Rescue Me — Part 1
Dallas Rockwell was her absolute best friend in the whole world. He was also highly distractible by anyone with tits and a smile. You would be talking to him one second and in the next he was just gone. This was a daily cross to bear and for a best friend it was annoying as fuck…but for his cousin and rodeo partner, Cash Santos, it was bad for business.
“FUCK!!”
Harlow heard him yell all the way inside the concession stand. Apparently, Dallas was missing and Cash was holding the bag. Laughing at her own joke she turned to help the next person in line.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CAN THE CONTESTANTS FOR THE RESCUE RACE PLEASE HEAD TO THE REGISTRATION TABLE.”
All was fair in love and rodeos but the races waited for no man. If you weren’t there by the cut off, you didn’t get to race. If you didn’t race, you couldn’t win the money. This was just a local play day and the prize money was small potatoes but the guys were saving every dime and shiny penny in some grand scheme for fame and fortune. When they weren’t in school or on a horse they were working their ass off at Jake’s Garage. A steady stream of cars lined up in front of the shop when they were turning a wrench. It was worse in the summer when they barely wore shirts. Harlow had heard more than one lady in town “accidentally” on purpose sabotage their car just to sit in the shop and watch the guys work. It was shameful really.
Cash stalked toward the concession stand and the one person in the entire town who could help him in his hour of need, her aunt. Dottie knew absolutely everyone’s business for a three county area. She was like a small town spy and her currency was secrets and dirty jokes. It was rumored that she used to work for the mob in her wild youth. Harlow did know about that but Dottie was essentially a GPS locator for everyone in town. Little Timmy ran away from home, they called Dottie. And in this current instance, Harlow would bet her best bra that Cash was going to ask where Dallas was.
Super pissed was a good look on him but that was generally the way he looked at Harlow. Hot didn’t begin to describe him on a normal day but add in a dash of angry eyes and damn. Panties would fall off in the wake of that gaze. He was tall and all those hours on the back of a horse had turned his skin the color of caramel. His shaggy black hair grazed the collar of his starched shirt. His eyes were a dark chocolate brown that made Harlow think, well it made her think a lot of things. He was the star of every late night teenage fantasy she would never admit to. He was also under the delusion that he was her keeper. He had a party pooper radar dialed into her mind and every time she was having fun. He was always showing up to chastise her or carry her out of a party. He had been threatening to spank her ass since the first day he met her. But to her disappointment he never did anything more than lecture her and drive her home. Harlow could barely contain her smirk when he stopped, took a breath, and composed himself. No one got anywhere with Dottie if they weren’t polite.
Cash approached the concession stand window with as much restraint as he could muster. He was going to fucking kill Dallas when he found him. If they missed out on this prize money, it would put a hole in their airtight plan to escape this shit town. He didn’t have time to search for his horn dog best friend and he hated the fact he had to ask for Dottie’s help. Not because Dottie was rude but because it would bring him directly into “her” path. He tried avoiding Dottie’s niece like the plague but this was a small town. Harlow was everywhere. He couldn’t turn around without seeing her and her blatant disregard for safety. She need a keeper and she needed to get the fuck out of his dreams. They had turned sexual several years ago and it was a special kind of hell. She thought he was an asshole because he stopped her “fun.” Her definition of fun was really just life threatening situations that gave him heart palpitations. Little did she know, she was the only thing that ever made him question his future plans so he did everything he could to keep her safe but at arms length. He didn’t want her hurt but he also didn’t trust himself around her. She was small town quicksand and he wasn’t going to fall into her pretty green eyes. That is how people ended up married with a yard full of kids.
“SECOND CALL FOR THE RESCUE RACE”
The voice over the loudspeaker spurred Cash on. Dottie had just stepped up to the concession stand window and he needed to find Dallas asap.
“Hey Miss Dottie.” Cash poured on the charm. It was the quickest way to get information out of Dottie Parks.
“Hey there, yourself. What can I do for you, baby?”
“I need to find Dallas. We are supposed to be in the Rescue Race but I can’t find him. Can you help me, Dottie?”
“I sure can, honey.”
“Great!” Cash looked around, “Where is he?”
“Oh, I don’t know that.”
“WHAT?!”
Dottie narrowed her eyes and Cash quickly sucked his rage back in. “Sorry, Dottie. I didn’t mean to yell. I just need help.”
She waved a hand in the air like it hadn’t bothered her at all. “Baby, I can help…I can help you win that race right now.”
“You can?” Cash asked skeptically.
“Yeah…” Dottie took a long drink of her soda. “Rescue Harlow. She wins it every time she enters. ”
His eyes slid slowly along the counter to where Harlow was helping Wade McDaniels with his popcorn. She smiled and laughed at something Wade said. Cash glared at Harlow. Why the fuck was she smiling at Wade like that? Those smiles should belong to him! No! Damn it! Focus up. He made his choice and she wasn’t it.
“I would make your mind up quick, cowboy. Looks like someone else has their eyes on your prize.” Dottie looked at her nails like she was bored.
“LAST CALL FOR RESCUE RACE CONTESTANTS!”
He didn’t have a choice. That was the only reason he walked to the end of the counter and pushed Wade out of the way, or at least that is what he would tell anyone that asked.
Harlow looked at Cash with bored eyes. She was used to his asshole tendencies and she didn’t look a bit surprised. “Did you need something?”
“Just you.” He grabbed her under her arms and pulled her over the counter of the concession stand. Throwing her over his shoulder he started walking toward the arena.
Harlow wiggled on Cash’s shoulder trying to get in a more comfortable position. This wasn’t the first time he had done this. She learned long ago there was no reasoning with him when he got like this but that didn’t mean she was a silent hostage. “You do know kidnapping is against the law?”
“Be still.” Cash swatted her ass and she instantly stopped moving. Well that was new. I mean, he always threatened to spank her but he never actually did it. Harlow’s wide eyes caught Dottie’s as the concession stand got further away. Her aunt had the audacity to wink before helping the next customer in line. It appeared her scheming aunt was throwing her to the wolf. Harlow was on her own.
Wade stepped in front of Cash. ““What the fuck, man? We were talking!”
Cash sighed. “I don’t have time for this Wade. We can fight later.”
“Fuck you, Cash! You don’t get to strut around and do whatever the fuck you want. You don’t even like Harlow.”
Wade never saw the punch coming. “I never said that.” Cash growled, barely glancing at the unconscious hot mess he left in his wake, as he stalked toward the registration table.
The last of the contestants were getting their numbers when he gently sat Harlow on her feet at the end of the line. She didn’t bother looking at him. She just stared out over the arena. She felt him step up close to her, “I need…”
Harlow smirked. She couldn’t wait to hear this.
“NEXT”
Harlow looked at him expectantly but Cash seemed to have lost whatever he was going to say. Rolling her eyes, she stepped up to the table. “Harlow West and Cash Santos for the Rescue Race.”
