Quickdraw Slow Burn (Battle of the Bulls #3) - T. S. Joyce Page 0,4

urge to buckle her seat belt for her. Girls didn’t like psychopaths. Dead of Winter and Two Shots Down had schooled him in “how not to fuck this up.” Although, he really didn’t know why he was taking girl advice from those two dipshits. If they didn’t piss off their mates at least twice a week, it was a slow week.

There’d been a moment, right before she climbed into his truck, that he wanted to pull her in and hug her. That was fuckin’ weird. He wasn’t a hugger. Or a snuggler. Or a complimenter. Or supportive. Or really even nice in general. Cheyenne had nicknamed him the porcupine of the herd. Which he was fine with because they mostly left him alone thanks to his porcupine-ness.

But with Annabelle? Pretty, strong, protective Annabelle? One night with her a month ago hadn’t been enough.

“The rodeo ticket you sent me isn’t until this weekend,” she said as he climbed behind the wheel.

“Cheyenne wanted us all here early this week since it’s the finals. I figured you could take a bit of a vacation, maybe get a break from reality, and see Raven more this way.” And spend more time with him, but he didn’t want to scare her off with his plans.

“Are there still hotels available?” Her tone was careful.

He slid her a glance as he pulled out from the curb and onto the airport exit ramp. “I figured you could stay in my camper, and if you want me out of it, I don’t mind sleeping in the bull pens. You ain’t scared of me, are you?”

“I’m just…” She swallowed hard and stared out the window. “I just want to take everything really slow.”

She was different. More careful. More reserved. He’d done something wrong, something to rub her fur the wrong way, but he couldn’t figure out what. “What changed?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m shit at this, Annabelle. You females are complicated like rocket science, and I ain’t a particularly smart man in that area. With me, you’re gonna have to say what you feel and let me react and adjust. If you keep it inside and wait for me to figure out what’s wrong? I won’t even know there’s a problem. I’m not sensitive like that. Now, if you’re in trouble and need some muscle behind you? Need someone to beat the shit out of anyone messing with you? I’m your man. Blood and fists, I understand. Feelings don’t come so natural to me.” He took the exit that would lead them out of the airport. With a quick glance at her pretty profile, he asked, “What changed? After that night, you texted me back right away for two weeks. I thought I was making you happy. You sure as hell were making me pay attention. And then you just stopped responding. Just went ghost on me. Is there someone else? I know we were just starting to talk, and I don’t have a claim on you, so it’s okay. Just say it like it is. If there’s someone else, I can back off.” That was a fuckin’ lie. If there was someone else, he was going hunting.

Annabelle pursed her lips and looked over at him, shook her head. “There’s zero other boys. It’s not like that. I’m not seeing anyone.”

Thank God. Now he didn’t have to obsess over some other man stealing her heart. “Okay, then it’s me.”

“I can’t explain it right now. I just… Is it okay if we just settle in and get to know each other again?”

Something was wrong, and he was a fixer. It was a knife in his gut not being able to cure whatever was ailing her. Hearts were a complicated thing he’d never understood, and probably never would. And Annabelle? Well…he didn’t really know her well enough to guess what he’d done wrong.

“I can get you a hotel if you’d feel more comfortable there.”

She let off a little sigh of relief. “I would.”

Chapter Three

Quickdraw was a brute in the arena, but in the quiet of his life, he was a gentleman. Sort of. If she ignored how thoroughly he’d fucked her last month. Ha.

Keep your head on straight. You are here for business. To get to know him. To see his merit.

He’d been hurt when she’d asked for the hotel, and that part had surprised her. Sure, he was pretending to be okay, but the look on his face had stung her heart.

“I’m not scared of you,” she assured