“Yes, sir,” I say as I continue to rub down Revere.
“They’re willing to look at Knight-Time. I think if they give him a shot, they’ll want him. Maybe even over Titan.”
I nod. I totally disagree, but I nod anyway. “What about Highland Runner. Have you given any more thought to—”
He shakes his head once. I’ve only worked here six months, but I know what that means. I grit my teeth.
“That horse is still too wild. If I make the decision to race, it will be one from my own stock, like Knight-time. If he’s not sold before then, that is. If anything, I foresee Highland Runner ending up staying here to stud. His bloodlines are good but… These are the kinds of things you need to learn, Patrick, the subtle nuances of this business that will serve you well if you continue on in it.”
The jab hits its mark. He’s putting me in my place. He’s the expert; I’m not. I get it. He knows how much faith I have in Runner. And he thinks I’m crazy.
But I think he’s blinded by money. Because Runner didn’t cost him much, Jack thinks he’s worthless. He couldn’t be more wrong.
“Just have them ready,” he commanded, turning and stalking away in that arrogant way he has. Before he gets out of the stable, he stops and hollers down to me. “My daughter is home from school now. She likes to ride most every day. See that you help her if she needs it. But nothing else.”
What the hell?
“Yes, sir.”
I’m a hired hand, which means I’m also a rapist? His daughter is probably all of, what, sixteen and goes to, like, a prep school or something? No doubt she’s as arrogant and detestable as he is. Like I’d touch that with a ten-foot pole!
I finish rubbing down Revere and take him back to his stall. As I pass Runner’s stall, I feel even more frustrated.
Dammit!
“Sooty!” I yell for the breeder slash trainer. I hear his faint voice from somewhere at the other end of the stable. “I’m taking Runner out.” He mumbles something else. It doesn’t sound like a “no,” so I grab Runner’s tack.
I took up with Highland Runner the first time I met him. He’s an amazing horse. Yeah, he’s a little wild and unruly, but he’s come a long way since I’ve been here. All he needs is a firm hand and someone who’s not afraid to ride him. And I’m just that person.
After I get him saddled, I lead him out to the round pen to put him through his paces. I shorten his normal routine so I can ride him out in the fields. The Hines ranch has acres and acres of smooth grassy fields perfect for riding the two year-olds and breeding horses, and for letting them out to run alone.
I let us through the gate and get back onto Runner. His muscles twitch. He knows what’s coming. And he’s ready for it.
Runner responds to me perfectly, just like he always does. Jack Hines just never takes the time to watch him. Not really, anyway. His mind is set and that’s that.
But I know. I know Runner. I know his potential. It’s a gut feeling I have. And my gut is rarely ever wrong.
Just like my gut wasn’t wrong about Cami.
Cami.
Like she has a dozen times over the last day and a half, she pops into my head. It happens at the strangest times.
I smile. That girl…
Her boyfriend better keep an eye on her. If I get a hold of her again, I’m liable to steal her away.
I smile. The thing is, I think I probably could. That’s just not really my way. Now if she leaves him for me…that’s a whole other story.
Just the thought of those lush lips and that tight little body makes the crotch of my jeans shrink about two sizes. And that’s not a good thing when I’m on a horse’s back.
I guide Runner back to the stable. From the corner of my eye, I see a flash of dark copper catch the sun. I feel the grin tugging at my lips when I see none other than the object of my daydream walking toward the stable with her friend.
How did she find me?
Doesn’t matter. She found me. Now she’s as good as mine.
When Runner reaches the stable doors, I hop off his back and walk him the rest of the way in. I stop him in front of his stall so I can bathe him and groom him after his run.
I peel my sticky shirt off and run my fingers through my damp hair.
“This is gonna feel good for both of us, huh, Runner?” I say to the horse. He puffs once. I always get a little wet when I bathe the horses. Guess I’m just a messy guy.
