The Bull Rider Wears Pink Read Online Free PDF Page B

step up his game. Plus
Mrs. Goodwin, the registration lady, told him she only showed up because she
thought he was cute, not because his words inspired her.
    Yes, she hurt his ego but maybe he
could work with it. The plan was to flash a few smiles at the buckle bunnies
over their french fries and
milk shakes and hopefully he'd have a bigger congregation. The problem was he
was up against the bull riders and those guys had the women eating out of the
palms of their hands. Back in the day, before he met Cassidy Cooper, John got
women the same way. Now he had nobody.
    Rather than throwing a pity party
for himself, he pushed open the door to the hamburger joint. The place smelled
of grease while the sound of laugher filled the room. He decided to not feel
self-conscious. Nobody was laughing at him. Then he saw Cassidy Cooper sitting in
a corner booth laughing with that Battlestar Galactic
kid who had been hanging around her yesterday. The one with
the laptop.
    Damn, the woman had always gotten
under his skin in a variety of different ways. Especially right now, because
John was positive she was laughing at him. She probably knew he hadn't had sex
since the day she disappeared. Yes, John could have used his contacts at the
police department to track her down through personal information like a bank
account but he didn't. She would be smart enough to know it was him looking for
her and he kept thinking she'd come back when she was ready.
    John tried to act normal. But it
was tough, because ever since Cassidy had told him he was a sorry excuse for a
human being, he was suddenly reflecting on his behavior a lot more. So much so, he started to second guess his actions. As a result of
that, he tried reading self-help books. The books led him to religion and when
the undercover assignment at the rodeo became available, he applied. There was
a prescription drug ring amongst the rodeo clowns and bull riders.
    Did he do it because he was hoping
to run into Cassidy? Well, maybe.
    He went to the table next to
Cassidy's. He didn't want to seem like he was ignoring her but he wasn't ready
to face her yet. He gave the blond bunnies a flier each as they looked at him skeptically . One asked, “What time does the service start?”
    He told her ten.
    She told him she didn't get up
until noon at the earliest.
He moved on.
    “Hi,” John said as he stood over
Cassidy's table. Jesus, he missed her and that dark wavy hair of hers. It even
had hints of red. He was so sick of vacant faced blonds with empty blue eyes he
wanted to puke in his boots. Instead, he nodded at the kid. Cute
boy, a cousin, or even a friend's kid? John didn't know the relationship
and since Cassidy was also looking at the kid like she was memorizing the peach
fuzz on his face, John decided to shift his eyes and stare at her boobs.
Cassidy had the best A cup he'd ever laid his hands
on.
    “John,” Cassidy snapped.
    He'd been caught. Holy crap, he
used to do that much more subtly. He moved his eyes to her face and shrugged.
    “Do you want something?” she asked.
She nodded toward the flier in his hands.
    He fidgeted with the paper and
continued to stand there. Honest to God, he used to be suave. Used to be able
to tell a woman what he wanted in less than ten seconds. But then Cassidy Cooper
had to go and leave him and take away all his self-confidence. The only thing
she left behind was regret.
    The kid smiled. “It's the Battlestar preacher man.” He looked John up and down. “I
bet you were really crushing on Starbuck when you were younger.”
    John shifted uncomfortably. Jesus
H. Christ who was this kid and why was Cassidy allowing him to hang around with
her?
    “Don't worry about it,” the urchin
advised, “every guy is hot for Kara.” He continued, “Do you want to sit with
us?” He pulled away the fries Cassidy was eating and shoved them over to John. “Want
some?” he asked.
    John sighed, took his hat off and
sat down. “Sure,” he replied. “Don't mind if