Rodeo Legends--Shane Read online

  IT WAS ONE INCREDIBLE NIGHT...

  Crazier things had probably happened. But not to Kaitlin Cooper, sweetheart of the stock-car-racing world! First, there was her wild Vegas one-night stand with rodeo heartthrob Shane Gillian. And now she’s pregnant with twins. Then there was the quickie wedding... Everything is out of control—her hormones, her life and suddenly her feelings. Feelings? For Shane? Wait, maybe that’s the craziest part!

  Sure, they’d connected—and the sparks are still there—but that doesn’t mean they are cut out for parenthood or happily-ever-after. With his rodeo circuit and her racing schedule, they’ll never be in the same place, let alone on the same page. But they’ve got to try!

  “I’m going to kiss you.”

  “Shane, I don’t think—”

  “Shhh.”

  “But—”

  “You think too much.”

  Damn it. Why did he have to be Shane Gillian, a famous bull rider with a career as demanding as hers? And why did she have to be Kaitlin Cooper, born with racing in her blood? And then she admitted he was right. She thought too much.

  “Let’s go home.”

  But it wasn’t her home. It would never be her home. And he wasn’t her husband. Well, not really. In name only.

  “I can’t. Please don’t kiss me again. Not until we have this all figured out. We’re only making things more difficult.”

  “Kait—”

  “No. We can talk in the morning.”

  “Why not now?”

  Because she was too conflicted. Because when he touched her she didn’t know which way was up. Because for the first time in her life she felt herself falling for someone.

  And it scared her to death.

  Dear Reader,

  Years ago I wrote a series of romance novels centered on stock car racing. I’ve always loved those books, but it wasn’t until a friend of mine said, “Hey. You ought to write a book about a female race-car driver who falls in love with a cowboy,” that I thought, “Eureka!”

  And so you might recognize my heroine, Kaitlin Cooper. She’s the daughter of Lance and Sarah Cooper, my first stock-car-racing couple. It’s pretty crazy how certain characters are like family, so when Kaitlin ends up pregnant, well, I knew fireworks would fly with her mom and dad. Throw in a cowboy son-in-law and, well...NASCAR royalty is in for a rocky ride.

  And poor Shane Gillian. One spectacular night changes his life forever. He can’t decide if that’s a good thing or bad. All he knows is fate has given him the chance to woo the woman of his dreams...and he only hopes he’s up to the task.

  As always, I hope you enjoy the tale. I hope those of you who have followed me since my stock-car-racing days are pleased. It was a joy to revisit some of my favorite characters from the racing world. Thank you for your patience.

  By the way, that friend of mine? She really is a female race-car driver and she really did fall in love with a professional cowboy. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

  All my best,

  Pamela

  RODEO LEGENDS: SHANE

  Pamela Britton

  With more than a million books in print, Pamela Britton likes to call herself the best-known author nobody’s ever heard of. Of course, that changed thanks to a certain licensing agreement with that little racing organization known as NASCAR.

  But before the glitz and glamour of NASCAR, Pamela wrote books that were frequently voted the best of the best by the Detroit Free Press, Barnes & Noble (two years in a row) and RT Book Reviews. She’s won numerous awards, including a National Readers’ Choice Award and a nomination for the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® Award.

  When not writing books, Pamela is a reporter for a local newspaper. She’s also a columnist for the American Quarter Horse Journal.

  Books by Pamela Britton

  Harlequin Western Romance

  Cowboys in Uniform

  Her Rodeo Hero

  His Rodeo Sweetheart

  The Ranger’s Rodeo Rebel

  Her Cowboy Lawman

  Winning the Rancher’s Heart

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

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  For Evelynn Brooks, the inspiration for this story. No, I didn’t make my heroine tall, dark and gorgeous. But I did make her kindhearted, talented and funny...just like you. Wishing you years of joy and happiness with your own handsome cowboy.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from A Home with the Rancher by April Arrington

  Chapter One

  Kaitlin Cooper stared down at the plastic tube sitting on the counter of her bathroom, the twin lines of pink an evil eye that seemed to glare up at her.

  “No,” she murmured, clutching the counter for support. But the two lines were unmistakable. Still, she picked the tube up, turning it this way and that, hoping against hope the pink lines were a trick of the light. They weren’t.

  Pregnant. That was what the little diagram for dummies told her.

  How did this happen?

  She straightened, tipped her head back. Well, she knew how. But she took precautions. She had to take precautions. Stock-car racing was a male-dominated sport. All she needed were rumors of a pregnancy to unravel all the hard work she’d put into her career.

  Pregnant.

  Her fingernails started to ache. Only then did she take a deep breath, straighten up and firmly look herself in the eye. Her pupils were like tiny dots in blots of blue paint. Her blond hair, usually pulled back in a ponytail, hung loose around her shoulders slightly mussed, not surprising since she’d run her fingers through the long strands at least a half a dozen times while waiting for the pregnancy test to reveal its grim news.

