Page 12 of Roping Her In

Leia giggled, and Jake could just see her shaking her head. “I’m fine, and Fox likes you.”

“Okay,” Jake said. “What’s goin’ on then?”

Leia sighed. “Brynn called, and she pulled an emergency code. She’s got a pregnant horse she thinks has cast. She needs help.”

“Fine, go,” Jake said, knowing what that meant for him. He took a breath and tried to find his bravery. “I’ll head over to Hailey. Where are you at?”

“Pete’s arena,” Leia said. “She’s been checking the horses, and Jake, she’s incredible.”

“Great,” Jake said dryly, though he should be glad Hailey was good at her job. Patrick hadn’t even shown up on time, for crying out loud. On day one.

“I’ll let her know,” Leia said.

“And let me know if Brynn needs more help.”

“She’s called Boone, and he’s coming out with his new vet, but apparently, the rain has caused some flooding in town.”

“I’m sure it has,” Jake said, thinking of the multiple streams and rivers he and the other cowboys on the ranch had been monitoring for months.

“Okay, I’m heading over there.”

Jake turned and surveyed the cowboys still checking cattle hooves and eyes and skin. “Tell Hailey I’ll be a couple of minutes,” he said. “I need to make sure I know where we are here, and these guys can’t continue without me.”

“Sorry, Jake.”

“It’s not your fault.” The call ended, and Jake let out a sigh that could’ve started a tornado in the right weather conditions. Yes, he needed a couple of minutes to get things settled here and get the cowboys back to Libby for another assignment.

But what he really needed was to figure out how to work one-on-one with Hailey Winters in a tight space without anyone else around.

6

Hailey finished putting her hair in a ponytail and blew out her breath. She’d worked through eleven horses now, and she had eighteen more to go. How Jake thought she’d have time—or energy—to then move onto the cattle herd today was laughable.

Leia had left a few minutes ago, and Hailey moved over to the windowsill where she and Leia had put their water bottles. She picked up hers and pushed back to the straw. She took a couple of big gulps, the cold water she’d flavored with lemon bringing relief to her parched throat.

“Standing around on the first day?”

Hailey choked on the last swallow of water, the liquid bubbling out of her mouth as she turned toward the familiar voice. Jake stood there, his weight on one leg as he glared at her.

She quickly wiped her mouth. “I wasn’t standing around. I’m entitled to a drink after two and a half hours of checking horses.”

He scoffed. “Do you think this job is only done in a couple of hours each day?”

“Of course not,” she said. “But I would like to talk about my hours here.”

Jake’s expression only darkened. “I don’t care about your hours here.”

“You have to sign my paperwork,” Hailey said, taking a step toward him. Her traitorous eyes dropped to his mouth and rebounded quickly. “I need fifteen hours a week this semester to get the required hours. Is that going to be doable?”

A wicked smile curved his lips. “Look around, Hailey. You could work fifteen hours in this arena, assessing these animals and attending to their immediate medical needs today.”

Foolishness ran through her, but Hailey held her head high. “I’ve had zero communication with you for weeks,” she said. “How am I supposed to know anything going on here?”

“And it’s birthing season,” he said as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ve got extra cowboys on-call to go out with me any time a cow goes into labor. You could probably get your hours done in a couple of weeks if you came every day.”

“I can’t come every day.”

“Praise the heavens,” he muttered as he turned away.