Joey stood in the shadows and watched the man talking to Percy. She wasn't exactly sure what she was seeing, but she wanted to figure it out before he realised that he was being watched.
Scarlet came up behind her. "What are you doing?"
"Shhh…" Joey warned and pulled Scarlet behind her. "I'm trying to scope out our host. At least that's who I think it is."
"I want to stay here forever if it is," Scarlet mused as she stared. "He's hot as hell."
"True statement," she agreed. "But he's mine if we're going to play that game, so back off." She giggled as Scarlet poked her in the back.
"Not fair. I said he was hot first."
"Yeah, while I'm standing here ogling him."
"I'm heading back to the trailer. Don't stand there too long. It's weird." Scarlet's laughter echoed in the breeze as she walked away.
Joey refocused her eyes and stared at the guy again. There were definitely two distinct beings that she was seeing. If Scarlet wanted something weird, that was it, but strangely enough, Joey wasn't concerned. This had only happened to her once before when she dated a guy in high school who turned out to be a wolf shifter.
She had never expected it to happen again. The only person she had ever told was her father, and he had said that she had a gift that few possessed. Even in her teenage years, she hadn't been convinced that it was a gift. Especially one that seemed to mature a year after she had been dating the wolf.
She certainly didn't want to let Scarlet in on that little titbit of information. The entire crew would know within the hour.
A truck backed up close to the barn and blocked her view. As she watched, Warren came around behind the trailer and lowered a ramp to offload one of the horses. She moved to the other side of the barn and leaned close to the stalls so she could see Percy and the host without being seen.
With the horse stomping in the trailer, Joey couldn't hear anything being said. She smiled at Warren as he led a beautiful stallion named Applejack out of the truck. He winked at her as he noticed her in the shadows.
Back to work, girl. Standing her drooling over a cowboy isn't going to get it done.
Just as she started to turn away, the horse stumbled. Applejack tried to correct his footing, but his hoof caught the edge of the ramp. Warren pulled on the reins to redirect the big horse back into the center of the ramp, but Applejack panicked and reared up onto his hind legs.
Before Warren could calm him, Percy cracked a whip across Applejack's hindquarters, which caused him to rear again. Joey rushed forward to intervene and help Warren regain control. Her temper made her see red as she ran the short distance to the truck. These men and their whips were really starting to overload her ability to not retaliate.
Joey leapt up onto the ramp and put her hands on Applejack's shoulders. "Whoa, boy. It's okay. You're fine. Just calm down." She kept her voice low and level and applied just a light pressure on the animal's body. She felt him quiver under her fingers, but he swung his head toward her and neighed.
"That's right, baby boy. You're fine."
Over his back, Joey saw Percy raise his arm to snap the whip again. She braced herself as a flashback to her cheek getting ripped open blasted through her mind. Warren hollered at him to stop, but Percy took a step to deliver another blow.
Joey started to cringe, but before she could, she saw the host's hand flash out and grab Percy's arm. She straightened and stared.
"Do not do that again. Not on my ranch." The cowboy's works were hard and forceful. Joey was pretty sure she fell in love right then.
"Get your hands off me." Percy yanked away. "Don't you tell me what to do. The horse has to learn."
"And it will, you sonofabitch. But whipping it when itaccidentallystumbled is a sure sign of an abuser."
Another cowboy strolled up. "Trouble, Drake?"
Drake. Joey committed it to memory. At least now her hero had a name.
Percy's lip curled. "Who the hell are you?"
Drake shook his head. "Nah, Colton. Nothing I can't handle."
Colton turned his attention to Percy. "Colton Hale. What seems to be the problem?"
"Apparently your boy here doesn't like how I handle my own business practices."
Joey watched as Colton's brow raised at Percy's tone. "This boy is my brother, and if he doesn't like something you're doing, I can promise you that I won't."