I get everything ready and I’m just starting to hose him off when she comes into the stable. I look up and she’s watching me. She looks fresh-faced and sexy as hell in her worn out blue jeans, boots and little red shirt. Her hair is wound up in some sort of loose bun type thing on top of her head. I can imagine her taking it down and shaking that red mess free, real slow. Makes me want to pound something just thinking about it.
The strange thing is, she looks confused. Like she’s surprised to see me.
But why would she be surprised when she came here looking for me?
CHAPTER NINE - Cami
Jenna mumbles exactly what I’m thinking.
“Holy shit! Will you look at that!”
I know I’m staring. Rudely. Again. But I can’t help it. At the other end of the stable stands Trick. He’s shirtless, hatless, and wet. And I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen anything hotter.
His arms are long and muscular and his shoulders are wide. When I look at them, one word comes to mind—powerful. He’s a lot like the horses in the way his muscles move and bunch under his smooth skin. And his chest! Dear God, those pecs are just begging for my fingers to dig right in.
His stomach completes the perfect package of his upper body. It’s rippled like the surface of the lake when I drop a rock into it, every abdominal well-defined.
His skin is tan, like he spends a lot of time outdoors without his shirt on. And, considering the weapons this boy is packing, I think he’s doing the world a favor when he does it.
My eyes travel to his big hands as he rubs them over Runner’s side.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Jenna whispers, again voicing what is going through my mind.
He’s bathing a horse. One of my father’s horses. What the…?
I had been heading for Firewalker’s stall, but now I veer toward Trick and Runner. As I approach, he looks up, his gray eyes raking me appreciatively from head to toe. He grins up at me. It’s lopsided and just about the sexiest thing ever.
“What are you grinnin’ at?” I ask.
“You are a walking, talking teenage dream in those jeans.” I blush. Of course. His grin turns into a smile. “You sure that’s how you want to start this conversation? Remember how it ended up last time?” My cheeks burn and I know they’re fiery red. He chuckles. “Maybe I just should’ve said ‘hi’ instead.”
I ignore him and come back with my own question. “What are you doing here?”
His smile falters a bit and he frowns. “Isn’t this where you expected me to be?”
“Um, no. Why would I?”
“That’s a good question. You came looking for me. I figured you’d have a reason.”
“No, Jenna and I came out to go for a ride. Why would I look for you here?”
I’m fascinated by the string of emotions that flit across his face. At first he looks confused, but then he looks like he wants to laugh, like it’s a joke. Then he looks more confused and that turns into disbelief, like in his mind he’s saying, “No way!” But then, much to my surprise, he looks aggravated. No, scratch that. He looks downright mad.
“You’re Jack’s daughter.”
It’s a statement, not a question. And he is not happy about it.
“Yes, I am.”
“Damn!” I hear him mutter under his breath.
“But that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here.”
He pauses, running his fingers through his damp hair.
“I work here.”
“Oh,” I say, dead pan.
There’s a long, very uncomfortable silence that stretches between us. His reaction tells me all I need to know about his position on flirting with the boss’s daughter. I wonder if he’s as disappointed as I am. I don’t even know why I feel that way, but I do.
You have a boyfriend, dummy! Why does it even matter?
“Well, if you need any help getting your horse ready, just let me know,” he says dismissively. He gets right back to spraying down Runner as if Jenna and I aren’t standing two feet away.
I do my best not to stomp off, but it’s hard. I feel like throwing a fit that only a two year-old could be proud of.
Jenna’s scrambling beside me. She looks back and then grins over at me. “He’s totally watching you leave.”
For some reason, that makes me feel a little bit better.
CHAPTER TEN - Trick
“Man, I haven’t seen a girl get under your skin like this since high school.”
I look at Rusty over the top of my mug. “Who’re you kidding? She’s not under my skin.”
“Riiiiiight,” he says with a grin.
