The only positive about him being intact was that he had a thick neck, and a decent amount of other muscle on him as well.
Sometimes you saw geldings that, regardless of breed, had been gelded a bit too soon which left them with anunderdeveloped body one way or another. A skinny neck was the most obvious one, especially on the heavier breeds.
Crew went to turn on the lights for us, so I walked Not-Bob inside the barn and into the stall someone had prepared earlier on the off chance we’d found the rich dude’s needle in the haystack.
We had found something else, instead.
As I took off the ill-fitting halter and let the colt shake himself—after yelling once more just to see if there was anyone else nearby—I felt relieved. He was here. He was safe.
There was a hay net in front of him, and tomorrow we’d get the vet to come over and then we’d figure out what to feed him to get him up to a more ideal weight.
He drank deeply from the bucket, and before I could go get more water, Crew was there with an extra one. Because of course he was. That pissed me off, too, somehow.
As we left the stall and turned back to look at the colt, I wanted to tell Crew off. I wanted to ask questions and see if my revelation was correct.
Instead, what came out of my mouth was, “Masterson is who I bought Jaina from.”
“What?” Crew looked at me, confused.
“She was in a worse condition than him. Younger too, of course, but she was… a mess.” I downplayed the memory on a regular basis, because I didn’t want to think about Jaina as the filly she’d been when I got her. “When I noticed the name on the stall door….” I gnawed on my lower lip, trying to find the words. “When I looked at the colt, I wanted to fucking punch Masterson. He does it still. It’s been seven years, and he still gets away with leaving them looking like this.” I gestured at the horse that looked like nobody had justcaredfor him in a while, if ever.
“Masterson said he’s a mixed breed, with some Irish Cob and other heavier breeds in him.”
I nodded. “I think he has some sort of a wild operation. Bunch of horses and he just lets them breed whenever. Puts a new stallion into the herd every season, maybe. It’s irresponsible as fuck.”
Crew made a disgusted sound. “Now I’m even more glad we got him out of there.”
“You.”
“What?”
“Yougot him out of there.” I turned to look at Crew for the first time since the truck. “Why did you do it?”
He shrugged. “You made a connection. Besides, look at him. He didn’t belong there.”
“You need to figure out a name for him. He’s not a Bob,” I said quietly, defiantly.
“He’s your horse, though. You made the connection with him,” Crew insisted.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Crew. You can’t keep buying me horses!” I exclaimed, keeping my voice to a low hiss so I wouldn’t freak out the horse. “What the fuck do you think this is?” I gestured at him and then myself angrily. “Do you have feelings for me or something? Because that’s not okay.This”—I gestured at the colt—“is not okay.”
Crew looked like a deer in the headlights. “I can’t lie and say I’m not attracted to you—”
“That’s not the point!” I ground out. “Being attracted is fine. It’s buying fuckinghorsesfor youremployeeyou’re attracted to that’s the issue. The power imbalance alone, Crew! You’re my boss!”
Before he had time to reply, I grabbed the front of his flannel, pushed him across the aisle against the closed stall door, and kissed him.
The grunt-moan that Crew let out went directly into my long neglected balls. He opened his mouth and I deepened the kissright until I heard Juanpablo in the distance. It meant someone was on the move, and I could guess why.
I wrenched myself away from Crew and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.Christ.
“You can work for Hawk,” he said behind me.
I whirled around. “What?”
“You can work for Hawk. Then I’m not your boss. The training is separate. Still part of the ranch, yes. But it’s his purview, his baby. You’d still be a Blue Creek Ranch employee, but the chain is completely different. You wouldn’t report to me at all.”
I rubbed my hand over my face and paced on the aisle. “You’re suggesting what? That I only work for Hawk’s barn so I’m not your employee anymore and we can… what? Fuck around and find out if this… thismadnessis worth of risking everything for?”
