisfaction of a response. Instead, she nabbed a slice of crisp bacon and headed for the door. But as she drove out of Mineral Wells and pointed her truck toward home, she didn’t find any peace in her solitude and wondered if she should have stayed through the second night of competition.

Her thoughts kept drifting to Travis and how nice and easy it had been between them the night before. But then her mind got jerked back to the lump. She imagined it getting larger by the second, making her so anxious she finally pulled over and scrolled through online listings for doctors on her phone. She had a regular doctor as well as a gynecologist, but the irrational fear that her family would find out if she visited either one of them had her searching for another option.