Page 19 of A Cowboy in the Streets

I laughed. “And how’s that working out for you?”

“I think I found my true calling.” He braced his forearms on the rail, tipped his hat back with his thumb and let his gaze linger on me in a way I didn’t appreciate. “I like the feisty ones. The ones that put up a good fight before I break them. It makes the ride that much sweeter.” His eyes dragged over my hips.

I nearly rolled my eyes straight out the back of my head at his innuendo. Subtle, dude. Real subtle. “You must have had a good time with Belle, then.” My eyes were wide and innocent, because if he’d been even a little successful with her, I wouldn’t be standing here now.

Blaine let out a hoot of laughter, earning an elbow to the ribs from Steven.

“Well…she didn’t buck him off.” Adam looked as scowly as ever, but there was a glimmer in his eyes that on another man I might have called amusement. “She stood rigid as a mountain, no matter how hard he dug his heels into her side. And then she dropped and rolled. He had to bail so she wouldn’t break his leg.”

That’s my girl.

The crunch of tires on gravel made us all jerk to attention. A moment later, a cherry red SUV towing a horse trailer pulled into the driveway. Essie Price jumped out, followed by a slightly older woman who I figured was her sister. She looked enough like Essie to be related, minus the pierced nose, a sapphire blue streak in her hair, and bright red lipstick that matched the truck.

“Hey, y’all,” Essie greeted us.

While Essie unloaded the horse from the trailer, the other woman introduced herself. “I’m Kat Price, Essie’s mom. Real pretty place you have here.”

Whoops. Either Kat knew the secret to eternal youth, or she’d had Essie when she was only a kid herself.

Essie clucked her tongue, leading a gorgeous bay Arabian. “This is Magpie.”

“He’s beautiful.” I rubbed his intelligent, dishy face.

“Fast, too. I think he’ll make a hell of a racer, with the proper training.”

“I’m James, by the way.”

Essie grinned, white teeth flashing against her cherry red lipstick. “I know who you are, babe. I broke your record.”

Jesse, Steven, and Blaine made noises like they expected us to square off and put up our fists. Adam shot them an irritated look and shook his head, but I felt tension rolling off those boulder shoulders of his.

I only had one record, so I didn’t need her to clarify. At seventeen, my ride that clinched the World Championship Junior Rodeo title also broke the record for fastest youth time around the barrels. Essie had beaten my time three years later by a mere tenth of a second. Her record still stood, a fact I was aware of because even though I focused on training horses for reining events now, I still had a lot of love for the sport.

Anyway, despite the hoots and whistles from the men, I didn’t hear any bitchiness in Essie’s words. Pride, competitiveness, sure. But it was all good-humored teasing.

“Hell yeah, you did,” I said emphatically. “It was a brilliant ride. I wasn’t there, but I caught the replay.”

Essie’s smile broadened. “I couldn’t believe it when Adam told me you were the new head trainer at Lodestar. We thought we were going to have to haul Magpie all the way to Texas for training. I’m so glad I can keep him local.”

“You live here in Aspen Springs?” I asked.

Essie nodded. “Mom and I have a house in town.”

She brought me up to speed on Magpie’s training so far. He was used to the feel of the saddle and bit, but hadn’t had his first ride yet. I nodded, looking him over as she talked. He seemed alert and energetic, but not at all skittish after the drive here.

“Let’s get him settled in.” I glanced at Adam, my brows raised in question. “Where—”

“Last stall on the left. It’s ready for him.”

A thrill of anticipation shot through me as we led Magpie to his temporary home. He would be a different kind of challenge from Belle. Not necessarily an easier one, though. With Belle, the only person who seemed to truly expect me to succeed was Adam. With Magpie, everyone expected him to be a winner, and if he came up short, then the blame would rest solely on my shoulders.

At Blue Skies, Dad would have been looking over my shoulder the whole time. Second-guessing me. Making me second-guess myself. As head trainer at Lodestar, I called all the shots, made all the decisions. Some of those decisions would be bad. I knew that. But I also knew I could do this and do this well.

I was ready.

Chapter 8

Adam

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