Annie And The Cowboy (Western Night Series 3) (86 page)

“I always start at this end, otherwise Shifter here gets impatient and starts kicking,” Jared said, gesturing toward a tall, black stallion. Emily nodded and followed him to the shelves just past the stall. Jared pulled on his work gloves and handed her an extra pair he kept on hand. She shoved her hands into them and hoped they wouldn’t fall off because they were at least one size too big.

“Over here is where I keep the hay. I usually grab an armful and give one to each,” Jared explained, scooping up about half the bale. Emily’s eyes widened, wondering how on earth she would manage to carry that much. He opened the gate to the stallion’s stall. Jared walked in, brushing the stallion from neck to hind in one smooth motion with one hand while the other arm cradled the hay. “There boy,” he said his deep voice soothing the horse. He took the hay to the opposite corner of the stall and as soon as he dropped it the horse began to eat. While he munched on his hay, Jared took a brush off the side of the stall and began to brush him, following the same path his hand had taken. He looked up at Emily and handed her the brush.

“Here. Brush in the direction of the hair,” he intructed. Emily took the brush and began to smooth it over the horse’s hair. The horse gave a grunt in appreciation and continued to eat. Jared watched her, amazed by how quickly she picked it up. He went to toss out the old bucket of water and brought it to the facet to refill.

“So where did you grow up if not New York?” he asked. Emily looked up from her brushing and smiled.

“I grew up in a small town in Kansas. My family had a small farm and a couple of horses,” she answered. Jared was shocked to say the least. He didn’t expect her to be a small town girl and he especially hadn’t expected her to have experience with horses. That explained why she knew how to care for them. He’d still have to show her how to train them though, that was a whole different ordeal than simply caring for them.

“What made you move to New York?” He asked, genuinely curious. He couldn’t imagine a reason for wanting to move to such a huge city. It’s noisy, dirty, and way too many people and smells. City life seemed like hell on earth to him. Emily shrugged, pleased that he was engaging in a conversation with her.

“Adventure, I guess. I wanted to see the world and experience things I knew I couldn’t find in Kansas so I moved. I loved living there; it was exciting and thrilling all the time. But, that gets really exhausting after so many years and I was ready to come back to a simpler life,” she explained. Jared nodded and remained silent. He supposed it would be a unique life experience, but he was just fine never having it. This ranch was his home, and he had no desire to leave it for thrilling excitement in a city. Jared moved to the next stall and Emily followed, closing the gate to Shifter’s stall behind her. She scooped up an armful of hay like he had shown her and brought it in while he emptied out the water. She tossed it in the same corner that Jared had used in Shifter’s stall and began to brush this horse. Jared started cleaning out the stall and while they were quietly working Emily chewed on her lip, debating whether or not to ask her burning question. Eventually, she gave in.

“So, what made you want to post your ad?” She asked, trying to sound flippant about it. Jared glanced up, his eyes meeting hers for a brief moment.

“It was a legal obligation to maintain property rights,” he answered bluntly. Emily was taken aback. She had been expecting, well
hoping,
for an answer far more romantic than that. She’d spent the entire plane ride coming up with different scenarios. He had had too many failed relationships and just wanted to spend his life with someone who wanted the same things—like she did. Or, he was shy and didn’t get out to meet people very much. Or, he was the only single man left in the whole town! Something other than “legal obligation.” Emily looked away from him disappointedly.

“Oh,” was all she was able to say. Jared felt a pang of guilt begin to creep up his spine and he suddenly felt bad for his calloused answer.
It’s the truth, though
, he reminded himself. He looked back over at her, her face turned away as she whispered softly to the horse she was brushing and his heart palpitated. It was the truth, but something small inside him wished that it hadn’t been.

***

“This is Sasha. She’s a little older and therefore should be pretty easy to start you out on,” Jared said, leading the brown mare from her stall. Emily smiled at her and took the reins from him.

“Start me out on?” She asked, looking at him as she stroked the horse. Jared nodded and led her to the training pen he had fenced off.

