Champion (Studs in Spurs) by Cat Johnson Read Free Book Online Page A

fantasized about women they were naked. But in this particular daydream, Hannah was in an apron and looking like a happy homemaker from the 1950s. That in itself set off warning bells in his head. It was even more dangerous than picturing her perched on the edge of that kitchen table while he took her hard and fast to slake this need she caused in him.
    “Hey, what is the kid’s favorite dinner anyway?” He asked the question to help fill in the details of this extremely ill-advised little fantasy of his. Yeah, he was a glutton for punishment, but as long as this shit remained in his head and he didn’t act on it, he’d be fine.
    “Spaghetti and meatballs.” She wrinkled her nose and looked adorable while she lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “Nothing fancy, I know, but it’s what he loves best.”
    He laughed. “That sounds about right. Skeeter does like to stick to the basics. Keep things simple.”
    So did Cooper. Buckle bunnies and beer. Couldn’t go wrong with both of those after a competition was done. Start throwing in things like a woman who probably cooked as good as she looked, and her son who worshipped the ground he walked on and things would no doubt start to get real complicated, real fast.
    Cooper didn’t like complicated. It was about time he remembered that. With that thought in mind, he tipped his hat to Hannah. “Well, if you’ll excuse me. I got somebody I need to talk to.”
    “Sure.” Hannah’s sweet smile stuck with him while he walked away.
    He imagined he felt her eyes on him as he made a beeline for the girl in the stands. Hannah needed a reality check. This was who he was—a man who enjoyed the moment with no thought for the future. It was about time she saw it for herself and got over that damned hero worship she and her son shared for him.
    “Hey, darlin’.” He leaned his forearms on the rail when he’d reached his goal—the sweet thing showing more skin than was proper. He saw the girl react when she realized he was talking to her.
    She smiled like the devil was inside her and sashayed a few steps closer to him until she was pressed up against the rail. “Hey yourself, cowboy.”
    Cooper wouldn’t let himself glance back at Hannah. He knew she’d seen him, just like he knew him walking away from her to flirt with this stranger would cut her deep. But beneath it all was his certainty that sometimes doing the right thing could hurt a person.
    In the long run, this right here would save Hannah the whole truckload of pain that falling for him would surely bring her. He wasn’t the settling-down kind and his upbringing sure as hell hadn’t equipped him to know how to be a father to her kid.
    He focused his full attention back on the girl who would hopefully be his future companion for any post-ride activities of the sexual nature. “So, darlin’, tell me you have no plans for after the event and you’ll make me the happiest man in the world.”
    If only that were true…
    “Cooper’s up to ride. Watch, Mom, or you’ll miss him.”
    Skeeter needn’t have worried. For better or worse, Hannah’s gaze had barely left him. She’d watched him strap on the chaps that made him look so damn sexy her palms had started to sweat. She’d seen him clamp his cowboy hat lower onto his head before he climbed into that metal chute that looked too much like a death trap for her liking. And she’d seen the attention the cute young woman in the stands paid to him and the attention he paid her back.
    Yup. Hannah hadn’t missed any of it, and all it had done was make her more agitated. She hated her attraction to him as much as she hated the knowledge it wasn’t reciprocal on his part.
    The bull bounced in the chute as Cooper lowered himself onto the beast’s back and Hannah hated even more how she worried about his safety when he clearly wasn’t hers to worry about.
    She laid her hand on Skeeter’s shoulder and pulled him closer to her in a hug, grateful he, at least, was