StudinTexas (3 page)

“So you see? This is the perfect arrangement.” Reese smiled
brightly. As in
case closed
brightly. Clearly, there was no discouraging
her.

She introduced Sky to Kathy the sous chef, Marc the prep
cook and David the dishwasher—along with the two servers on duty that
afternoon.

“Oh my God!” The petite blonde server, Abby, gasped. “You’re
the
Sky Travis. I’ve seen your movie and I have your CD. You are so
great!”

Heat tinged her cheeks. She didn’t like people making a fuss
over her, but graciously said, “Thank you.”

“Why didn’t you make another film?”

Sky winced. Patrick Swayze had passed before they’d even
taped a single scene on what would have been Sky’s second movie. She’d been
devastated, given that Patrick had been iconic to her. She’d known he had cancer,
of course. But he’d been valiantly fighting it when he’d agreed to the project.
In fact, he’d looked good when she’d met with him the first time. She’d really
believed that if anyone could kick the illness into remission, it’d be him.

Sky’s heart had broken when she’d heard the news of his
death, because she was such a huge fan. The studio had immediately started
searching for a replacement, but Sky couldn’t bring herself to make the movie
with another leading man when she’d been so over-the-moon excited to film with
her hero. She’d been only days away from signing the contract when he died, and
she’d decided to walk away from the deal and leave Hollywood with just one
movie under her belt—the one she’d starred in with Silver Monroe.

Shaking her head, she told Abby, “Just didn’t feel right.
Acting’s not my true calling.”

“But you won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress.”
Abby pulled a small piece of paper from her server’s book and thrust it and a
pen at Sky. “Can I have your autograph? My friends back in Tulsa will never
believe I met you.” To Reese, she added, “Wait ’til people hear Sky Travis is
whipping up decadent desserts at the inn—we’ll be packed!”

Decadent desserts? Oh holy hell.

Sky swallowed down a lump of apprehension and signed the paper.
Then she said, “Nothing to get excited over. It was just one movie. One CD.”

“
And
you know Casey James,” the blonde said on a
dreamy sigh. “It was all over the internet and in the grocery store rags when
you became one of his backup singers. Everyone’s been speculating that you’re
priming yourself for a new solo CD and tour. Is it true?” She stared up at Sky
with hopeful brown eyes.

Sky’s stomach twisted. “Things didn’t quite work out the way
I’d anticipated. So… I’m taking a break from all things entertainment-related.”

Abby’s face fell. “Too bad. I was so excited that it might
happen. I listen to your CD all the time.” She perked up again. “About Casey
James. Tell me he’s as nice in person as he seemed on
American Idol.
”

“Nicer.”

“Of course he is,” she gushed with suddenly starry eyes.

Reese stepped in to rescue Sky. “Come on. I’ll take you over
to the med center and then the stable so you can see the ranch side of the
Painted Horse.”

They walked the immense grounds to a newly constructed
building nestled in a long stretch of trees. Inside, a buzz of activity caught
Sky by surprise.

Techs in dark-blue scrubs rushed about, tending to two
injured horses—several of them pausing briefly to gape at Sky as they instantly
recognized her.

“See, I told you,” Reese whispered as she noticed the
attention Sky garnered.

As the activity resumed, yet another hunky man—this one in a
lab coat—calmly and softly issued orders while he examined a white Arabian.

“Caleb?” she quietly asked of the vet.

“Yes.” Reese sighed happily. “My intended. Can you believe
he’s a large-animal veterinarian at twenty-six, and saves abandoned and
mistreated horses?” She practically swooned. “I get the goose bumps every time
I think of how valiant that is.”

“No shit,” Sky said. “Some superhero you’ve found, my
friend.”

“Sam’s in on the mission too. He’s the one who locates the
horses in need. He and his staff load them up in the trailer and bring them
here for Caleb and his team to take care of. Sam tends to the horses in the
stable during their recovery and then moves them to the outdoor pens for
additional rehab before adopting them out. And let me tell you, they have a
screening process that’s probably more stringent than adoption agencies have
for humans.”

