racer asked from atop the fence as they walked by.
Dead, Dead, he tossed his head and nearly clipped her with a horn. He veered toward her, and Raven had to shove him back onto his path before she got pinned against the fencing. “Yes, I’m her.”
“Good to meet you!” the nice woman called.
Chest filling with surprised happiness, she called out, “Same! Good to meet you too!”
Others murmured as they passed, but she just kept her hand on his muscular shoulder as they made their way to the room with the open door.
“She’s really in there with him, and she ain’t dead yet.”
“Dead, Dead, he’ll get her bred,” a cowboy snickered to his buddies.
When she rolled her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a television that had been mounted above the alley. She was on there. On TV. Just a girl walking down an alley with her boots and cowgirl hat and a pair of black ripped wrangler shorts, her hand resting on the shoulder of a horrifically oversize black-and-white bull. His tail twitched with every step.
Startled by the TV, Raven turned back around and, sure enough, there was a camera man kneeling down at the other end of the alleyway, camera pointed right at her.
Geez, her life was so strange now. Not sure how to handle it all, she smiled, gave a little wave, and said, “Hi!” loud enough to be heard over the buzz and bass of the announcer speaking to the crowd in the arena.
Cheyenne was smiling so big, her whole face was involved, but Raven couldn’t figure out why. She just followed Dead into his changing room and closed the door behind them. By the time the door clicked closed and she’d turned around, Dead was already in his human skin again and standing to his full height.
God, he looked good—all flushed from his change, his perfectly defined chest and abs flexing with his breath. His fists were clenched at his sides, his powerful legs splayed, and his darkened eyes were roiling with intensity. His smile was slow but easy, and as she made her way to him, the tension left his body little by little. By the time she pulled off her hat and slipped her arms around his waist, his rigid body had gone soft for her.
It felt so good to just rest her cheek against his chest and melt into his touch. He rubbed her back and laid his head on the top of hers.
“Hey, Raven?”
She just knew he would say something so romantic in this moment. Just knew it. She smiled mushily and asked, “Yes?”
“I think all of the girl vitamins are out of my system.”
With a frown at the wall, she asked, “What?”
“And today is the day,” he said mysteriously.
Raven leaned back and stared up at him. “What is today?”
“The day I allow a female to dictate how my beard is trimmed.”
Raven parted her lips to ask questions, but closed them again when she realized she didn’t even understand enough to ask a good question.
“I’m abiding by the contract. Cheyenne wins. I figure it’s the least I can do since she works so hard to make my life easier.” He nodded magnanimously. “I accept your proposal, Raven.”
“Proposal?”
“My answer is yes. I will marry you.”
She was pretty sure she could catch a fly with her mouth hanging this far open.
“Just kidding, I know you haven’t proposed yet. I give it another week. I want white gold for my ring.” He laughed at his own jokes. “I mean your proposal to cut my hair and trim my beard and make me into a ten.”
“You’re already a ten, Dead.”
“Mmmmm. I’m a nine point nine. There’s room for improvement.” He released her and made his way to a duffle bag full of what appeared to be power drinks, beer, his flank rope, and a hair trimming kit, which he pulled out and held up like the monkey with the baby lion in the Lion King. “Make me into a ten.”
She giggled and shook her head. “You’re so weird.”
“Yes, but there is a reason for my weirdness tonight. Want to know what it is? Huh? Huuuuuh?” He pulled on a pair of jeans. “I’ll give you some hints. Planes, good seats, yo momma, good first impressions, and a midnight boner.”
“Is this a riddle? I’m very bad at riddles.”
“Facetime your mom.”
Feeling like a whale out of water, she pulled her phone from her back pocket and dialed her mom. As it rang, she whispered, “Am I really supposed