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Acutely aware she was close enough for him to smell her fresh, flowery body wash, he kept his gaze focused on the mare. “They’ll get her tacked up and head out to the arena for a bit before taking her out on the trails to see how she handles everything. If all goes well, we’ll sign the papers, and she’ll be off to her new home.”
“How long have you been working with her?”
“About three months.”
“And you’ve done this with over a hundred and fifty horses?”
The awe in her voice made his chest swell with pride. “I haven’t worked with all of them, but I’ve had my fair share.”
“Don’t you get attached to the ones you work with?”
Unfortunately, yeah. And he was discovering it wasn’t limited to the horses. The thought brought a frown as he replied, “It helps knowing they’re going to a good home.”
And that he helped them get there, which was exactly what he needed to do with
Raine. Help her, and send her on her way.
Without touching her again.
Her fingers grazed his bicep, and he flinched.
When he shifted away while glancing down at her, she tilted her head with a frown of her own. “Is everything okay?”
“Yep,” he said shortly.
“I was curious about how the adoptions worked, that’s why I came down early. But if it’s a problem, I can come back at nine.”
It wasn’t her fault he couldn’t think straight for wanting to take her upstairs, strip her bare, and bury himself deep inside her. Well, it was, but it wasn’t.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he bit out more harshly than he’d intended as he watched Bob and Nancy working with Morning Glory. “It’s fine.”
“Good.” Raine crossed her arms, twisting on her heel to stare right at him with challenge written all over her face. He avoided her gaze, only to find his attention on the swell of her breasts as her crossed arms pushed them up in her snug T-shirt.
Fuck.
“And since I’m here,” she continued, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Reyes swallowed hard. Yeah, you can— “Muck the stalls.”
Her eyebrows rose. “What?”
The affronted tone gave him the courage to finally look her in the eye. If he got her good and pissed her off, maybe she’d keep her distance. He’d put the horses out to pasture just before the Hamiltons arrived, and had planned to do chores between her morning and afternoon sessions, but this would work, too.
“You heard me.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Unless you think you’re too good to shovel shit?”
Her gaze narrowed. “I can muck a stall, Reyes.”
“Good. Then do it.” He abruptly turned and strode toward the office before he gave in to the insane urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless at eight a.m. in the morning.
An hour later, Morning Glory was in the trailer and on the way to her new home, and all the stalls in the barn were filled with fresh, fluffy pine shavings. Raine had worked without complaint doing his work, which left him feeling like an ass. In trying to do the right thing out of respect for his boss—and her—he was unfairly taking out his frustrations on her.
Only now he had her good and annoyed with him, and she didn’t bother to hide it as they made their way out to the arena for their morning training session.
He hoped their talk last night helped breakthrough the mental barrier she had over that one vertical jump, and watched carefully for any signs of distress as she and Diamond Fire warmed up.
Everything seemed okay, until he walked her through the new course he’d set up earlier that morning. Accusation and anxiety filled her silence when her glare told him she recognized he’d replicated the course from the day of their wreck back in December.
Ignoring that, he signaled for her to run it through. As they started, he could see horse and rider were equally edgy, only he wasn’t so sure if Fire was picking up her anxiety, or remembering the fall himself. When they approached the final turn, the gelding took the bit and blew right past the vertical. Raine brought him back under control at the far side of the arena. She twirled him around in a few tight, fast circles, her displeasure with her mount abundantly clear.