“They should. You can’t turn a once-abused horse over to
just anybody.” Her heart constricted over the misfortune of the poor animals.
And because she understood their distress. “They’ll need lots of TLC going
forward.”

“I forgot how much you love horses.”

She nodded. “I miss mine, but at least Daddy started warning
me a couple years in advance that Miss Daisy was getting on in age and wouldn’t
be with us more than another winter or two.” The appaloosa had been in the
family all of Sky’s childhood, but had died peacefully overnight the year Sky
graduated high school. Natural cause—a simple, expected case of old age.

Neglected horses were not something Sky had ever been
subjected to and she found the scene in the clinic heart-wrenching, but also
encouraging, because of Caleb’s efforts.

“You landed yourself a keeper,” she said to her friend.

“Did I ever.”

“And handsome, to boot.”

“Ain’t he though?”

Caleb finally glanced up from inspecting the Arabian’s hoof
and grinned. “Ya’ll can stop talking about me as if I were some prized steer at
a 4-H competition.”

Reese laughed softly. “We’re just popping in on a tour. This
is Sky. Sky, this is Caleb. You can get to know each other later. We don’t want
to keep you from your work.” She turned to go.

Sky couldn’t quite tear her gaze from the sullen-looking
horse. His ribs were so prominent, they nearly poked through his flesh. And
there were cuts along his front legs.

Caleb’s gaze followed hers and he said, “Got tangled in some
barbed wire, trying to escape the property he’d been left on, after being
starved and abandoned by his owners.”

“Who would do such a thing?”

“I know. It’s horrific. The owners lost their home to
foreclosure and couldn’t afford to keep up with the horse, so they simply left
him behind when they moved out. But he’ll be fine now that he’s here.” He
paused, then asked Sky, “You okay?”

“Sure.” Though tears stung her eyes. “Nice to meet you,
Caleb.” She turned and followed Reese out. Her chest pulled tight and her
insides knotted again. Abuse of any form was wrong on so many levels.

“I should have warned you,” Reese said.

“No, it’s all right. I just don’t like to see hurt animals.
Especially when they’ve been mistreated by someone who’s supposed to care for
them.”

“I know. I had a really hard time with this at first. I
wanted to help Caleb and Sam, but I couldn’t stomach the sight of the horses.
Took a while for me to be able to pitch in when it comes to this part of the
ranch. Once I saw the good they were doing, and we had some successful
recoveries underway, I realized how important this sort of work is and now I
can’t stop myself from lending a hand wherever it’s needed.”

“That is so admirable, Reese.” She drew up short and turned
to her friend. Emotion welled within her. “I really and truly mean that. You
always go on and on about the stuff I’ve done, and though I appreciate that
you’re my biggest fan, I haven’t accomplished anything on par with what’s going
on at this ranch. You’ve really got to stop thinking I’ve done something great.
I’ve never saved a soul, Reese.”

“Sky.” Reese clasped her hands. “You don’t have to save
horses to be worthy of admiration. I’ve always envied your talent and I’m just
so thrilled that you put your mind to something and achieve it. All I’ve ever
done is open a B&B.”

“Hey, that’s pretty awesome, Reese. You ran your own
business. And now you have this inn to manage. To top it all off,” she said,
borrowing Reese’s own words, “you’re the absolute best friend a girl could have
and you’re going to make a sensational wife and mother.”

Reese smiled. “Caleb wants three kids.”

“Well, hell,” Sky said in a sassy tone to break the somber
mood. “You’d better get on it. The cougar isn’t getting any younger.”

“Bitch,” Reese said with a playful laugh.

“You know I’m just teasing you.”

“I know.” She linked arms with Sky once more. “Let’s check
out the stable.”

“Lookin’ good, girl,” Sam said to the skittish mare he
gently brushed. “Now that you’ll let me near you.” He kept his tone low and his
strokes slow to soothe the animal.

“A Morgan?” asked a female voice in the same quiet tone.

Sam’s gaze slid from the horse’s flank to the woman who’d
just entered the stable with Reese. “You know your breeds.”

