"If you're sure about that, I'll talk to Charlie about Wes. We'll put the heat on him, make sure he understands what will happen to him if he ever pulls this kind of stunt again."

Patience nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Will you be all right?"

She flicked a glance at Wes. "What about him?"

Dallas flexed a muscle in his jaw. "I'll drive him back to his motel. I promise you, Wes McCauley won't bother you again." He walked over to the man lying in the dirt and nudged him with his boot. Wes grunted but didn't wake up.

"Dallas?" He turned toward the sound of Patience's voice. "Why did you come here tonight?"

Why did he come? Because he couldn't stay away. "Salty said he thought you might need some help."

She gave him a tremulous smile. "So you were playing Sir Galahad again?"

The corner of his mouth edged up. "It's kind of a cowboy thing." He bent to haul Wes to his feet but Patience's voice stopped him one more time.

"I wish I could figure you out."

He looked at her there in the moonlight, her hair mussed and her clothes rumpled, and thought how pretty she was and how much he wanted her. "I wish I could figure myself out."

Turning away, he went back to the not-so-small task of hauling Wes over his shoulder and carting him off to the truck.

She hadn't seen Dallas all day. The evening performance was just about to begin. This far north, it stayed light until well after ten. Standing outside the trailer, she looked up at the vast Wyoming sky, so big and blue it hurt her eyes. The weather was warm, almost hot, the heat seeping through her clothes and into her skin. As she made her way toward the arena, the smell of hay and horses mingled with the hot dry air and the sound of the wranglers' shrill whistles.

She needed to see Dallas, to thank him for helping her with Wes last night. She spotted his tall, broad-shouldered frame the minute she arrived, riding comfortably in his heavy leather saddle, warming Lobo up in the arena. As she walked toward the fence, she watched him loping the big, muscular palomino in lazy circles, appreciating his easy manner with the horse, the effortless way the two of them worked together, just a light tug on the reins or the press of his knee conveying his wishes.

Dallas spotted her just then, turned Lobo in her direction, and rode toward her, reining up on the opposite side of the fence.

"Well, you don't look any the worse for wear," he said from astride the horse, his gloved hands resting on the saddle horn. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I imagine I'm feeling a whole lot better than Wes." She smiled. "I didn't really thank you last night. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your coming to my rescue."

Dallas swung down from the horse and led the big gelding closer to the fence. "Charlie and I had a talk with Wes this morning. Charlie told him if he heard even a whisper that Wes was behaving as anything less than a gentleman where a woman was concerned, he would make sure everybody on the circuit knew about it. I can tell you, none of these guys want anything to do with a guy who would press a woman that way."

Her fingers curled around one of the cables that formed the fence. "I went to the movies with Wes once, that's all. It was a double date with Stormy and Shari. Last night...I wouldn't have left with him except..."

"Except what?" He gazed at her with those intense blue eyes that seemed to look at her differently than other men.

"The truth is, I watched you flirting with those women last night and I just...I didn't want to be there. Wes volunteered to take me home and I said yes. I would have left with the devil himself if he would have taken me out of there."

Something shifted in Dallas's features. "I didn't want any of those women, Patience. The truth is, since the day you drove up in your little red car, I haven't wanted any woman but you."

Her heart seemed to slow. She thought it might completely stop beating. Surely she had heard him wrong. Surely the great Dallas Kingman wasn't saying those words to her. She almost looked over her shoulder to see if another woman stood behind her.

"If that's one of your usual lines, Dallas, it really isn't-"

"It isn't a line." He shoved up the brim of his hat. "You're driving me crazy, Patience. I've stayed away on purpose, drank too much whiskey, forced myself to be with other women. But even when I'm with them, all I can think of is you."

Her legs started trembling. He couldn't possibly mean it. But she couldn't image Dallas lying about something like that.

"I don't understand any of this," she said. "You're not the kind of man I'm attracted to-I only just started to like you. Still, I can't stop thinking about you. When I see you with all those women, I wish I'd never met you. Other times...all I want is for you to kiss me the way you did that night in Vegas."

She shrugged her shoulders, wishing she could really explain. "I know it's insane. I know you're the worst possible thing that could happen to me, but I can't stop thinking about what it would be like if we made love."

Dallas just stared. His eyes were as blue as she'd ever seen them. Finally, he sighed. "Well, at least I'm not the only one who's going out of his mind."

It was true. As much as she wanted to stay away from him, she was drawn to him as she had never been to another man. She had never been jealous a day in her life and yet when she saw him with other women, she wanted to tear out their hair. It was time to do something about it.

Patience took a shaky breath. Dallas wanted her. And God knew she wanted him. It was now or never.

Courage, she told herself.

"I think we should...um...make love. Maybe if we sleep together, we can get over this...this...whatever it is that's driving both of us nuts."

