Monty double-checked the seat location on his ticket for the Wednesday evening rodeo performance, then walked up the ramp leading to Section 15. The usher checked his ticket and waved him on up the steps to Row H, and Monty slid into his assigned seat, second on the left from the aisle. The seats on either side were empty, and he leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to relax from the stress of the afternoon's range bull auction.
His morning had been spent strolling through the bull pen area, appraising the quality of the black Brangus bulls brought here by breeders throughout the West. He had checked out the other breeds, too, but he was really only interested in these crosses between the Angus and Brahma cattle. There were lots of other prospective buyers eyeing the same bulls, too, and Monty's level of apprehension rose as sale time drew near. Buying at auction might not be all that stressful for a multimillionaire seeking to acquire a desired work of art: for someone who had to keep a tight control on his business expenses, bidding ever-higher figures to obtain a required asset could easily induce severe headaches.
Fortunately for Monty, he had been quite successful in getting the type of bull he wanted, at the price he had expected to pay. He had made a few early bids on a couple of top-quality bulls but dropped out when the prices got beyond what he considered reasonable. He recognized one of the buyers as a rancher from neighboring San Benito County, and knew that the man had sold a successful Internet startup company in Silicon Valley a few years before and retired to a large cattle ranch. Monty had no intention of bidding against him, and hoped that there were not too many others with deep pockets who wanted Brangus bulls too. The bulls had been judged by a panel, and the highest-scoring bulls were snapped up first by the richest ranchers. But there were still excellent bulls which hadn't scored as high, since breeders only brought their best to the San Francisco Grand National, and Monty had outbid others to pick up 5 bulls which he knew would improve his herd. As he mentally reviewed his purchases and totaled up the cost, he realized that he had ended up paying a couple of hundred less than he had expected to, and this brought a smile to his lips.
His reverie was broken as someone prepared to sit down in the aisle seat beside him. He quickly pulled his arm in from the armrest which he had using as his own, and glanced over to see who was going to be his neighbor for the show. The wide brim of his white Stetson shielded his eyes, but since he was seated, it also cut out his view of the top half of the person. The view from the waist down, though, certainly caught his interest. His neighbor was definitely female, and the fit of her tight jeans as she lowered herself into the seat showed that she had exceptionally fine legs and hips. Monty had to tear his eyes away and pretend to be focusing on the program he had opened on his lap, but his peripheral vision was sufficiently developed for him to notice a waist and bust to match the rest of her figure. He could also see that she was about his age, and he had an impression of a beautiful face under jet black hair. He let his eyes drift across the right-hand page of his program, and noted that she wore no ring on her left hand ring finger. Certainly couldn't have asked for a nicer seatmate, he thought, but she's probably some rodeo cowboy's girl sitting up here to watch her man - although she wasn't dressed quite like a cowgirl.