Page 14 of Just Say When

“Wha—” His eyes widened as I lunged for him.

Even though it was exactly what I intended, I still felt a bolt of surprise when my body made contact with his. Brax had never been slow on his feet and I had half expected him to dodge. But instead, he caught me instinctively, his arms banding around my waist. I wiggled my dripping torso against his broad chest and firm abs, making him as wet as possible, using his body like he was my own personal towel.

“Jesus, hellion. You trying to kill me?” he muttered against my forehead.

“Just accepting your help, that’s all,” I said, my voice dripping with sugar.

I had meant to piss him off, nothing more, but I had miscalculated how good it would feel to be wrapped up in all that hard-bodied warmth. An embarrassing sound of contentment escaped me and I rolled my lips together to keep it from happening again.

“Cold?” he asked gruffly. He didn’t wait for me toanswer—my peaked nipples pressing against his ribcage probably told him everything he needed to know—before he briskly rubbed his large hands up and down my back.

A memory surfaced of the last time we had held each other like this. The day he almost died, fifteen years ago. It had been adrenaline then rather than cold that had made my body shake, and I had pressed my ear to his chest and let the sound of his heartbeat calm me. His arms had wrapped me up so tightly, like he was afraid I would disappear if he let go.

But he did let go.

I remembered that, too.

“I’m good now.” I pushed away from him, then smirked like my mind wasn’t all tangled in the past as I took in his gray shirt. Soaked. “Thanks for the help.”

He rubbed his chest, like something bothered him there. Maybe we had collided a little too hard. “I’ll get Pirate and give you time to change. You can’t ride like that. Your thighs will chafe in those wet jeans.”

“I’m not riding.”

“You’re not? Isn’t today supposed to be Pirate’s first lesson under saddle?”

“Yeah, but not with me. James is doing it.” I hoped he didn’t hear the sour note in my voice.

That was because James was taking the lead on Pirate’s training. I tried not to feel some kind of way about that. When it came to training horses for reiningand fence work, she was one of the best there was, and there was no doubt in my mind that in a few more years, she would bethebest. Hell, I’d even hired her last year to work with a horse of mine before I retired from barrel racing. Pirate was in good hands with her.

But I wanted it to be me.

It was better for Pirate this way. I knew that. I was two years older than James, but I didn’t have her decades of experience training horses. I had been riding since I was five and competing since I was eight, and my junior world championship barrel racing record still stood—in fact, I had broken James’s record to get it, and I had been younger than her when I did it. As a barrel racer, there were maybe three women in the whole wide world who could claim to be better than me on a bad day. But as a trainer? I was just an apprentice.

Still. There was a little voice in my heart whispering that the bond between me and Pirate was special, and by working together we could push each other to greatness. Was that silly? Sentimental? I wanted it to be me. Itwouldhave been me if Brax hadn’t stolen Pirate out from under me.

I knew I should be grateful that he had found a legal way to keep Pirate safe and healthy, and I was. It was just that my gratitude ran a little feral around the edges.

“Right.” Brax frowned. “You okay with that?”

I didn’t want to admit how childish I was feelingabout the whole thing. Not to anyone, really, but especially not to him. “Why wouldn’t I be?” I challenged.

“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say you have strong feelings about this horse and how things should be done with him, and you’d like to be the one to have final say in his training and care.” He moved to the fence, picked up the length of rope draped over the top rail, and studied it. Ben must have been out here earlier practicing his roping tricks. “But I also know that you want what’s best for Pirate and you also know, even if it stings your pride a little, that James has a skill set you haven’t mastered yet. I figure that means you’ll tell people you’re okay with it until you find a way to actuallybeokay with it. You’ll push aside whatever jealousy you feel to do what’s best for Pirate.”

I hated that he could still read me so well, all these years later. “Well, I’d say that’s about right.”

He cocked a brow. “Of course I’m right. That’s who you are. You allow yourself to feel your feelings. What you don’t allow is for your feelings to run you.”

That almost sounded like a compliment. I swallowed hard and looked away, occupying myself with wringing as much of the water from the hem of my tee shirt as I could. The bright Colorado sunshine would do the rest.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” I asked. “Shouldn’t you be in a windowless office, gussied up in a suit and tie and confusing people out of their money?”

He snickered. “I don’t wear a suit, and if people areconfused when I’m done with them, then I didn’t do my job right. I’m my own damn boss and I decide how I spend my time. Today, there wasn’t anything more important than seeing Pirate’s first lesson under saddle.”

“Yeah, well, you should call first.” It couldn’t be denied that I sounded a little sulky about it. That might have something to do with the fact that he had witnessed my interactions with Pirate.

I doubted he was surprised at all. Falling into a water trough was probably exactly what he expected from me. Incompetence.

“Who would I call?” He cocked a brow. “It’s my horse and my family’s ranch. I’ll come and go as I please.”

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