Those intense blue eyes grew hotter, burned like the tip of a flame. His gloved hand covered hers where it rested on the fence. "God, I'd like to kiss you right now."

That deep Texas drawl washed over her. Her heart did a slow sort of roll. He wanted to kiss her. She wanted that, too. More than anything she could think of. It was a little impractical, considering there was a fence between them and a grandstand full of people watching.

Patience grinned. "I'd love to take you up on that, cowboy, but I don't think we have time. The rodeo's about to begin."

As if to prove it, Lobo nosed him in the back, nudging him toward the fence. Dallas smiled. "I guess you're right." He stroked the white strip on the horse's nose. Patience watched his hands moving with such gentle care and her stomach quivered. The tips of her breasts began to throb.

"I'd better get going," he said. "I'll see you after the show." He gave her a last warm smile, then turned and walked away.

Dallas surprised himself that night and took a first in the calf roping. He wasn't all that good, but he only had to win a little to qualify for the All-Around title, which required earning money in more than one event. Fortunately, Lobo was a damned good cow pony, a registered quarter horse gelding, officially Doc's Lobo, out of Doc's Bandit, raised right there in Texas on the Circle C Ranch. Dallas mostly gave the horse credit for the win whenever he landed in the money.

Tonight he was amazed they had done so well, considering that on and off all evening his mind had wandered to the woman who had been driving him crazy for weeks. He still couldn't believe she had suggested they make love.

Desire slid through him and his groin tightened. He hadn't lied. He had wanted her from the moment he'd first seen her, but traveling together, his gut warning him this wasn't a no-strings lady, he had forced himself to stay away.

Now he thought that maybe she was right. Maybe once they slept together they could get over their unwanted attraction and get on with their lives.

He hoped so. Tonight, just as he was climbing down into the chute, settling himself in the saddle aboard a big blue roan named Hellfire, an image of Patience had popped into his head. For an instant, he had forgotten where he was and nearly got unseated in the chute.

He'd forced himself to concentrate as the horse exploded out the gate. The cheering snared him then, the whistles, the rumble of feet in the stands, and he'd been determined to give them what they'd paid for. It was a decent ride, though he'd made better. He scored an eighty-four, high enough to keep him in the overall.

Still, thinking of Patience had affected his concentration. And he'd had Charlie on his mind, as well. His uncle had been brooding ever since his return from Texas. He didn't like being away from Annie so much and the lawsuit he was involved in seemed to be heating up. Dallas wished there was something he could do, but Charlie was a proud man and aside from moral support, there didn't seem to be any way to help.

The announcer's voice drew his attention. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we hope you enjoyed the rodeo-the greatest show on dirt!" The old Roy Rogers tune, "Happy Trails," blared out of the speakers and the crowd began to stand and start moving toward the exits.

Dallas spotted Patience leaving the auxiliary stands near the chutes and started walking toward her. For a minute or two, he followed her, watching the nice way her bottom filled out her jeans, his own beginning to fit too snug. He caught up with her, fell into step beside her. Together they walked back to his trailer to put Lobo up for the night.

"You made a great run in the calf roping," she said.

"Yeah. I guess I got lucky. Most of the credit goes to Lobo." She stopped as they reached the spot where the big palomino stood next to the trailer, but Dallas kept walking, pulling her into the shadowy darkness just beyond.

"What about your horse?" she asked as he hauled her into his arms.

"You first; then, we'll worry about Lobo."

She laughed the instant before he kissed her; then, she sort of melted against him and made a soft little mewing sound in her throat. She kissed even better than he remembered, her lips so damned soft, the taste of her filling his senses. He loved the way she sort of gave herself over to him, letting him take and take until he found himself wanting to give and give. She was slender but lusciously curved and she fit against him as if they were made for each other.

He nibbled the corners of her lips, slid his tongue inside her mouth, let his hands slide down her back to cup her bottom and pull her even closer. He was hard-uncomfortable in his jeans-and the buckle on his chaps was pressing in exactly the wrong spot.

He shifted, trying to find a better position, kissed her again, gently cupped her breasts, and felt her tremble. Her nipples were diamond hard and he desperately wanted to taste them. Damn it, he wanted to drag her into his trailer and down on his bed. He wanted to peel off her jeans and bury himself so deep she would never forget the first time he had taken her.

But he had waited weeks for this. And after the way Wes had treated her last night, he didn't want her thinking he was anything close to that kind of guy.

A couple of cowboys walked by and he forced himself to let her go, though it was the last thing he wanted. "Easy, darlin'. Unless you want an audience, I think we'd better stop."

She reached up and gently touched his lips, her big green eyes fixed on his face. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You just kiss me and I feel...kind of like I'm melting."

Dallas laughed. "Honey, if that's what happens when I kiss you, we'll probably set the room on fire when we make love."