  Okay. So. She was pregnant. She’d figure out the pros and cons.

  Pros: she now had an explanation for the sudden bouts of dizziness and the persistent stomach flu that had refused to go away. She wasn’t suffering the lingering effects of concussion. She wasn’t terminally ill. She was going to have a baby.

  Con: she was going to have a baby.

  Her sponsor would freak. She couldn’t race while pregnant, which meant she’d have to break the news to the team owner, who just so happened to be her dad, and she didn’t even want to think about how that little conversation would go. Plus she had a race in two weeks, the first race of the season. How would they find a replacement driver in time?

  She leaned over the sink because she truly felt she might vomit.

  How did it happen?

  Duh. She’d had a quick fling with Shane Gillian, professional rodeo rider, a man she’d met in Las Veg
as. He’d been there for the National Finals Rodeo. She’d been there to test her new car. They’d both been invited to the same party. They’d hit it off comparing notes about life on the road and the pitfalls of fame. Heck, they both had famous fathers, too, and, well, one thing had led to another, and she couldn’t even blame it on stupidity brought on by an overindulgence of alcohol. It had just...happened.

  Dumb, dumb, dumb.

  She padded back to her bedroom. Her eyes caught on the massive bed in the center of the room. Her own little slice of heaven with its off-white bedspread and fluffy pillows. All she wanted to do was climb beneath the covers and pull them over her head. Her fingers shook as she automatically reached for the cell phone sitting on her nightstand. Still, she hesitated. She could always just deal with this on her own. Shane Gillian didn’t need to know. She could make an announcement detailing her need to take a break from racing...

  She couldn’t take a break. People just didn’t quit for a year. What would her fans say? Scratch that. What would her mother say?

  Her eyes began to burn, but she refused to cry. She hated crybabies. Race-car drivers were made of sterner stuff. She just needed to figure something out.

  Her fingers scanned the contact list in her phone without her even thinking about it, and the name Shane Gillian appeared right there in black and white. She hadn’t called him...afterward. She’d assumed he, like her, had a busy life. He hadn’t called her, either. It’d been a fling. They’d both known that. Never mind the connection they’d had. Things might have turned out differently if they were different people with different careers and different lives. But they’d both known what would happen the next morning. No hard feelings.

  She pressed the call button. It rang once before she hung up. This kind of news should be delivered in person. Maybe a video chat? she thought as she plopped down on the bed. Would that work? Beep. Beep. Guess what? We’re pregnant.

  Her phone rang.

  She about jumped out of her skin. A name flashed on the screen. He’d called her back.

  Ignore him.

  But she couldn’t. If she planned to meet with him, she would need to contact him sooner or later. So she took a deep breath, told herself to calm down, closed her eyes and said, “Hey.”

  A deep baritone, the same one that’d sent chills up her spine the day they’d met, said, “It is you, isn’t it? I thought it might be. Recognized the area code.”

  She gulped. What to say?

  She opened her eyes. Stared out at the water beyond her single-story home on the shores of Lake Norman. A home she was proud of. A home she’d purchased on her own with the purse money from her first big win. It was beautiful outside. She could smell the blooms of the cherry tree from where she sat, although how the sun could still be shining when her whole world had just been turned end over end, she had no idea.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh, um, sorry. I didn’t mean to call. I mean, I did, I just decided I’d call you later instead.”

  “Is this a bad time?”

  She almost laughed. Hysterical laughter. Instead she said, “No, no. I can talk.”

  Pregnant.

  Silence again. She took the plunge. “I’ve, ah, been thinking about you. And, um, I have some free time this weekend. I was wondering if maybe you and I could get together?”

  She could perfectly picture his blue eyes. The dark hair. The sideburns. Heck, even his smile. He had the sweetest smile. It emphasized the cleft in his chin, which always seemed to be covered by the faintest hint of a beard in the pictures she’d seen of him online.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  Surely he could hear the panic in her voice? Or her harsh breaths? She felt on the verge of an anxiety attack. This wasn’t just a mistake. This was a disaster. Potentially a career-ending disaster. She needed him to know. Needed his help.

  “I could fly out to California...”

  She left the rest of her words unspoken. She knew what he would think. That she wanted to see him again for another wild night of debauchery. What he couldn’t know was that their night together had been a complete aberration. She didn’t just fall into bed with complete strangers. She couldn’t afford to do that.

  “That sounds great.”She could hear the smile in his voice. “I can show you my hometown.”

  He was the son of a famous team roper. That much she knew. Some kind of multiple world champion. She’d done a little bit of Googling after their night together. She also knew he was a bull rider. And that he was good. As good as she was at driving a race car.

  No driving anymore.