“I train these horses to race and to compete. Many of them belong to other patrons who have paid me to care for them and I get a percentage of the winnings if my horse wins. It’s very important to know how to train them properly,” he explained, clicking his tongue and directing Sasha to a corner. Emily dropped the reins so the horse could comply with his commands and she stood on the outside of the pen, watching. Jared went through the different cues he had for which tricks or commands and Emily made a mental list of all of them to remember. Most of them were the same from when she trained horses back in high school and her early college years in upstate New York, but a few of them were unique to him.

“Here, why don’t you try?” he said handing her the reins. Emily opened the gate she had been leaning against and allowed him to exit the pen before she started. She spoke in a soothing voice and introduced herself to the mare, walking her around the pen a few times. Jared watched her intently, impressed by how comfortable she was. She began with some of the easier commands, giving the signals he had shown her and Sasha followed easily. After a few minutes, once she felt that Sasha trusted her, she started to make the commands a little more complex. Jared was flabbergasted at the tricks she had Sasha doing, many of which he hadn’t shown her yet.

“You’re a trainer?” He asked, dumbfounded. Emily didn’t say anything but gave him a large, proud smile. Alright, now he was more than impressed.  What were the odds that the one sane woman to respond to his ad would also have experience training horses?

“When did you learn to do that?” Jared asked, still not quite able to fit all the pieces together. Emily clicked her tongue and led the horse in her next trick.

“I learned back in high school. I started working at the stables when I was fifteen and eventually they showed me how to be a trainer. When I moved to New York, I got a job as a trainer for a stable upstate until the owners retired and sold it,” Emily beamed. Jared frowned. Where in New York was there room for stables?

“You did that in the city?” He asked doubtfully. Emily laughed, the sound piercing him in a way that made his heart speed up exponentially.

“No, of course not! The city barely has trees let alone stables,” she giggled. Jared’s frown deepened in his confusion and Emily noticed. “There’s more to New York than just Manhattan. Upstate there’s a lot of open countryside. It’s not the same as here, and it is a smaller state so it’s very expensive to have a property of this size but they exist,” she explained. Jared nodded quietly, turning his back to Sasha.

“Well, maybe we should bring out Sebastian and let you work with him a bit,” he said, grabbing hold of Sasha’s reins and letting her out of the pen. Emily watched him escort the horse back to her stall with a smile of satisfaction on her face.
Hopefully I’ve aroused his interest enough to keep the conversation going a little longer today,
she thought. Otherwise, it was going to be a very long week if this was going to be the most she could get out of him.

***

They didn’t talk much the rest of the day, which was okay for Emily. They were busy going through the Horses and he taught her their individual signals to call that specific horse and he showed her a few of their routines. He was very talented with the horses and, as much experience as she had, she was a little out of practice. He didn’t seem to notice, though, or at least he never commented on it. It felt so good to be back working with horses. The afternoon breeze kicked up and Emily closed her eyes, letting the cool air wash over her. Jared turned to walk the horse around the pen as a cool down before taking her back to the stall when his eyes caught Emily. Tendrils of her hair had fallen out of its pony tail and were whipping across her face in the breeze. Her eyes were closed and his heart lurched. He shook his head, turning back to the horse he was working with.

“We should call it a day,” Jared said, his tone not betraying the rapid speed of his heart. Emily opened her eyes and turned to him. He was looking away from her and seemed intently focused on the ground. She smiled at him and nodded.

“Okay, sounds good. What do you need me to help with?” She asked, opening the pen gate so that he could escort the horse out. Jared glanced over at her and immediately regretted it. She looked so sweet and beautiful in the evening light that he had the overwhelming urge to kiss her.

