Wrangled and Tangled by Lorelei James Read Free Book Online Page B

the air. The cowboy kept one arm high above his head, as his other arm, somehow attached to the bull, was jerked every which way as the animal whirled and kicked. What a display of power, man versus beast. How strong the man’s leg muscles must be. How beefy his biceps and forearms must be. How agile he must be.
    What an idiot he must be to climb on the back of a bull in the first place.
    When the bull twisted toward her, Tierney caught a glimpse of the rider beneath the cowboy hat. Every bit of breath stalled in her lungs.
    The idiot rider hanging on to that beast was Renner.
    Fear, anger, and more anger surfaced. Surely he could’ve forced another cowboy to exhibit this dangerous behavior. But as that thought popped into her head, she knew Renner wasn’t the type to pass the buck. Or the type to pass up a chance to buck, apparently.
    A loud buzzer sounded. Renner freed his hand and sailed off the bull. Clapping and wolf whistles exploded from the peanut gallery as he landed on his feet with grace and ease.
    The bull, seeing his nemesis unharmed, charged.
    The other guy in the ring shouted for Renner’s attention—or maybe he was shouting at the bull. Renner turned, lost his footing and slipped beneath the bull’s stomping hooves.
    Tierney shrieked.
    Renner rolled away before a hoof connected with his body. Then he was up, the fringe on his chaps making a flap flap sound as he raced toward the fence . . . straight toward her.
    She tried to scramble away from the man and the beast giving chase. Her heels slipped off the edge of the wooden plank, her arms pinwheeled and she fell on her butt. Right in the muck. Then Renner was throwing himself over the top of the fence beside her.
    The bull’s gigantic body distorted at the last second before it plowed into the fence. The substance on the hooves sprayed over them in a wet splatter.
    Renner reached for her hands to drag her out of the mud. “Are you all right?”
    “No!” She looked at her clothing with disgust. Her pink tweed skirt was speckled with brown. As was her beige silk shirt. The sleeves of her matching pink tweed suit coat had brown smears from elbow to wrist. Although she couldn’t see her backside, she felt cold dampness of mud seeping through. But witnessing the state of her shoes, her beautiful pink suede pumps, caused the most distress. They were ruined. She’d worn them one time.
    “Where are you hurt?” Renner placed his mud-caked gloved hand on her right forearm.
    “I’m not hurt.” She knocked his hand away. “I’m mad.” Mad and humiliated and the person who’d caused this distress was right in front of her, so she pushed him.
    He staggered back a step before his eyes turned icy. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
    “What is wrong with me ?” Tierney pushed him again, but this time he didn’t budge. “What is wrong with you? Did you even know what you were doing, getting on a bull?”
    “Yes, I knew what I was doin’. In case you forgot, I own a stock contracting company. I know how to load bulls in the chute and I sure as shit know how to ride them. So I don’t know where you get off—”
    “Where I get off?” she repeated. “You got off right in front of me! Straight over the fence like some high jumper on meth. I thought you and the bull were going to trample me!” She did a sweeping gesture over her clothes. “Now you’ve ruined my suit, not to mention my shoes—”
    “Which is your own goddamn fault.” He gave her feet a derisive look, sneering, “No woman in her right mind would ever wear a pair of shoes like that to the barn and corrals. You come out here in the real world you should expect to get dirty, understand?”
    “I cannot believe I’m coated in mud and manure and God knows what else.” She removed her glasses, which were almost impossible to see through because of the splatters. She jerked her blouse out of the waistband of her skirt, using the clean corner to wipe her lenses. She shoved them back