Ignoring him, I glance around the bar for any familiar faces. Lucky’s is the only bar in the area and me and my friends have been coming here since we got our first fake IDs. Since the fairly small town of Greenfield started growing a few years back, I’d begun seeing more and more strangers in the smoke-filled room. But tonight, I’m not looking for a stranger.
My eyes stop on the back of a blond head. I recognize the girl standing at the bar, her curvy figure barely concealed in a pair of tiny shorts and a tank top. It’s ReeAnn Taylor. She’s always been into me. She’s good-looking and, more importantly, she doesn’t have a boyfriend or a father who could fire me.
“Don’t even think about it, Trick.”
“Think about what?”
“ReeAnn. Tappin’ that won’t get the rich girl out of your head. Only one thing will.”
Cami.
I growl into my beer.
Why does she have to be his daughter?
“Look at it this way, you can always find a job someplace else.”
“Like where? The Hines ranch is the only thoroughbred farm for a hundred miles or more.”
“Well, do something different.”
“Like what? Without my degree, I can’t get a job doing anything else that pays as well as Jack does. And we need the money. I didn’t leave college to come home and get a job because I had nothing better to do. You know I had no choice.”
“Well, maybe you could—”
“Just forget it, Rus,” I interrupt. “It is what it is. I’ll just stay away from her and everything will be fine. It’s not a big deal. She’s just a girl.”
In an effort to prove my point (as much to myself as to Rusty), I get up and walk over to ReeAnn. When I stop beside her, she turns around, almost right into my arms.
She looks up at me with her pretty brown eyes and smiles. “Did you come to ask me to dance?” she asks.
“Would you have said ‘yes’?”
She nods and slips her hand into mine. I lead her out onto the dance floor just in time for a slow song. She plasters her body against mine and winds her arms around my neck. I can feel her br**sts rubbing my chest and her h*ps swaying suggestively against mine.
It would be too, too easy, wouldn’t it?
I ignore the fact that I don’t want easy and I tighten my arms around ReeAnn’s waist. She tucks her face against my throat and snuggles in, purring like a contented cat. Her perfume smells nice, but it’s a little strong. I try not to notice how it smells nothing like fresh strawberries.
I push that thought right out of my head as soon as it arrives and I let my hands trail down ReeAnn’s back to her hips. I feel her fingers dive into my hair and she leans into me, rubbing her lower body against mine. I think to myself that I could probably get into this if she keeps doing what she’s doing.
That thought stops in its tracks when I look up and my eyes crash into the violet ones I’ve been seeing far too often. Cami and her friend, Jenna, are standing not ten feet away, underneath the Lucky’s sign. They must’ve just arrived. Cami’s staring at me like I have two heads.
Right on cue, ReeAnn wiggles in my arms like she’s trying to remind me I should be thinking about her, not someone else. I look away from Cami and try to focus on the girl trying to crawl inside my shirt. But it’s no use. Suddenly, ReeAnn’s perfume is suffocating me, her skinny arms are choking me and her sexy-little-kitty noises are just plain annoying me.
With a sigh, I loosen my hold. I finish the dance with ReeAnn, but only just. All I can think of is getting away from her, getting out of this bar and getting into a nice, warm bottle of tequila. I know from experience there’s a special kind of oblivion at the bottom of the bottle and that’s just what I need on a night like tonight.
CHAPTER ELEVEN - Cami
The sun is streaming through the window right into my eyes. Normally, I wouldn’t mind waking up to that, but today…not so much. Like unwanted flashbacks from war, the scene I stumbled upon last night won’t leave me be. Even when I squeeze my eyes shut, I can’t seem to stop seeing Trick and that girl all wrapped around each other.
Makes me sick!
I refuse to consider why it bothers me at all or how pathetic it must’ve seemed when I left Lucky’s less than thirty minutes after arriving. I should’ve known the night was gonna blow. Jenna didn’t even want to go to begin with. Me and my bright ideas.
That’s what you get for going to a place like that when you’ve got a boyfriend anyway. You wanted to run into him and you got what you asked for.