“I’m from Texas,” she said with a soft somewhat flirty
smile. “Though… I’ve never actually seen an American Morgan. Last I read, there
were less than two hundred thousand of them worldwide.”

He nodded.

She moved a little closer, though maintained a respectful
distance from the horse. Her body appeared relaxed, her stance unassuming to
help calm the mare. “A bay silver. Not common, but a very pretty color.”

The mare’s body was reddish with silver points. Her flaxen
mane and tail were tinged with silver.

Sam said, “Her name’s Anabelle. I call her Bells. She was a
show horse when she was younger. I looked her up and she was very regal and had
the perfect American Morgan stance back in her heyday. But with a change of
ownership, she was turned into a workhorse—or at least, the new owner attempted
to transition her. By whipping her. The cuts and bruises have healed, but she’s
still a bundle of nerves.”

“Who can blame her?” Empathy, mixed with something haunting
and indefinable, flickered in the deepest blue eyes Sam had ever stared into.

Reese had told him she intended to bring her best friend by.
She had not, however, mentioned the friend was Sky Travis, whose CD he’d all
but worn out over the years. Nor had Reese prepared him for her secret guest
being such a stunner. Mesmerizing, in fact, with high cheekbones and full, glossy
lips. Her brows arched slightly and long lashes framed her cerulean eyes.

She had dark-auburn hair—a rich coppery color, the likes of
which he’d never seen. The silky-looking strands were styled in plump curls,
gathered at the side and pulled over one shoulder, loosely bound by a thin,
brown leather strip she’d tied in a bow.

She easily took his breath away.

Of the horse, she said, “Poor thing. But Anabelle’s lucky
you all found her.”

“Unfortunately,” Sam explained, reluctantly forcing his gaze
from Sky’s artistically sculpted face, “there are many more like her that we
can’t immediately accommodate.”

He returned the brush to its proper place and carefully led
the mare to her stall and slid the latch into place. Then he washed up and
returned to where the two women stood. He held his hand out to the striking
newcomer. “Sam Bennett.”

“Sky Travis.” She gazed up at him, a solemn look in her
soul-stirring eyes as she slid her palm against his. “You, Caleb and Reese are
doing something very amazing here.”

“It was my baby brother’s idea. He gets the credit.”

“But it’s clearly a group effort,” she said. “An impressive
one.”

“We have a lot of staff to help us out. Some volunteers. An
equine mental health specialist who works with the horses. Dalton also trains
all of us on how to facilitate their rehabilitation so we don’t hinder the
behavioral progress he makes.”

“Wow.” Her eyes shimmered with admiration, drawing him in,
causing him to take a step closer to her. She added, “I had no idea all of this
was going on when Reese asked me to come out.”

Reese said, “Sky’s the high school friend I told you about,
Sam. I’m trying to talk her into being our pastry chef.”

He grinned again, still holding Sky’s warm hand in his.
“Welcome to the ranch.”

That was about all he could manage by way of processing
Reese’s words. His mind really couldn’t get past how much more beautiful Sky
Travis was in person. How was that possible, exactly? Weren’t graphic designing
programs meant to make recording artists look better on their CD covers than in
real life?
So
not the case with this woman…

And Sam was instantly attracted to her. In spades.

She wore a white lace tank top that did everything to evoke
a man’s desire, given the low dip of the neckline and the plump swells of her
breasts. A turquoise-colored suede jacket hung open. Her tight jeans
accentuated her feminine curves. Her cowboy boots were also turquoise. A damn
fine sight she made.

His cock twitched. He could stand there all day long, just
drowning in the blue pools that were her eyes and reveling in her sweet smile,
which showed the hint of straight, pearly white teeth.

For several seconds, Sam forgot where he was. What he’d been
doing before this striking, breath-stealing creature had entered his stable.

She seemed equally captivated.

Too bad Reese had to finally go and spoil the moment. She
indiscreetly cleared her throat.

Sure, Sam had been staring all awestruck-like. Ogling, even.
Sky Travis practically rendered him speechless.

