Page 18 of A Cowboy in the Streets

Adam looked at me. It was the same expression Ben had worn when he had asked if he could help. Eyebrows raised in question, the clench of his jaw bracing for disappointment. I had the feeling he would take the rejection harder than his kid.

“I could use the help. You want to introduce me to the other horses when we’re done here?” I asked Ben.

His eyes lit up. “Yes!”

“Great.”

Adam stepped closer, pretending he was focused on untangling a knot in Belle’s mane, but using the opportunity to lean in and ask quietly, “You sure you don’t mind babysitting?”

Babysitting? I glanced at Ben. Did eleven-year-olds need a babysitter? An alarm clanged in my brain. Don’t let them treat you like a girl, my dad always warned me. They won’t respect you. To my dad, watching a kid—like baking cookies—was definitely a girl job. I had feelings about “girl” jobs being a thing at all, and even stronger feelings about “girl” jobs being less valuable, but I also wanted Adam to take me seriously. I was a horse trainer, not a babysitter. Nothing wrong with being a babysitter, but that wasn’t what they were paying me for.

“Does Ben need a babysitter at the barn?” I asked carefully.

Adam blinked, like the question had caught him off guard. His brow furrowed.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Ben piped up, because of course he heard the whole thing. “Dad said last summer that I’m old enough to be responsible. The rule is I can’t go past the ranch sign alone and I have to text him every two hours so he knows I’m alive, and I have to be at the big house for lunch at one.”

“What happens if you don’t text?” I asked, curious. Ben didn’t strike me as a rule-breaker.

Ben’s blue eyes widened. “I don’t know,” he said, confirming my suspicions.

“I come find you,” Adam growled.

Heat scalded my cheeks. Even though the words weren’t for me, they sent wholly inappropriate shivers down my spine. If this man ever came looking for me all grumpy and growly like that, I’m not sure I would mind being caught.

I turned away so he wouldn’t see me blush, hiding behind my hair and sunglasses. “Well, there you go. I’m not babysitting. Ben is helping out.”

Ben beamed.

“All right,” Adam said after a pause. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, glanced at it, and lifted his chin to Ben. “It’s 9:47 now. Set your alarm so you text on time.”

“Okay, Dad.”

I watched him do it, half tempted to set my own alarm, just in case, but thought better of it. I wasn’t his unpaid babysitter, and I damn sure wasn’t going to let anyone think it was okay to treat me like one.

Adam looked at me. “Essie Price has a two-year-old she’s looking to start. She’s bringing him by around two-thirty today. If she likes us, she’ll leave him here for the next month. You want this one, or should I pass it to Blaine?”

Essie Price was a star on the rodeo circuit, nearly unbeatable at the barrel race. No way was I going to pass up this opportunity. A grin split my face from ear to ear. “Hell yes, I want it.”

I had always been told my enthusiasm was contagious, but Adam didn’t seem in any danger of catching it. He nodded without even a hint of excitement. “Meet me at the ring at two, then.”

He swung a leg over Devil and settled into the saddle with effortless grace. I had spent my life around cowboys. A man on a horse was nothing new to me. But hot damn, there was something about the way Adam sat so tall and easy, his brow furrowed as he stared down at me, that made my belly quiver.

“Don’t be late,” he said, and I blinked.

Excuse me? I had never been late for anything in my life. Hadn’t I gotten to work an hour before him this morning? He had no reason to think I’d be anything but punctual. He just wanted to put me in my place.

I scowled at his retreating back as he trotted back toward the barn. No doubt about it, the hot cowboy was also kind of a jerk.

Ben kept his word, texting his dad on time without any prodding from me. At lunchtime, he headed back to the big house, and I took the opportunity to run back to my cabin, grab some lunch of my own, and change my clothes. At precisely 1:58, I was back at the training ring in jeans and my pink riding boots.

Adam was already there, along with Blaine and Jesse. A third man, who looked vaguely familiar, joined them at the rail. When Adam saw me approach, he waved me over and made the introductions.

“Steven came on six months ago. Spent the last seven years bronc riding on the rodeo circuit.”

Ah. That’s where I’d seen his face.

He grinned. “Thought it might be a nice change of pace to ride horses that didn’t aim to kill me.”

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