  Despite her best efforts, she felt a knot build in her throat. It made it hard to say, “It won’t be an imposition?”

  “Not at all.”

  She found a pen and paper, scribbled down the details, her hands shaking so badly she doubted she’d be able to read it later.

  My mother is going to kill me.

  She would deal with that later. Right after she talked to Shane.

  Shane.

  The drop-dead-gorgeous cowboy who had rocked her world.

  And gotten her pregnant.

  * * *

  “YOU SURE YOU don’t want to head out to the Silver Spur later on?”

  Shane glanced at his brother Carson and shook his head. Hotrod, the horse he’d been riding, liked to bloat his gut whenever he cinched him up, and Shane could see the damn leather strap was hanging like an empty noose beneath the horse’s belly. Son of a—Good thing he hadn’t fallen while they were out checking the new calves. Too damn distracted thinking about her.

  “I hear Amber’s going to be there,” Carson teased.

  Amber Jamison was a woman who wasn’t exactly well-known for her upstanding moral conduct and who’d been chasing after Shane for as long as he could remember.

  “Got plans,” he told his brother, glancing at the dark-haired mirror image of their father. “Friend coming from out of town.”

  “Friend?”

  Carson was grinning at him with a suggestive look in his eyes. His dad, Reese, had sired five Gillian kids. He came from a large family, even though his mom had died seven years ago. He had four cousins, too, not to mention assorted step-cousins thanks to his uncle’s first, failed marriage to a woman with kids of her own. All of them, even the ones not related to him by blood, seemed determined to see him settle down. Little did they know. The one woman in the world who’d ever piqued his interest, someone he’d never thought he’d see again, would meet him at her hotel in less than an hour. God forbid she come here. All three of his brothers and two of his cousins shared the ranch-hand quarters, and he didn’t need them to catch wind of his fling with Kaitlin Cooper.

  “What’s her name?” Carson asked, one of his thick brows lifting in a teasing way. Shane slipped the bridle off his sorrel’s head. The horse tried to soothe an itch on Carson’s arm.

  They stood out in front of a single-story twenty-four-horse barn made to match the ranch house a quarter mile down the road. They raised cutting horses and every one of the horses lived like a king in a Spanish-style barn with a terra-cotta-tile roof and a stucco exterior that reflected the sun’s rays, making Shane squint beneath his cowboy hat.

  “None of your business.”

  “None-of-Your-Business?” His brother hooked the bridle on the horn of the saddle. “I’ve met her before. Has a brother named Stay-Out-of-My-Business.”

  “That’s the one.”

  The Gillian families shared a large area of acreage, which meant keeping a secret would be next to impossible. Everyone knew everyone’s secrets when you were constantly under each other’s feet. His uncle and his cousins lived off to the north, but they shared in the duties of caring for five hundred head. The land had been bought with money won at numerous rodeos, including the National Finals. His dad and his uncle had been famous team
ropers. Hell, they were still famous, and they’d been smart enough to invest in land and cattle back when it’d been cheap in Via Del Caballo. He planned to settle down on a portion of it, but his dad didn’t believe in simply handing things to his kids, so he was doing his best to make his own way.

  You need to earn it, boy-ah.

  He could perfectly hear his dad’s blustery voice. So he had to win a national championship first. And pay his dad for the land. He was almost there, too, but he’d drawn a dink in the last round of the finals last year and lost the average by a hair. He’d still won a bag of money, but not enough to pay his dad for the land and to build his dream home out in the south forty. It’d about killed him, too. He’d been drowning his sorrows when he’d met Kaitlin in December. She’d walked into the NFR after-party, and he’d been blown away because, of course, he had recognized her. He’d been a fan of stock-car racing ever since he was old enough to watch TV.

  “Heellooo.”

  A hand blocked his view. He realized he’d paused with his hands on the saddle, one on the cantle, the other on the pommel, and with what was no doubt a bemused smile on his face.

  “Okay, spill.” Carson slipped between him and his horse. “Who is she and where’d you meet her?”

  Shane sidestepped him, moving to the other side to take off his saddle. The smell of the animal’s wet coat filled the air.

  “Can you leave me alone?” He hid his eyes beneath the brim of his black cowboy hat. “I’m in a hurry here.”

  “Come on, man.” Carson followed him for a step or two. “I’m dying to know.”

  He wouldn’t tell him. Carson would tell his dad, which would result in a lecture from dear old Dad on the importance of keeping your eye on the goal.

  Carson followed him into the barn and to the tack room to the right.

  “For the love of—” Shane set the saddle down on one of the saddle racks. The room held dozens of them. Championship saddles, all of them. The Dynamic Duo had been his dad and uncle’s team nickname. Rodeo legends, the both of them.

  “You don’t need to know who it is. Besides, she’ll be leaving almost as soon as she arrives, and I doubt I’ll hear from her afterward. Not for a while, at least.”