Page 80 of Crossing Every Line

“I don’t blame you. I’ve seen your boy, and he looks like he’d be very good with the, um…fairy dust.”

Kendall’s lips twitched. “He’d kill me if he heard the analogy.”

“I have a feeling you know your way around his growly nature.”

For some things she did. And other ways, she wasn’t sure how she’d ever reach him.

TWELVE

Kendall flexedher tight shoulders and slammed a hook into each end of the hay bale so she could load it into the large cart. She sawed down the sides until the straps snapped and loosened the whorls of golden straw. She repeated the process six more times until she had a massive pile ready for the yearlings and colts. She hopped into the little tractor and slapped it into gear.

Day three and she was finally getting the hang of her small chores. She hadn’t been delegated to mucking out the stalls, but she had a feeling that had more to do with Shane’s station in the pecking order this week than anything she was doing on Doyle’s horse farm.

She hadn’t seen Shane for more than a few minutes in the evening before he poured himself into the shower and bed, returning at daybreak to do it all over again. Most nights he stayed down at the barracks with the other workers, checking in on her between whatever projects he was working on.

Keeping busy had been the deal of the day for her since the first night. She understood that he wanted to wrap up the job as quickly as possible, but with each day that passed, it was becoming clearer that her fantasy was falling apart. She avoided her mother’s calls and didn’t have it in her to talk to Bells about her situation.

She worked herself into exhaustion just so she didn’t have to analyze whatever it was between her and Shane. Cross-country sexathon, fling, or was it more? She couldn’t lie to herself anymore.

It was more for her.

Was she deluding herself? They’d known each other for little more than a week, and already she felt more for him than she had any other man in her life. Was it just fairy dust like Evelyn said, or was it that once-in-a-lifetime connection that everyone looked for?

She dumped the feeding station into the middle of the pasture and waved to Evelyn, who was putting Porthos through his paces. Besides the baby foal, Porthos was her favorite horse. The ring created in the paddock was filled with jumping fences and agility barrels. She hooked her arms over the sun-bleached fence around the perimeter.

This was her favorite part of the day. With three days under her belt, she still marveled at the horses’ grace and beauty. Not to mention she had a healthy respect for the fact that most of them towered over her.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” A man’s voice came from over her shoulder.

Kendall smiled. “He’s going to be one helluva show horse.”

The man leaned against the post and definitely hadn’t gotten the memo about invading a woman’s personal space. “I can show you how to ride.”

She kept her smile in place but focused her attention on Evelyn and the barrels she raced around. “Evelyn already gave me a few lessons.”

“Ah. She’s a damn good rider. I could take you for a ride out to the meadow, maybe have some lunch. I’m Lon Mackie, by the way.”

“No, thanks.” She gave him a sideways glance. “You’re on Shane’s crew, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Thought so.” And she’d seen him watching her when she went in to visit Shane during her midday break. “I’m sure Shane keeps you too busy for a picnic.”

“Work is never more important than a pretty girl.”

Kendall arched her brow. “I’m sure another woman would be very happy to hear that.”

“But not you?”

She jumped down from the fence. “Not me.” She peered up at the tall man. He was still handsome, but she had a feeling he’d been truly devastating before ten years of liquor and cigarettes had done their damage. There were dozens of Lons back home.

“I’m entitled to an hour off with the overtime I’ve been putting in.”

“And I’m sure you can find someone to do that with.”

He leaned in again, and she took a step back. “Slim pickings around here.”

She shielded her eyes and squinted up at him. “Oh, yeah? That makes me want to go all the more.”

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