Garth didn’t stand a chance, not with the way Jesse was hauling. Not to mention he’d just been distracted by Josie sauntering up to the edge of the pit and gracing him with a look that should have been strictly reserved for the bedroom. Garth didn’t notice Jesse until he was launching through the air at Garth, but by then, no matter how settled into his sweet spot he was, Garth wasn’t staying on the back of that bull.
When Jesse crashed into Garth, they both tumbled over the side of the bull, landed on the mats with a loud thunk, and that was the end of it.
“Don’t cuss in front of my kid, Black.” Jesse propped up on his elbows and looked at him.
Garth was reaching for his hat to slide it back on, but Jesse’s had tumbled over the side of the mat. “Don’t show up to my next engagement party an hour late,” Garth threw back as if he was all kinds of put out, but the two of them still shook hands and wound up cracking smiles.
“Deal. Because next time my wife won’t be pregnant, so we won’t have to spend an hour camped out in a waiting room before enduring another nail-biting ultrasound before having to wait another hour for the doctor to actually show up in the exam room.”
My hands flew to my hips at almost the precise moment Josie’s snapped to hers.
She got the first words in. “Excuse me? Your next engagement party? Who exactly are you planning on getting engaged to next?”
Jesse swatted Garth’s arm. Garth swatted right back before rolling onto his side and giving Josie a look that I knew would melt her defenses. “Come on now, Joze. You know what I meant. The jealous woman act doesn’t become you, babe.”
Josie crossed her arms tighter, but her face was smoothing out. “Oh yeah? Why not?”
A crowd was gathered around the bull pit, but the two of them were acting as if they were only two in the vast barn.
“Because to be jealous, you have to feel some sort of inclination that your man could be lured away by someone else, right?” Garth covered the spot above his heart with his hands. “But, baby, you know the only girl for me is the one I’m staring at right now.”
Josie’s arms unfolded, and what was left of the creases lining her face melted. I didn’t know how anyone could look at Garth Black like he was God in human form, but it was an expression Josie had frequently.
“You’re forgiven,” she hollered at him. “Just watch who you talk about second engagements around, will ya? Next time you’ll be punished accordingly.” The hints of a smile pulled at Josie’s mouth.
“That, Joze, does not sound like a threat. But understood.”
I didn’t know if Garth had blinked since their conversation-meets-lovers’-quarrel had started, but that was normal. It was like he took a blinking hiatus when Josie was around, as if he didn’t want to waste a moment viewing the dark side of his eyelids when she was in front of him.
Josie still hadn’t seen me—I wasn’t sure she’d noticed Jesse out there beside Garth—but I wasn’t going to distract her from whatever moment she and Garth were sharing. Because fiancés falling off bulls after being tackled before rambling about second engagements in the middle of an ancient barn was the very pinnacle of romance. But based on the way she was still staring at her husband-to-be, that was the pinnacle for Josie. I couldn’t decide how I felt about that, but I didn’t need to decide how I felt about it. It was as clear as the bump projecting from my abdomen that she was happy.
When Jesse crawled my way like he was a soldier shimmying under barbed wire, a goofy grin on his face, I felt my crossed arms start to give up. It took a lot of energy either pretending to be or actually being upset at someone, and I didn’t have an excess of energy lately, most of all tonight. This whole day, I felt like something had found my energy switch and flipped it off. I couldn’t find a way to switch it back.
“Have I mentioned how grateful I am that you’re not as touchy as most women?” Jesse said when he made it to the edge of the mat in front of me.
“Not following,” I said as someone hurled his hat across the mechanical bull at him. Instead of landing closer to him, it landed almost directly on my head. I grabbed the hat before it tumbled to the floor, and I dropped it on my head and waited.
Jesse’s smile grew when he studied me in his hat. “You know. Some women, they’re like grenades. With the slightest of mishaps, they can tear apart half a city block.”
I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep from smiling. “Garth Black, stop channeling him. I like my Jesse Walker only about infinitely more.”
Dropping my hand to his head, I mussed his crown of thick, light hair that spent way too much time hidden under a hat. Jesse had the kind of hair women would die for and male models would kill for. Part of me kind of liked that few people saw him without his hat though. The top of his head and hair were a secret I was one of the few people in on. I liked having parts of him I didn’t have to share with the world. That was what made a relationship special—that a person knew the secrets and parts of someone they kept hidden from the rest of the world, and stood shoulder to shoulder with them no matter what.
“All I’m saying is that I’m thankful you don’t get riled up and ticked off every time I say something wrong or do something not quite how I should have. It’s nice to go through life on solid ground instead of quicksand and glass.” Jesse swung his legs over the side of the mats and sat on the edge, looking at me with eyes so light, it didn’t seem possible the world around us was dark.