a group in obviously expensive, custom-tailored tuxedos, Jules scanned the knot of men for Beth’s fiancé. The back of one particular figure caught her attention and she gave a small, involuntary gasp.
“Is something wrong?” Beth asked.
Jules shook her head and silently laughed at herself. Of course it wasn’t who she imagined. How ridiculous! But the resemblance was uncanny. Her gaze took in the black hair and traveled down the wide expanse of exquisitely tailored broad shoulders. Lowering her blatant scrutiny, she checked out his shoes. Black, shiny patent leather. Not cowboy boots. Not even close. She breathed a sigh of relief.
“I just thought that man over there was—”
He turned around, causing Jules to swallow a second gasp. What was Tanner O’Brien doing at an arts council fund-raiser? And looking so magnificent?
Slipping her arm through Beth’s, she turned her in the opposite direction and led her away. “Maybe we should look for Michael.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” she asked, doing her best to look and sound innocent. “There’s nothing wrong at all. I just think we should find Michael.”
“But you said something about a man.” Beth started to turn back in the direction they’d come from.
“Oh, yes, well…” Jules steered her through the maze of people in the ballroom. Hoping they’d gone far enough to lose themselves in the crowd, she stopped and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, while she scolded herself for being so silly. Tanner O’Brien was nothing to be afraid of. She needn’t go running off at the mere sight of him like a schoolgirl with a crush.
“Evening, ladies.”
Jules swung around at the sound of the smooth drawl and found herself gazing into a pair of ice-blue eyes. Eyes she thought she’d be safe from encountering again so soon, if at all.
Beth thankfully took over. “Why, Tanner, what a surprise! I didn’t expect to see you here. I thought you’d be off riding a bronc somewhere.”
“Just doing my civic duty.” He grinned at Beth, and then his gaze traveled back to Jules, running slowly from her eyes downward.
Jules felt the heat of a blush and hoped it didn’t show. Forcing her best smile, she greeted him. “Hello, Mr. O’Brien.” Somehow she needed to calm the butterflies he’d set to fluttering in her stomach. His wide grin forced her to do some quick thinking. “I almost didn’t recognize you out of uniform. He cleans up real good, doesn’t he, Beth?”
Tanner’s smile froze on his face, and then he laughed. “Will you excuse us, Beth?” he said, taking Jules by the arm. “This little lady owes me a dance for that remark.”
“No, really, I can’t—” Jules protested.
Beth was no help. “Of course you can, Jules. You two have a lot in common.”
“What’s that?” Tanner asked.
“We do?” Jules asked at the same time.
“Tell him about how you help troubled kids, Jules,” Beth said. “Oh, and about horses, too. Now go on, you two. I think I’ve spotted Michael.”
Jules silently groaned and let Tanner lead her through the crowd to the other end of the ballroom. Of course Beth would locate her fiancé too late to get her out of this predicament. She’d just have to get through it as best she could.
On the dance floor, amid the other couples moving to the music, Tanner drew her into his arms. She swallowed hard at the warmth of his body so close to hers and prayed he didn’t notice her accelerated heartbeat.
“Relax, darlin’,” he whispered. “I don’t bite. Although you do deserve to be bitten for that sharp tongue of yours.”
Searching her mind for a retort, Jules found herself without one. Months of speech therapy wouldn’t help in this situation, not when her mind had gone completely empty. Even her years of experience before judges weren’t helping.
It took her a moment to feel stable enough to reply. “I’d think the Texas two-step would be more your style.”
Tanner’s chuckle reached down to her toes. “Texas two-step? Don’t let anybody in this room hear you say that, darlin’. You’d start a lynch mob, and that neck of yours is too pretty for a rope.”
She looked up to see his gaze caressing her bare shoulders. Good gracious, she thought as her knees weakened. What that man could do with a look!
Gathering her courage, she smiled. “You know what we Kansans say about people in Oklahoma.”
“Yep. Dumb Okies,” he replied with another toe-tingling chuckle. “Must be why we have so many rich and famous people in the state. But I get the idea that doesn’t impress you much.”
She dared to meet his gaze. “I know there are things money can’t buy.”
One black eyebrow lifted. “What hasn’t money bought you, darlin’? I’m sure you haven’t lived a life without cold, hard cash.”
His comment made her uncomfortable. She had seen what not having enough money could do to some people and how those who had it could help. Her parents, for example. But she wasn’t willing to discuss it with him.
“How lucrative is bronc riding?” she asked, turning the tables on him.
His broad shoulders moved in a shrug under her hand. “All depends on how good you are.”
“And how good are you?”
A spark of fire lit his eyes. “Good, darlin’. Real good.”
She couldn’t read what she saw in his eyes. Was it the gleam of a need for danger? Or was it something else?
“About the other night…” she began.
“Thanks for helping us out.” The hard set to his jaw told her he thought she’d interfered when she shouldn’t have, but he quickly relaxed. “Tell me a little about what Beth said, how you work with troubled kids.”
She wasn’t sure this was the time or place, but she had opened the door herself almost a week ago after the rodeo. It was worth a try. “I’ve seen so many children slip through the cracks,” she said, “and I feel that most of them can be helped. All it takes is the right person finding something they’re passionate about and helping them on their way. Sometimes that means taking them out of their environment and putting them into one that’s more beneficial, or helping their own family make the current one better. Most of all they need someone who will listen and give them the compassion and understanding they need.”
“That’s mighty intuitive of you. How does being a lawyer help?”
She looked up to see him studying her. Taking a deep breath, she let it out with a sigh. “You’d be surprised how often it doesn’t, so now I do double duty. In my spare time, I’m what’s called a court-appointed child advocate and work with one child at a time, making him or her my total focus, not just the focus of the law.”
