Page 66 of A Cowboy in the Streets

“That sounds great.” She chewed her lip. “But you can’t pay me. I want to keep my non-pro status next year as I get my feet wet.”

“Still bending rules, Essie?” Brax drawled, joining us at the rail. “People really don’t change after high school, I guess.”

Essie arched one perfectly shaped brow. “Well, you still have that stick up your ass, so I guess you’re right.”

It was hard to tell if this thing between them was true animosity or some bizarre mating ritual. The air practically crackled between them. I stepped back, not wanting to get electrocuted.

“You really think it’s fair for a rider of your capabilities to compete as a non-pro?” Brax challenged.

“In the first place, we’re not talking about a non-pro event. I’d be riding Belle in an open class against pros and non-pros. As I’m sure you know,” Essie said, her words laced with sarcasm, “the difference between the two is whether you get paid to ride, not skill level.”

Brax leaned into her space, bringing his hand to her cheek under the pretext of stroking Magpie’s mane. Although from the way her eyes spit fire at him, maybe she didn’t know it was a pretext.

“The other difference is ownership of the animal,” Brax reminded her. “As I’m sure you know. Non-pros have to be the sole owner of the horse they ride.”

“The class is actually a Limited Open, which means any non-pro who hasn’t received more than twenty grand in prize earnings for the year can enter without owning the horse. Which you would know if you had bothered to ask before butting your nose into our conversation. I’m not breaking any of your precious rules.”

There didn’t seem an end in sight to their standoff, so I cleared my throat. They both looked up. Brax stopped fiddling with Magpie’s mane. I was sure I saw his fingertips skim her throat as he stepped back. Interesting.

“Are you looking for Adam?” I asked. “He’s out in the pasture grunting at fence posts.”

Brax smirked at that. “Sounds like Adam, but since I told him I’d be here, he should be waiting for me in his office. I’m heading there now. Actually, you should come, too.”

“Sure.” I didn’t know what this was about, but paperwork seemed like a fair assumption. As far as I could tell, paperwork was Brax’s specialty at Lodestar. I glanced at Essie. “Jesse can help you get Magpie squared away, but you’re welcome to hang out as long as you want.”

“Thanks. I’ll take care of Magpie myself. I like doing it.”

A horsewoman after my own heart.

I nodded to Brax. “Let’s go.”

“You want to tell me why Steven McAllister thinks he has a case against Lonestar Ranch for assault?” Brax asked pleasantly, wasting no time.

I froze with my butt halfway to the chair, then fell the rest of the way with an audible thump. “What?” I turned to Adam with eyes wide. “What?”

Adam drummed his fingers against his thigh. My attention snagged on the ugly red welts along his knuckles.

“What happened to your hand?” I asked, forgetting Brax was still waiting for an answer. And then Adam turned to look at me and I got a clear shot of his face for the first time. I gasped. “What happened to your face?”

His expression was an inscrutable scowl. “Nothing.”

I bristled. “It’s not nothing—”

Brax cleared his throat. “According to Mr. McAllister, at approximately 11:15 yesterday morning, you entered the breakroom. The two of you argued and then you attacked him.”

Adam crossed his arms. He refused to look at me, no matter how hard I stared at him. “I fired him. Then I punched him.”

Brax looked to the ceiling as though praying for divine intervention. “That doesn’t sound better.”

“Well, then how does this sound? Steven put one of my employees in danger. When I confronted him about it, he admitted it. So I fired him. He didn’t take kindly to that, and we scuffled a bit. The end.”

“Not quite,” Brax said mildly.

I split a look between them, trying to figure out what the hell they weren’t saying. As far as I knew, the only person who had been in danger at Lodestar was me. But no one had put me in danger. Falling off horses was part of riding. “Is this about me? Because I fell off Belle?”

When Adam didn’t answer, I looked pleadingly at Brax, but he just shook his head and sent me back to his irritating brother. “Adam, answer me. Look at me.”

He turned to me, finally, and when he did, his mouth softened. “He scared Belle on purpose, James. He wanted you to fall.”

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