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Hell no.
Still, he was nice to look at.
The As couldn’t keep their eyes, or their hands, off him. However, Teo kept his gaze on his horse; he didn’t speak. Gina had to give the As points for being able to hold a conversation without any response, although they were probably used to it.
When confronted with hot women who were obviously interested most men would at least flirt back, even if they had no intention of following through. From what she’d observed, flirting was a game—promise but don’t deliver; tease; entice; deny.
Gina wasn’t any good at flirting. She’d been raised with horses and horsemen. The latter said what they meant and meant what they said. The former had no guile whatsoever. A horse either loved you or hated you, and you knew which pretty damn fast. She liked that about horses.
Teo appeared to have the same issues she did with flirting. She liked that about him, too.
“One of us should probably rescue him,” Gina said. “If he brushes Spike much longer, that horse is gonna go bald.”
Spike was their most challenging mount—a roan gelding that stood sixteen hands and liked to snatch the bit in his teeth if his rider wasn’t paying attention, then do whatever the hell he pleased.
Gina usually rode Spike, because no one else should. But when she’d finished finding horses for Derek and his father, she’d discovered Teo in the paddock getting acquainted with the roan as Jase watched with a smirk.
The smirk disappeared pretty fast as it became evident that Teo could handle the often-troublesome horse with ease. And, as was the way with Spike, when he had a rider who took no crap he fell forever in love.
Gina watched as the big red head bumped Teo’s shoulder and Teo rubbed a palm down the horse’s nose. One of the girls reached out to do the same, and Spike sneezed all over her acid-washed, skintight jeans.
“Doesn’t seem like he needs our help,” Jase observed.
Ashleigh—or maybe Amberleigh; it was going to be a bitch to keep them straight—stared at the mess for at least ten seconds, then started to shriek.
Jase hustled across the barn, grabbing the girl’s arm and dragging her out the door. The other A followed, clucking like an irate hen and waving her arms helplessly.
Spike neighed, lifting his head, stomping his feet. Gina could have sworn the horse was laughing.
* * *
If Matt had realized all it would take to get rid of those girls was a sneeze he’d have faked a bad case of allergies an hour ago.
He rubbed his hand over Spike’s nose again. “Thanks, pal,” he murmured, and got bumped once more by the heavy, bony head.
“How’d you get him to do that?”
Matt glanced up so fast he nearly clocked Spike, who was hovering over him like a lovesick puppy, under the chin. The horse stamped once, narrowly missing Matt’s toe, then reached out and butted Gina with similar affection.
“And here I thought I was your one and only,” Matt said.
Gina scratched between Spike’s eyes. “Until you showed up, I was his one and only. Spike’s … difficult.”
Matt was surprised. The horse seemed fine to him. He’d ridden worse.
“Jase shouldn’t have given him to you.”
“You can have him back,” Matt said, although the thought of riding a different one bummed him out. Right now it seemed as if it were Spike and Matt against the world—or at least the As.
“No, that’s fine,” Gina said. “You’ve obviously bonded.”
As if to illustrate, Spike nibbled on Matt’s T-shirt, leaving a large, wet, grayish splotch at the shoulder. “Lucky me.”
“So how did you get him to do it?” she repeated.
“Do what?”
“Sneeze all over Ashleigh. Or was that Amberleigh?”
