Page 1 of No Bones About It

CHAPTER 1

Skin And Bones

Kimi Twinishe adopted the sneer she’d practiced in the mirror and stared down the man who tipped her creep meter into overdrive. “I don’t need an actual racehorse. I need one thatlookslike a racehorse.”

The creep didn’t drag his gaze from her chest when he replied. “You pulling a fast one?”

She forced her voice to remain calm as she lied. “Not on you. I need one that will fool someone else.”

He almost raised his gaze at that. “You doing anything illegal that could get me in trouble?”

Nope.Shewasn’t the one doing the illegal things. “No. Look, I need a horse that looks like it costs a bundle, but I don’t want it to cost a bundle. Are you able to help, or am I going somewhere else?”

Kimi shoved the cash she’d been holding in plain sight back into her pocket. She’d barely pivoted away when he grabbed her arm.

She didn’t have to pretend the shudder his touch created as she jerked away from him. “Keep your hands to yourself, bucko.”

Wade Hendry held up his hands and tried the smile he probably thought was charming. “Easy there, lady. I think we can come to a deal.”

She cocked her hip and projected attitude, which wasn’t all that hard. She was good with attitude.

When she didn’t respond, Hendry smiled with an attempt at anaw-shucksattitude. He’d have to possess an actual soul to pull that one off.

Kimi tilted her head and waited some more. Hendry pulled out his phone and texted someone. A few seconds later, he gestured to a nearby paddock. A man led a large horse into the paddock. A slight limp in her gait. Something wrong with her left foreleg. Too much training on an injured leg?

Anger quivered through Kimi, but she locked it down so it didn’t show. Instead, she forced her face to remain neutral as she looked over the animal. Everything about the horse screamed neglect. No pep in her step, head down, leaning away from the man.

It took several slow breaths before Kimi managed to speak. “Will it give me any trouble?”

Hendry’s chuckle made her skin crawl. “Not a bit. She knows who’s the boss.”

Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed. Hendry took her silence as indecision and quoted her a price. A ridiculous price.

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “That’s at least four times what she’s worth.”

He grinned as if Kimi had passed some kind of test. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Maybe not, but she could blame him for a hell of a lot of things. Even though she knew she wasn’t leaving this horse with him, she turned away.

“Okay, okay. Fine.”

It took less than a minute of dickering before Kimi agreed to the amount of cash she’d waved around earlier. Once the poor mare was loaded into her trailer, Kimi handed over the money and drove away.

She didn’t stop for over an hour, and only then to pull into a rest stop. She stayed in place for fifteen minutes, but no other vehicles entered the stop. For the next hour, she repeated the process, each time changing direction after each rest area and finally crossing the state line.

Dusk had turned to dark when she pulled onto her own property just outside of Phail, Vermont.

Her yard lights made it easy to reverse in so that the trailer lined up with the entrance to the smallest paddock. She’d prepared it the night before, knowing her task for the day.

Kimi shoved off her hat with the fake brown hair hanging from it and shrugged out of the long coat that disguised most of her body but kept her boobs exposed for the assholes to ogle. That way, they never remembered the details of her face. The sunglasses and makeup helped with that, too.

She dropped her head on the steering wheel and blew out a few breaths. Finally, she moved around to the paddock and opened the gate. The water and food troughs were full.

She crossed the paddock and opened the door to the small shed. It was a temporary single stable for her new arrivals. Warm and safe, with a soft light showing the space. Depending on what they’d lived through, some animals wouldn’t trust a building. She was prepared outside and in for this one.

A soft bleat had Kimi smiling. Of course, it was Popcorn coming to check on her. “Hey Popcorn. Yes, I’ve got a new friend for you. You’re going to need all your magic with this new one. I think she’s been through hell.”

The butterscotch goat bleated again and pranced closer. The other two stayed behind. They preferred to watch Popcorn take the risks first. Raspberry bleated out the strange noise that had earned her the name. Butter, Popcorn’s kid, bounced in place without vocalizing an opinion.

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