Page 16 of A Miracle for the Confident Cowboy

Duke made a show of exaggerating his grimace this time, to which she couldn’t help but laugh. They glanced at one another; their eyes lingering but only a moment. Duke wasn’t so bad. He might have been obnoxious to begin with, but he’d proven he wasn’t the person she’d thought him to be.

Duke Stephenson was a man of honor and a tender heart.

Sophie stole a couple more glances in his direction while they finished up their walk. She couldn’t help but notice how he’d managed to become more attractive to her in such a short amount of time. What kind of big, gruff, cowboy was willing to take in a tiny kitten for no other reason than to save it from a life of hardship?

Apparently those kinds of cowboys existed.

And one of them was standing right beside her.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Duke heldthe horse’s hoof between his legs and scraped it clean. Using his tools, he trimmed the hoof that was getting a little long. Then he reached for a new shoe and put it in place before he started the process of attaching it.

He could do this job with his eyes closed. It wasn’t the most exciting or the thing he loved most about his job, but he was darn good at it. There were even other ranchers in the area who had asked for his expertise with their horses. The Duncans were a great family to work for. He couldn’t deny it at all. They didn’t seem to mind if he took on other work as long as he took care of the animals in his care, first.

With the shoe in place, Duke released the horse’s leg and moved to the next one. Two down, two to go. He was so entrenched in his work he didn’t hear the car pull onto the property. Only when the car door shut did he lift his gaze.

That’s when everything went still. The gentle breeze was the only thing that helped him realize the world was still turning. His eyes locked on Sophie as she exited her car. She grinned as she hurried forward.

Duke straightened. Had she come to see him? She was looking right at him—smiling at him like he was her favorite person in the world. His heart practically exploded and he flashed her a smile as he lowered the leg of the horse he’d been working with. He took a step toward her, wondering what had caused this change of heart.

Then Rob materialized from behind him, jogging forward.

Duke froze as Rob pulled Sophie into a tight hug. It wasn’t even clear if Sophie had noticed Duke at all. How could he have been so stupid? Of course Sophie didn’t come here to visit him! Her brother worked on this ranch, too. Her best friend was married to her brother and hung around the ranch all the time. If anything, Duke should have been surprised he hadn’t noticed Sophie sooner—she must have visited countless times before.

He slunk back to the horse and scowled as he set to work getting the next hoof ready. Heat rose to his face faster than a forest fire in the middle of a drought. Heck, Duke wouldn’t have been surprised if he looked in the mirror and found his hair had completely been burned off.

There was no telling what possessed him to look over in her direction. He knew he shouldn’t the second he lifted his gaze.

But then she was looking at him and he didn’t know what to do. Should he smile again? Ignore her? Run and hide like the coward he felt he was?

Just as quickly, he dropped his gaze to his work. He was on the clock. She couldn’t fault him for ignoring her when he had a list a mile long to complete. All he had to do was stay focused.

“Duke?”

Dang it!

His head snapped up and he jumped, finding Sophie a few feet away. She had her hands shoved into her jacket and she rocked back on her heels as she seemed to survey what he was doing. Duke stared at her expectantly and her cheeks filled with a mild pink color. She nodded to the hoof. “Does that hurt?”

He gave her a strange look. There was no way she didn’t know the answer to that question. Her brother was a rancher. Her family probably came from a long line of cowboys. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to say anything she might feel mocked her. “No. They’re like fingernails. They can get trimmed. As long as they’re maintained, the horse is happy.”

“Not even the nails? The ones you hammer… into the horseshoes?”

His brows creased and he glanced around, as if expecting someone to pop out with a camera to catch him doing something wrong. “No…” he drawled. “It’s fine.” His eyes followed her as she climbed up on a nearby fence and perched herself there just like she was a little bird.

“Did you do this sort of thing back home? Where you’re from?”

Duke ducked his head, disliking the way her question tore at him a little. He’d left his family to fend for themselves when he should have stuck around to help them out. But she didn’t have to know that. “A little. Not as much as I do here.” He had to stay busy. If he let himself get distracted by her presence, he could slip up.

That was mostly an excuse. He was completely thrown off by the fact that she was even speaking to him. She barely spoke two words to him when they were at the shelter. Now she was here,where he worked, and she suddenly wanted to get to know him? Something was fishy.

Sophie grew quiet and he risked looking up at her, finding her watching him contemplatively. Her head was tilted to the side and she swung her legs in the air. If he wasn’t mistaken, he would have thought she was here only so she could flirt with him. That was what most girls did when they hung around.

Duke sought a visual of Sophie’s brother. Rob had been here just a moment ago. He had to be around here somewhere. People didn’t simply disappear. He frowned when he didn’t catch even a glimpse of the guy. “You’re brother…”

She didn’t even move to look for him, instead, her eyes danced with what could only be described as amusement. “Rob said he and Pippa were going to take me out for dinner tonight. But he’s running late. He said to hang around here until he comes to get me.”

“Here?” Duke found himself asking.

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