her throat. “You have photos of the trail, and you helped lay it out.”
“But there’s nothing like riding it yourself, experiencing exactly what our guests will experience. It’s all about them, you know. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get paid extra for your time, and you’ve hired those new stable hands, right? You don’t have to be there for feeding and watering the horses. This will be a good dry run to see if they can handle the work without you before you turn it over to the new stable manager. Have you found one yet?”
She scrunched her eyebrows and concentrated, trying to catch up. “Uh, maybe. I have a couple of applicants I’d like to talk to before I send them to you for the final decision.”
“Excellent.” He beamed. “Sounds like you’ve got everything under control.”
It didn’t feel under control to her. In fact, it felt like she wasn’t even in the driver’s seat.
“You know,” Mike mused happily, “I’m glad you dropped by. You’ve made my whole day better.”
Too bad she couldn’t say the same. The thought of the overnight ride made her nervous, and already had her blood surging hotly. There had never been any doubt in her mind that the physical attraction between them would be impossible to resist, but she’d hoped to have a little more time to prepare for it. Like three more weeks. By then he’d be getting ready to leave and she wouldn’t have time to fall in love with him. She figured the falling was as inevitable as the sex, it was just a matter of how much of her heart he’d rip out when he left.
* * *
“Come on, go to lunch with me, T.J. We’ll do something fun afterward.” Tad stroked his horse’s mane as they stood outside the stall, a soft, sensual fingering of the coarse hair that she was sure Misty didn’t fully appreciate. That didn’t matter, since the sensual part was for her benefit, another exaggerated attempt to tease her into a date.
She smiled tightly and shook her head, a bit tired of the game. “No thanks, but Misty might be interested if you do that down her back and chest.”
She realized too late she’d given him a perfect setup. Tad’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’d rather do your back. And chest.” His gaze went there and lingered.
The line between flirting and harassment might be blurry to Tad, but not to her. She snapped her fingers at his face. “Hey, buddy, eyes up here.”
He didn’t look the least bit abashed. “What’s the problem? Where I come from, admiring a woman’s body is a compliment.”
“Let me give you a tip, Tad. That has nothing to do with where you’re from, it’s who you hang out with.”
“Are you saying I need to hang out with a better class of women?”
“No, I’m saying you can’t blame them for your lack of manners.”
“Obviously you need to save me from myself.”
“I don’t think it’s possible.” If there’d been the tiniest bit of aggression in his approach, she’d be furious, but Tad acted as harmless as a puppy, so she had to conclude that he was merely obnoxious. Still, a leash, a choke chain, and a few pointed corrections were tempting. She handed him Misty’s halter. “Here, cross-tie her and untack before you leave.”
He laughed. “No thanks, I only do the riding part. And if you’re going to force me to find another woman, I need to get going.”
She folded her arms. “Uh-uh. When you take lessons from me, you learn everything about taking care of your horse. You’ll be a more convincing cowboy if you’ve lugged a few saddles and groomed a few horses.”
“You just want to see me sweat.” He arched an eyebrow and cocked his head. “Will it turn you on?”
“Sure, nothing’s better than a sweaty man who smells like a horse.”
“Kinky.” A slow smile spread across his face and his eyelids lowered with the sexy, bedroom look his fans sighed over. “I love kinky women.”
She rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”
He dropped the seductive
“But there’s nothing like riding it yourself, experiencing exactly what our guests will experience. It’s all about them, you know. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get paid extra for your time, and you’ve hired those new stable hands, right? You don’t have to be there for feeding and watering the horses. This will be a good dry run to see if they can handle the work without you before you turn it over to the new stable manager. Have you found one yet?”
She scrunched her eyebrows and concentrated, trying to catch up. “Uh, maybe. I have a couple of applicants I’d like to talk to before I send them to you for the final decision.”
“Excellent.” He beamed. “Sounds like you’ve got everything under control.”
It didn’t feel under control to her. In fact, it felt like she wasn’t even in the driver’s seat.
“You know,” Mike mused happily, “I’m glad you dropped by. You’ve made my whole day better.”
Too bad she couldn’t say the same. The thought of the overnight ride made her nervous, and already had her blood surging hotly. There had never been any doubt in her mind that the physical attraction between them would be impossible to resist, but she’d hoped to have a little more time to prepare for it. Like three more weeks. By then he’d be getting ready to leave and she wouldn’t have time to fall in love with him. She figured the falling was as inevitable as the sex, it was just a matter of how much of her heart he’d rip out when he left.
* * *
“Come on, go to lunch with me, T.J. We’ll do something fun afterward.” Tad stroked his horse’s mane as they stood outside the stall, a soft, sensual fingering of the coarse hair that she was sure Misty didn’t fully appreciate. That didn’t matter, since the sensual part was for her benefit, another exaggerated attempt to tease her into a date.
She smiled tightly and shook her head, a bit tired of the game. “No thanks, but Misty might be interested if you do that down her back and chest.”
She realized too late she’d given him a perfect setup. Tad’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’d rather do your back. And chest.” His gaze went there and lingered.
The line between flirting and harassment might be blurry to Tad, but not to her. She snapped her fingers at his face. “Hey, buddy, eyes up here.”
He didn’t look the least bit abashed. “What’s the problem? Where I come from, admiring a woman’s body is a compliment.”
“Let me give you a tip, Tad. That has nothing to do with where you’re from, it’s who you hang out with.”
“Are you saying I need to hang out with a better class of women?”
“No, I’m saying you can’t blame them for your lack of manners.”
“Obviously you need to save me from myself.”
“I don’t think it’s possible.” If there’d been the tiniest bit of aggression in his approach, she’d be furious, but Tad acted as harmless as a puppy, so she had to conclude that he was merely obnoxious. Still, a leash, a choke chain, and a few pointed corrections were tempting. She handed him Misty’s halter. “Here, cross-tie her and untack before you leave.”
He laughed. “No thanks, I only do the riding part. And if you’re going to force me to find another woman, I need to get going.”
She folded her arms. “Uh-uh. When you take lessons from me, you learn everything about taking care of your horse. You’ll be a more convincing cowboy if you’ve lugged a few saddles and groomed a few horses.”
“You just want to see me sweat.” He arched an eyebrow and cocked his head. “Will it turn you on?”
“Sure, nothing’s better than a sweaty man who smells like a horse.”
“Kinky.” A slow smile spread across his face and his eyelids lowered with the sexy, bedroom look his fans sighed over. “I love kinky women.”
She rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”
He dropped the seductive
Similar Books
