In the tack room, she found Axel’s wet clothing laid over the back of an old chair.The sight of his shirt draped over the chair sent a strange warmth through her.It was a reminder that he was here, in her space, part of her world again.
The overalls were gone, but Tim’s boots were still there.They hadn’t fit.She knew they wouldn’t.Axel’s feet were so much bigger than her late husband’s feet.
She located her old boots and slipped them on.
As she stepped back into the main area of the barn, she heard the horses neighing softly from the stable area.
Suddenly Axel’s voice drifted along the cool air.She was surprised that he was talking to the horses.
His voice was low and soothing, a tone she hadn’t heard in years.Gentle, patient, almost reverent.
Quietly she strolled down the long hallway and halted.All the horses were sticking their heads out of their stable watching him as he stood in the alleyway with the last horse, the one who’d gotten wet.
Axel wore Tim’s coveralls.The oversized fabric clung in places and hung loose in others, making him look rugged and strangely vulnerable all at once.Because they were oversized and designed to cover clothes, they fit him perfectly.He stood in the old wool socks she’d mentioned that were in the tack room and she hoped his feet weren’t too cold.
“I remember Nick saying to never let a wet horse go without being groomed and dried before tucking her in for the night.We’ll just wait for Jenna, and she can show me how,” he said softly to the horse, whose ears flicked back and forth as it listened.
How interesting.Axel, a man who had only been concerned with cars and trucks and carpentry, seemed to have a way with horses.Obviously, a tender side of him still existed even after being imprisoned for so many years.
She kept quiet as he tied the horse’s lead to a bar so she couldn’t wander off.Then he made his way to the next horse, whose head was sticking out of her stall.He stroked her muzzle.The horse’s eyes closed, loving his touches.
The tenderness in his touches made her chest ache.He wasn’t just the man she remembered; he was someone new, someone deeper.
“You are a sweet filly, aren't you?”he said gently.
The horse answered with a neigh.
“Good girl.Now I've got to move on, or all of the other horses will get jealous.We don't want that or there could be a riot.”
A quiet laugh bubbled up before she could stop it.He still had that spark, that playful charm she’d fallen for.
He moved on to the next and then the next.Her breath caught.The way he moved among the horses, calm and sure, made something inside her soften.
Lightning flashed at the windows, and the lightbulbs shone brightly along the aisle, but Jenna kept to the shadows, not wanting to interfere.She just loved how her heart burst with appreciation that he would take the time with her horses.
When he neared the end of the stalls, he turned from the last horse and stopped when he saw her.
The way his gaze locked onto hers made her breath catch.It was as if the storm outside had suddenly moved inside her chest.
“Hey, I didn't see you there,” he said.
He smiled at her and her insides brightened with awareness.That smile.It was familiar and it was devastating, unravelling something deep inside of her that she’d been trying to hold together for years.
The barn felt too quiet, too intimate and her every heartbeat echoed louder than the rain on the roof.Her pulse stumbled.The thought of standing close to him again made her skin prickle with anticipation.
“Hey, can you show me how the grooming is done?I know they aren’t supposed to be wet for long, or it can cause skin issues,” he asked in that throaty voice she loved so much.
“Hey yourself.Sure, I can show you.Thanks for tucking in the horses,” she praised.
His eyes glittered and he gave a soft nod.
“No problem.I figured I should let them get used to me if I'm going to become one of Jenna’s cowboys.”
The words Jenna’s cowboys curled through her like a spark.It was playful on the surface but threaded with something that felt dangerously close to longing.
His grin widened and her breath caught at the sexy lines erupting at the sides of his luscious looking mouth.Those lines hadn't been there when he’d gone to prison.Life had carved those lines into his face, and she swore he hadn't looked hotter than right now.
“You look flushed.Are you okay?You should have wrapped a blanket around you.”He said in a thick voice.
