Groaning, Ashby spat dirt and pushed herself up, grease and dirt embedded in her clothing. The slimy mixture of grime and muck had also worked its way into her hair and across the left side of her face—which had been plastered to the side of the small beast.
Molly Jacobs, who was covering the fund-raiser for her national newspaper column, suddenly jumped in front of her and snapped off a round of shots. Blinded by the rapid-fire flashes, Ashby blinked. What a mug shot that was going to be!
But it was over. That was all she could think as she stumbled toward the other women in the center of the arena.
“Way to go, Ashby.” Lacy laughed. “You almost had him!”
Ashby thought it was the other way around. That pig had outwitted ten women. It was some pig.
Despite getting duped, the group clasped hands and lifted them up in triumph. To her dismay, they all seemed to have had a great time.
Ashby stank. They all did, but she was pretty sure she was the worst. She managed a semblance of a smile for the clapping audience, and reminded herself why she’d done this—this horrid, horrid thing. Perhaps it had not been in vain—it could even mark a turning point in her love life.
All she knew was that if this hadn’t changed her image, nothing would.
Dan snaked through the crowd toward where the ladies were exiting the arena. That had been the funniest thing he’d seen in years. Watching nine ladies pile up on the piglet like a football team after a pigskin had been pretty entertaining. But when that squealing animal popped out of the pileup and headed for Ash, she’d looked like a little girl confronting the monster beneath her bed. Her eyes had grown to the size of plates and she’d gone as white as the pristine wedding dress hanging in her store window.
The woman was a real dynamo. Who’d ever have believed it! When she’d dived, despite her obvious apprehension, every cowboy around him had hollered and cheered. Dan had a feeling she’d accomplished her mission. He was proud of and relieved for her at the same time.
And he was off the hook…
Despite the tensions between them, he was compelled to speak to her. To let her know he thought she’d done well—even though he didn’t think she’d care what he thought. He made it to the end of the stairs and was waiting a few feet from the exit as the ladies filed out. Ashby was at the tail end of the line. Her face was smudged with stuff he was quite certain she was trying hard not to think about. But her eyes were sparkling. Dan liked that.
Several of the single gals flirted with him on their way past. Beth Clark stopped to talk. She was excited and laughing, and he couldn’t help but smile back at her. She was a pretty woman, though some would say her chin was too strong. Dan was looking at the life in her eyes. He’d seen her at the shelter, helping out a few times when he was there, so he knew she had a good heart. She was going to make some cowboy a lucky man one of these days.
Beth was still talking when Ashby came through the gate. Not wanting to be rude, he placed a hand on Beth’s arm, halting her words momentarily with his touch.
“So how’d that feel?” he asked Ashby. She paused, her eyes meeting his, then flicking to Beth and back again.
“It was interesting.”
The surprise in her voice made him grin. “Told you it would feel good to loosen up.”
She tensed at his words and her eyes darkened. “Yes, you were right,” she said, then turned and walked away.
Chapter Four
“Hey, Ash, wait up, would you?” Having finally gotten through the crowd, Dan reached her just as she opened her car door. She was looking at the interior with a perplexed expression, as if it had just dawned on her that she had a problem. Knowing her the way he thought he did, Dan figured she probably hadn’t realized the state she’d be in coming out of that arena. Not that everyone had suffered the misfortune that she’d had, landing in that specific patch of dirt.
“What do you want?” She shot him a glare.
“Hold on to your bonnet. I didn’t mean anything by what I said back there. I come in peace.”
Her expression remained tense, but the hostility in her eyes eased as her gaze shifted from him to the inside of her T-Bird.
“How about I give you a ride into town? You can get cleaned up and come back for your car later tonight.” Her look turned skeptical. “Or tomorrow,” he amended. “You can get someone else to swing you by.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll mess up your truck.”
“Naw, you can ride in the truck bed.” When alarm flared in her eyes, he chuckled. “Just kidding. My truck’s built to handle the worst and keep on going. I’ll just take a hose to the floorboards and some soap and water to the seat.”
She stared at her car again. Dan took in the plush carpet lining the floor and the sporty bucket seats that were half cloth and half leather. “Those cow patties you rolled in aren’t going to come out of that cloth anytime soon. If ever.”
“I know. I’m a mess.”
It suddenly hit him that she sounded depressed. He’d first thought it was because she was less than happy at seeing him, but now he wasn’t so sure. He looked closer.
“Are you okay?”
Her lip trembled. “I smell like an outhouse. I don’t know what is in my hair and—” She clammed up suddenly but her lip still trembled.
That did it. Dan reached around her and picked her purse up off the seat. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
She didn’t move, just stared at him. He held in a frustrated breath. “Look, I know you don’t have a stellar opinion of me, but unless you have a better offer, I’d suggest you take me up on this one.” Well, that was a low blow. But she was being obstinate again. Just as she’d been the day of the bike race. Without waiting for her, he closed and locked her door and headed across the parking lot toward his truck.
When he reached it, he set her purse inside on the console and waited as she approached, almost dragging her feet. She really was a mess. It was going to take a gallon of heavy-duty cleaner to restore his truck after he dropped her off at her apartment. Still silent, she eased into the seat with a squish. She closed her eyes as the scent filled the interior of his truck.
“If they’d warned me about what was mixed in with the dirt after a rodeo, I would never have done this.”
Dan chuckled, pulled the seat belt out and reached across her to buckle her in. She looked a little too shaken to manage it herself. The smell was worsening. He patted her knee before he closed the door. “Tomorrow you’ll be glad you did it.”
He was smiling as he hurried around to his side of the truck. She might be as prickly as a porcupine, but she sure had been something tackling that pig.
And he knew he wasn’t the only cowboy who’d noticed.
Ashby had never been so relieved to see the big Victorian where she rented a small apartment come into view. Dan’s kindness in the face of her dilemma had surprised her. She guessed she really was too much of a city girl to have realized she would be such a mess when the pig scramble was concluded.
Somehow, most of the others hadn’t seemed to be in such a hideous state. Just her luck.
Dan whistled as he drove her into town, but didn’t try to talk, almost as if he knew she needed time to wind down.
“Here you go,” he said, pulling into the driveway. “Anything else I can do for you?”
What did he mean by that?
“Don’t look so horrified.