“That’s never good, T, and it’s not like you at all.”
“Ugh. I know.” Tanna sighed. “Listen to me, whining about my pathetic love life. We oughta be celebrating yours, loading you up on lube at the local A & P.”
“Think that’d raise eyebrows in Lamar?” Lainie mused.
“If they look at you funny, just tell them it’s for rodeo medical services.”
“Got all my bases covered, huh?”
“I’m a practical girl.” Tanna rolled off the bed and onto her feet. “Look, I’ll see you later. I’ve gotta put Jezebel through her paces before showtime.”
Lainie kept her eyes closed. She hadn’t slept worth beans last night and a catnap might be in order.
Hair tickled her nose. She looked up into Tanna’s face, which hung directly above hers. “What?”
“I’d better not see you at the bar tonight. You’d better not chicken out, Lainie Jay. Although I will expect a fully detailed report tomorrow.”
“Deal.”
Tanna smooched her forehead. “Get some rest, chickie, ’cause with those two guys? You’re definitely gonna need it.”
Chapter Four
For the bigger rodeos, the Lariat Sports Medicine team showcased the giant semi with the gigantic logo emblazoned across the side. Most people expected the enormous cargo area was filled with medical supplies and equipment. While that belief was partially true, the real purpose of the tricked-out truck was advertising.
Yes, the sports medicine team fixed broken cowboys, but inexplicably, tying the Lariat brand name of clothing with the sponsorship of pro rodeo was the sole reason for the Lariat Sports Medicine team’s existence.
As much as Lainie liked her job with Lariat, she was strictly part-time, which meant she freelanced as an EMT in Colorado Springs on her flex days. With her fluctuating schedule, the last half of the week she was on the road headed to the next Lariat event. So, basically, she’d had no life for the last two years beyond the folks she’d met in the world of rodeo.
Hooking up with Hank had eased her loneliness. Sometimes she wondered why she’d tried so damn hard to keep her relationship with him hidden.
The door to the designated medical room opened and her boss, Dr. Dusty Bowman, sauntered in.
Right. Now she remembered why things with her and Hank were kept hush-hush. Doc Bowman didn’t like bullfighters. Normally it wouldn’t matter what her boss thought about her love life, but Doc was more than just her boss. He’d stood behind the chutes watching in horror as his best friend, bull rider Jason Capshaw, was gored by a bull and the bullfighters did nothing to stop it.
At the time, Dusty had been a bull rider as well as Jason’s traveling partner. After her father’s very tragic and very public death, Dusty dropped out of pro rodeo and returned to college, earning a medical degree specializing in sports medicine.
Doc Dusty blamed Jason Capshaw’s death on improperly trained bullfighters and lack of safety gear for the riders. He took it upon himself to design a vest that offered protection from a bull’s deadly horns. He’d sold his patented design to a small company, which also made protective clothing for policemen and loggers. Eventually Lariat Clothiers bought out the company. Then they approached Doc Dusty about spearheading a sports medicine program geared toward rodeo. With his background as a bull rider and rodeo safety promoter, Dr. Bowman became the “face” of Lariat Sports Medicine.
Dusty hired her, albeit part-time, with her lowly LPN and EMT degrees, when he could’ve hired any one of the hundreds of applicants—all with master’s degrees. She wondered if he’d ever feel he’d repaid the debt he owed her because he was supposed to have been on the bull that killed Jason Capshaw.
But none of the grief or guilt was evident in Doc’s eyes when he saw her. He grinned from beneath the brim of his ever-present cowboy hat. “Lainie! Good to see you.”
“What brings the face of Lariat Sports Medicine to the trenches?”
“A business deal—what else? Plus, I’ve never worked this rodeo, and you know me—always lookin’ for something new.”
How true that was. The man was constantly on the go.
“Also, I wanted to talk to you.”
Lainie’s focus zoomed to him.
He shut the door and leaned against it, offering her a rueful smile. “That oughta buy us a little time.”
“Doc, you’re scaring me.”
“You jump to the worst conclusion first. Just like your daddy.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No. Far from it. You have a great rapport with the contestants in both the EBS and the CRA.”
“But?” she prompted.
“But I know you hire out as an EMT the days you aren’t working for me. You look exhausted. I’m worried the travel schedule is wearing you down.”
“Funny, I don’t feel exhausted. And this must’ve come on real sudden, because I looked just fine to you the day before yesterday at the Lariat offices.”
He glanced away. Guiltily. Which meant one thing.
Lainie pushed away from the wall. “Did my mother put you up to this, Dusty?”
He still wouldn’t make eye contact with her.
“That meddling bitch.”
“Now, that ain’t no way to talk about your mama. You can’t blame her for being concerned about you.”
“So she goes to you, my boss, behind my back? Instead of talking to me first?”