“How’s he doing?” I asked
Mikey was just locking the stall of the new stallion as I walked into the stables. He gave me a huge smile.
“He’s doing great. Eating well,” he chuckled, “shitting well. Even been introduced to Songbird.”
I joined him at the stall door and reached over to rub the beautiful stallion’s nose. “How was that?”
“Pretty good. She was a bit nervous at first because Gypsy was with her, but he gave the foal a sniff and then ignored her, so Songbird relaxed.” Mikey looked over his shoulder and groaned. “I think he must have a tracker on you or something.”
My heart sank when I saw Glenn coming toward us. I’d tried not to give him any encouragement, but he kept trying. Kept hanging around.
“How’s the beast doing?” he asked as he came up beside me. “He still looks dangerous.”
“Obi is doing fine.” I couldn’t help the bite in my tone. Call me whatever you liked, but diss a horse and I was not happy. “And he’s not dangerous, he just didn’t seem to like you.”
As he drew closer, the hay cracked under his tentative steps. “Everyone likes me.”
Mikey almost choked, spluttering into his hand. An amused smile lifted my lips; I was confident that they didn’t.
We all fell silent as Glenn reached out a tentative hand and just at that moment Obi lifted his tail and dropped a huge pile of crap. The smell of it mixed with hay and horses permeated through the air and I didn’t think there was anything better.
Obi lifted a regal head, looking at each of us in turn, before retreating to the back of his stall to take a drink of water.
“Maybe you should help me get to know him,” Glenn suggested.
“I think maybe you should get your own girl to show you how to dealwith a horse.”
At the sound of his voice my heart jumped, waking the butterflies in my stomach. He looked devastatingly handsome, his jeans soft and worn hung perfectly from his hips, and that slow confident stroll of his sent heat straight to my groin. I wanted to drag him back to my cabin.
Standing beside me he looked pointedly at Glenn, chin strong and eyes narrowed on his victim, like a hawk about to swoop. Glenn was brave, I’d give him that because he didn’t move a muscle but took a step closer.
Wilder inhaled deeply, his jaw ticking as he slowly lifted his arm, wrapped it around my waist and pulled me against my side.
“You okay, Brownie?” He kissed the side of my head. “Ready for my surprise?”
“Surprise?”
“Yeah, surprise. We both have a day off, so as much as I'd have liked to stay in bed all day, we have things to do.”
Mikey cleared his throat and picked up the feed bucket at his feet. “I have things to do. See ya later folks.”
Glenn’s expression was a mixture of shock and what looked like…challenge. “When did this happen?” he asked, his voice tight. The air felt thick with tension as the two men stared at each other. My hands clenched at my sides,
“Not that it’s anyone’s business,” Wilder ground out, “but a couple of months. Now, if you don’t mind, we have somewhere to be.”
Without waiting for a response, he took my hand and led me out of the stables.
“Where are we going?” His hand wrapped around mine, warm and strong. Safe. Home.
“Dancing.”
“Dancing?” I pulled up short. “Dancing?”
Wilder winked at me. “Yep, Brownie, dancing.” He pulled me closer, his arm tight around my waist as he looked down at me, his eyes searching every inch of my face. “Told you I wanted to be able to dance with you whenever I liked, and I want to now.”
His mouth crashed to mine and I opened instantly, welcoming his kisslike I needed it to be able to breathe. “Let’s go dancing, Mr. Miller,” I whispered, wondering if the day could get any better.
Chapter 30