But he pulled himself from the trance she’d held him in and
thought back to the conversation at hand. “Being a dessert man,” he said, “my
stomach would thank you if you signed on with us.”

Sky laughed. A sensual sound that seeped right into him,
making his groin tighten. And eliciting a low neigh from one of the horses,
reminding him of where they stood. Reminding him of the real world, not the
lust-filled one his mind and suddenly tense body had wandered into.

Time to get over his ridiculous fan crush.

Though it felt like a hell of a lot more than a case of
celebrity worship. Sam didn’t do celebrity worship, after all. Wasn’t in his
DNA. Nor did he have the time or the interest to give much thought to movie or
music industry who’s who.

Another neigh from the back of the stable pulled him fully
from his captivated state.

Well. Maybe not
fully…

He said, “That’s Midnight. Must be he likes your voice.” He
released Sky’s hand and gestured toward a stall in the back corner. “He
typically doesn’t have much to say, or share an interest in what goes on in the
stable. He keeps to himself. But it seems he’s found something to pique his
curiosity.”

Smart horse. Sam’s own curiosity and interest had certainly
hitched several notches since he’d noticed Reese’s guest when they’d been
standing in front of the inn.

True to Sam’s word, the horse stuck his head out over the
chest-high gate of his stall to see who’d come to visit. His ears pricked
forward and his eyes turned alert.

The beauty beside Sam gasped.

“A black stallion,” she said. “He’s gorgeous.”

He hadn’t been when Sam had picked him up a few months ago.
Now his blue-black coat gleamed and his mane and tail were detangled and shiny.

Sky strolled casually over to the stallion, her movements
slow and measured like before.

“Well, now,” she said to the horse when she reached his
stall. “Aren’t you the most magnificent thing I’ve ever laid eyes on?”

Sam was actually jealous. He pushed aside the irrational
emotion and said, “Don’t touch him just yet, darlin’. He needs to get used to
you first.”

“All right.” She clasped her hands behind her back. Let the
horse sniff around her hair and neck. Sam barely heard her murmur, “You let
these nice people take care of you. I just might adopt you myself.”

The horse’s head jerked, as though he actually understood
her words.

Sam said, “He definitely likes your voice.” Probably her
face too, which Sam himself had already committed to memory.

Beside him, Reese sing-songed in a conspiratorial whisper,
“Someone’s got a crush.” She beamed up at him. “And it ain’t just the horse I’m
talking about.”

He snickered. Apparently, his soon-to-be sister-in-law had
caught his gaze easing down Sky’s back to her shapely butt, not quite covered
by the jacket. She had long legs he couldn’t keep from imagining wrapped around
his hips. He wouldn’t mind getting all tangled up with the blue-eyed beauty,
despite the fact his focus these days was on horses, not women.

To Reese, he said, “Don’t get all high and mighty on me. I
can keep my hands to myself.”

Maybe.

She laughed. “I wasn’t suggesting
that
at all.”

Sam crossed his arms over his chest and waited a while
longer while Sky talked to Midnight. When she returned to where he and Reese
stood, she pulled in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

“Okay,” she said. “Tell me what happened to him.”

“Probably not a good idea,” Reese was quick to say. To Sam,
she explained, “Sky loves horses. She used to have one, in fact. Midnight’s
story will break her heart.”

“
All
the stories will break my heart,” Sky said. “But
I want to know about him. He’s the most beautiful horse I’ve ever seen.”

With a nod—because Sam understood the compassion of a true
horse lover—he told her, “Midnight’s owner was moving, but he didn’t have a
trailer. So he tied the stallion to the hitch on the back of his truck and had
the horse trot along behind him as he drove the back roads of Hill Country. Not
too fast, but still…”

Sky stared at him, incredulous.

Sam continued. “It was a hot day and the horse hadn’t been
fed or watered in some time, not to mention he’d been inhaling exhaust from the
old truck. He might have been fatigued or he might have just stumbled, but he
lost his footing and went down. The guy had the bed of his truck piled so high
with stuff, he didn’t know right off that he was dragging the horse along the
asphalt, especially since they were going downhill.”