She flushed. In the moonlight, he could see the color creep into her cheeks. Maybe she really was old-fashioned. The notion was strangely intriguing.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked.

"Traveling, I suppose."

"I'm going to Houston for a couple of days. It's my father's sixtieth birthday. My stepmother is throwing a party for him. She called and asked me to come." That was putting it mildly. Rachael had pressured the hell out of him to be there and after four years of staying away, he'd felt guilty.

Patience nervously wet her lips and he went instantly hard again. He ground his jaw against the subtle ache and tried to think of other things.

"I don't know, I..."

"We wouldn't be staying at the house with them. My father and I aren't on the best of terms. The truth is, I haven't seen him in quite a while. If you came along, it might make things easier. In a way, you'd be doing me a favor."

She smiled. "Well, I certainly owe you a favor or two."

"Great. I'll take care of your plane ticket. We'll fly down tomorrow morning."

She nodded and smiled and it was all he could do not to haul her back into his arms. He didn't dare. He liked sex-a lot. And he wanted to have it with her.

Instead, he walked her back to her little white trailer. Tomorrow they would take off for Houston. By tomorrow night, Patience Sinclair would be sharing his bed.

The Saturday night perf was over and Charlie was bone tired. Tomorrow he and the crew were hitting the road again. He wished he could squeeze in a couple days off and go home, but July was one of the busiest months of the year and he was feeling the pinch for money.

As soon as he could get away, he headed for the crew trailer, went inside, and picked up his cell phone. He punched an autodial button and a few seconds later, Annie answered. Damn, it felt good just to hear her voice.

"I sure do miss you, honey," he said after the small talk that always helped him relax.

"I miss you, too. You're coming home after Cheyenne, right?"

"A herd of wild elephants couldn't keep me away." They talked about the ranch, then caught up on what had been happening with the Circle C rodeos.

"How's Ritchie doin'?" Annie asked. "I hear Junior Reese is fillin' in for him till he's back on his feet."

"Ritchie's doing all right, considering. He's home, I hear. His wife'll be glad about that. Where'd you hear about Junior?"

"You know I'm not about to reveal my sources." But a lot of her old friends still rode the circuit and she pretty well kept up on what was going on. "So, what about Junior?" Though the words were light, he could hear the worry in her voice. Annie didn't like Junior Reese any more than Charlie did.

"Junior's all right. There's no love lost between us, but as long as he does his job, we'll do just fine."

Years ago, Junior Reese had been one of the top bull riders in the country. Charlie had been young back then, riding broncs and clowning a little. Then, at a rodeo in Kansas, Junior got hung up in the rigging. Charlie was clowning that day. He tried to get him free, but he was inexperienced, mostly just working the barrel. When Junior finally got loose, he fell under the big bull's hooves. Beneath his makeup, his face was badly disfigured.

And he blamed Charlie for it.

"Promise me you'll keep an eye on him," Annie said.

Charlie grinned into the phone. "Yes, ma'am," he said, wishing more than ever he was home.

CHAPTER 11.

Patience got up early Sunday morning. Dallas stopped by for a couple of minutes after breakfast, said the plane would be leaving at 12:02 and that he would pick her up at ten so they would have plenty of time to get to the airport and get through the security check.

Shari was sitting in the dinette when he arrived. She didn't say a word until he left.

"You're actually going to Houston with Dallas? I can't believe it."

Patience tried for nonchalance. "Why not? We're two adults. We're attracted to each other. Why shouldn't we do something about it?"

Shari looped a red curl behind her ear. "You know very well why you shouldn't. Because Dallas is Dallas and you are you-and don't pretend not to know what that means."

Patience sighed. "Okay, I know what it means. But just this once, I've decided to be somebody else for a little while."

Shari laughed. "Someone who has the hots for Dallas and plans to do something about it."

Patience grinned. "Exactly." As if to prove it, she knelt in front of her bunk and dragged out her suitcase, which was never completely unpacked in the tiny trailer. She took out the items she didn't need, then tossed in several pairs of lacy underwear, a lavender shorty nightgown and a pair of low-heeled sandals.

"I'm meeting his father and stepmother. I wonder what I should wear. Do you know anything about them?"

"Not much. Dallas never talks about them. His father's got money, though. That's why he and Dallas don't get along. He doesn't approve of Dallas rodeoing. I get the impression he thinks rodeo people are beneath him."

"Great. I can tell I'm going to love him." She folded a pair of slacks and put them in the suitcase. "You'd think he'd be proud of what his son has accomplished."

"From what Charlie says, Dallas takes after his mother's side of the family-a long line of Texas ranchers. I guess that's why his dad and mom never got along. Dad was a city boy. Mom was a country girl. There were just too many differences to make it work."