“Uh, no. I’ve got it,” he stuttered, steering the horse toward the stables. Emily’s smile faded and was replaced with a disappointed frown. Did he like her at all? Even a little bit? She watched him walk away and sighed. She turned toward the house knowing that a nice shower would make her feel better. She was thankful for the week they had to get to know each other, because she was half-tempted to call Felicia and tell her she was coming back. She walked into the kitchen and took her shoes off outside the door so that she didn’t track any of the dirt and mud in. Once inside, she headed straight for her bedroom and the attached bathroom. She turned the water on, sticking her hand in the water stream to feel the temperature. Once she got it to her liking, she disrobed and climbed in. The warm water splashed over her and she sighed.
It’s only been a day, maybe he just takes a while to warm up to people,
she tried to console herself.

Jared walked into the house and heard the water running. Thankful that he had a moment or two away from her to collect his thoughts, he let out a breath of relief and set his boots outside next to her shoes. He didn’t know what was coming over him. He had only gotten into this so that he could keep the ranch, but with each passing hour he felt his attachment to her grow. He strode to his bedroom, removing his shirt to prepare for his own shower. He would have to get Sherry’s opinion before he allowed himself to act on anything with Emily. He was so engrossed in his thoughts he didn’t hear the water shut off. He walked into his bedroom and tossed his dirty shirt in the hamper beside his closet. Unzipping his jeans, he noticed he needed a clean towel. He went back into the hallway to grab one from the linen closet when he felt something warm and fresh bump into him. Looking down he saw a pair of equally shocked brown eyes staring at his chest. Emily hadn’t expected to run into him, and certainly not shirtless, when she came out of her bedroom. He was hot and sweaty and sculpted to perfection. She felt heat surge through her and tried to take a step back but found herself frozen. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, making her look up to meet his eyes. Her eyes widened at the pure intensity and desire in them. Desire for
her.
Emily gulped as her lips parted slightly.

Jared tried to fight it. He tried to tell himself that it was just lust and the work of the day getting to him but he couldn’t hold back any longer. He wanted her. Needed her. Bending down he scooped her into his arms and captured her lips with his own. A bolt of electricity surged through them at the contact and Emily moaned against him. If she had thought him indifferent toward her his kiss proved differently. It was deep and passionate like she never would have guessed from a man of his demeanor. His tongue dipped into her open mouth and Emily wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. Taking the hint, Jared scooped one of his arms beneath her ass and hoisted her up. Emily wrapped her legs around his bare waist, not breaking the kiss and loving the sensation of his bare chest pressing against her. Breaking apart, gasping for air they stared at each other. If she had any intention of stopping, now would be the only time because Jared wasn’t sure he could hold himself back much longer.

“Jared…” She whispered, almost pleadingly. His restraint inside him broke and he carried her to his bedroom. He looked at her with such passion and emotion that Emily’s heart leapt. So he wasn’t indifferent toward her after all. He set her on the bed and she quickly stripped off her clean shirt and bra, wanting there to be nothing between them. Jared finished undressing and pulled her pants off, staring at her gorgeously naked body. Emily shivered from the intensity of his gaze but she didn’t want to cover herself. She wanted him to look at her like that always. Jared leaned over her, kissing her again but this time much more slowly. Emily moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist again, feeling his arousal press against her. With one swift motion, he slid inside her, filling her completely. Emily gasped, breaking the kiss. Jared slowly began to rock his hips, pulling out and pushing back in tantalizingly slow. Emily moaned and lifted her hips to meet his thrusts, taking him deeper. He made love to her slowly, enjoying every sensation of her wrapped around him. His blue eyes bore into hers and her heart almost broke with the depths within them. Her climax was building and her breaths came out in pants. He started to go a little faster, taking her to the edge.

“Jared!” She cried out as her orgasm peaked and shattered. Pleasure coursed throughout her body and made the tips of her toes tingle. Jared thrust into her again and again, bringing her back to that edge a second time. She cried out and flung her head back, her body barely having time to reset after the first orgasm before the second one was upon her. He loved the way she looked when he brought her such pleasure and was determined to do it again but this time he would join her. He thrust harder, building the pleasure back up and when she cried out he felt his own release just behind. He gave one more thrust and spilled into her. Breathing heavily, he collapsed beside her. Emily opened her eyes and looked over at him. He was staring at her with such affection she was afraid she was imagining it.