“Good Lord.” Her hand clamped over her mouth and horror
filled her eyes.

Sam’s gut clenched. She easily tugged at his heartstrings
with her reaction to what the horse had suffered. The unexpected sensation took
Sam by surprise. He couldn’t shake it off.

Reese stepped in when he remained silent. “Thankfully, the
back bumper ripped off rather quickly from the weight of the horse. The sheriff
found Midnight in the middle of the road, outside of town, and called Caleb.
He’s been with us for a while. The very first horse we rescued.”

Sam watched Sky swallow hard and then her hand slipped away
and she asked, “What in the world made that man think tying his horse to the
back of his truck was a good idea? And how could he not have felt the sudden
extra weight pulling on the vehicle?”

Sam shrugged. He only knew what the sheriff had told him,
after the owner had been located in Wilder and hauled in. But he said, “Plenty
of stupid people out there, darlin’.”

“No kidding.”

She appeared thoroughly disgusted and even went pale. Sam
reached a hand out to her, gently holding onto her elbow.

“You all right?”

She shook her head. “It’s not just stupid. It’s plain cruel.
Inhumane. Makes me sick to even think about it.”

“Agreed,” he said. “But it happens all the time. Not just to
horses, but to puppies, kittens, people.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “At least some people are able
to fight back. Defend themselves.”

“True. These horses didn’t stand much of a chance. But
they’ll get better here and then we’ll turn them over to someone who will be
kind to them. Someone who will respect them.”

Sky let out a half snort. “There shouldn’t be a need for
this type of facility in the first place. Makes you want to kick all those
owners in the balls, doesn’t it?”

He grinned, despite the touchy subject matter. He liked her
spunk. “Why, yes it does. Though they don’t all have balls. Our American
Morgan’s last owner is a woman.”

“Then I’d like to smack some sense into her.”

“Wouldn’t we all,” Reese said. Her gaze fell on Sky as she
asked, “What do you think now? I know it’s a tough cause to reconcile in your
mind, but certainly a rewarding and necessary one. Do you think you can work at
the inn, knowing what’s going on around the ranch?”

Sky lifted her chin. “I told you, this is more admirable
than anything I’ve ever done. I’d be honored to be a part of it. Not just as a
dessert chef, though.” To Sam, she said, “I’m good with horses. I can help
around the stable too. I’ve got plenty of spare time on my hands these days. Be
nice to keep busy.”

“I will gladly put you to work, darlin’.”

They shook hands again. She smiled. A radiant one that
revealed deep dimples in her apple cheeks.

He bit back a groan. Lord have mercy, everything about the
woman drove him wild and made his dick throb in wicked beats.

Thankfully, Reese provided ample distraction. “So we’re
getting a two-fer here. This is our lucky day.”

Sky pulled her hand from Sam’s and turned to her friend.
“What can I say? You talked me into it.”

“Never doubted for a second you’d come around,” Reese said
with a feisty look. “Now let’s go take a peek at the kitchen budget, figure out
what sort of inventory you’re gonna need and negotiate your salary.”

Sky hedged. “About that.” Her gaze swept over the stable and
she added, “Whatever you’re proposing is fine by me. But I’d like to donate
half of my paycheck back to the ranch.” Her eyes met Sam’s. “I’m sure you’ve
got hefty operating expenses.”

“That’s a kind offer. But Caleb and I have trust funds to
dip into.”

“You do take donations, right?”

He nodded.

“Then accept mine.”

Sam had liked her instantly, from the moment she’d entered
the stable and had spoken so gently around Bells and Midnight and the other
distressed horses. His appreciation for her continued to grow.

“All right,” he said. “With gratitude.”

“Good.” Looking back at Reese, she added, “Let’s do this.”

Sam watched them leave. He propped his shoulder against the
molded frame at the stable’s opening and shoved his hands in the front pockets
of his jeans. The haunting redhead tossed a look over her shoulder and grinned
when she found his gaze on her. Then she put a little extra sway in her hips,
doing him in.