MIA watched Sam, admiring the way he had the stallion moving around him. It was impossible to believe that this was the same horse who’d been effectively blacklisted by everyone on the ranch. She glanced skyward, imagining Kimberley looking down and watching, smiling at her beautiful Tex finally finding his way back from the brink. He wasn’t perfect, but he was behaving better than she’d seen him since the accident.
“He’s doing a damn fine job.”
Mia turned, face breaking out into a smile when she saw her brother standing there. “Hey, Tanner,” she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Good to see you home in one piece.”
“Just here for the night,” he said, kissing her back. Her brother was big and burly, but to her he was like a big teddy bear. Not so to anyone else who came across him, but he’d always been sweet and protective of her, and she was closer to him than her other siblings. They were the black sheep, the ones who did their own thing instead of what their father wanted.
“You staying here?” she asked.
“Yeah, just the night. I’m riding later today.”
Tanner often stayed over at the ranch house, sometimes at her place, when he was traveling close to home. But he had his own place a couple hours’ drive away.
“Imagine my surprise when I look out this morning and see the horse whisperer trying to teach my little sister how to kiss?”
His smile was devilish, his eyes glinting. Mia didn’t hesitate in punching him, slamming her knuckles into his arm. He tensed, of course he couldn’t resist flexing his muscles, but she refused to react to the fact she almost broke her hand when she connected with his rock-hard flesh.
“Shut up,” she hissed.
“Hey, I’m not the one making out with the horseman in plain view of the house.”
“Hey.”
Sam was suddenly calling out, and she was standing between two men who were each probably as prone to bad behavior as the other. She wished the ground would just swallow her.
“Sam, this is my brother, Tanner,” she said sweetly. “Tanner, Sam. AKA the famous horseman.”
“Nice to meet you,” Tanner said. “You’ve sure got the big guy eating out of your hands. Good work.”
Sam nodded and shook his hand. Mia wondered if he’d realized Tanner was her brother straight away. She doubted he was ready to finish working Tex, but he’d quickly made his way over anyway.
“Yeah, we’re making some good progress. He’s all kinds of messed up, but he’s starting to listen to me, and that’s a good starting point.”
“Looks like you were trying to teach my little sister some tricks this morning, too?” Tanner said, crossing his arms across his broad chest.
Mia looked between her brother and Sam, horrified. “Tanner!” she gasped. “Enough. Get the hell out of here!”
“Hey, you’re my little sister. If I’m not looking out for you, who is?”
“Seems to me like your sister’s pretty damn capable of looking after herself, at least where I’m concerned,” Sam replied, surprising Mia with his calm words. “If there’s one thing you’ll learn about me, Tanner, it’s that I respect animals and women. I don’t believe in taking advantage, and I sure as hell don’t ask anyone, especially a woman, to do anything they don’t want to do. We clear?”
Tanner grunted, his smile telling Mia just how much he was enjoying this exchange. “Well, alrighty then. Y’all have a great day.”
Mia shoved her brother, making him laugh, but he turned back and kissed her cheek again.
“See you around, sis.”
“Be careful today, Tan. One day…”
“Whoa, enough with the doom and gloom,” he said, holding up his hands and walking backwards. “I’ll be just fine. Ain’t no bull gonna take me down!”
Mia watched him go, wishing he’d give up the dangerous sport that he seemed to live for, but she knew it was his decision. There was nothing she or anyone else in his life could do to make him change his mind about his career choice.
“Your brother seems like a decent guy,” Sam said when she turned back to him.
“My brother seems like a jerk,” she corrected. “Don’t feel you have to hold back where he’s concerned, and if you happen to meet my other brother, Cody? He’s just as bad, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. The only difference between them is that one wears suits and the other lives in jeans and plaid.”
“Okay, well, he seemed a little overprotective, but that’s okay. I can respect that.” Sam shrugged. “He has every right to question me.”
She considered him, wondering why he was so okay with her brother’s interrogation. Tanner had gone way too far, and she wasn’t exactly his kid sister anymore, far from it in fact. “You’re serious?”
“I’ve got a little sister. She married Nate King.” Sam chuckled. “So I can fully appreciate the whole protect your sister at all costs thing. It just about cost me my friendship with him, and my sister was ready to throttle me.”
Mia nodded. “Gotcha. Well, now that I know how well you could bond with my brother, can we go back to horse work? Because that’s what you’re employed here to do.”
Sam made a serious face. “Yes, boss lady. Straight back to work it is.”
He gave her a look she couldn’t decipher. “What?” she asked.
“I was just wondering,” he said, his eyes glinting, “when we’re off the clock.”
She felt a flutter in her stomach, wondered if she’d gotten in too deep with Sam already. Flirting was one thing, kissing was one thing, but actually going through with some sort of no-strings-attached affair was another thing entirely, and certainly not something she’d ever done before.
“You just focus on the horse,” she said, sounding more confident than she felt. “I don’t want anything to distract you.”
Sam winked. “Well, sweetheart, you better get your little self a long way from here if you don’t want anything to distract me.”
Mia knew she was blushing, but she didn’t care. She was a woman, she was allowed to blush, and it wasn’t like she was exactly used to all this attention.
“Just get back in with the horse,” she scolded. “No more flirting, no more comments, and definitely no more winks! I’m the boss in case you’d forgotten.”
Sam grinned and started to whistle, going back over to Tex. She stood on the sidelines and watched, wondering how on earth this big, muscular man could be so gentle and kind with horses and so damn intimidating to her. He looked like he should be a bull or bronc rider, the kind of man who used his weight and height to intimidate, and yet here he was before her showing he didn’t need to be rough to get results.
And she liked him. More than liked him. She was impressed by him, she was attracted to him, and she wanted to know everything there was to know about Sam Mendes, including why he was so open to a no-strings-attached affair and nothing else.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she ignored it. She still hadn’t texted Trent back, which meant she needed to take her eyes off Sam and message him, just in case he took her lack of response as a yes. The last thing she needed was for him and Sam to have a showdown over her, not now, and not ever. Besides, Kat would never forgive her if she didn’t let him down gently, and not responding was all kinds of rude.
She took her phone from her pocket and leaned against the fence to make the call she’d been dreading all day. After that she was calling Kat, and then she was going to go back to thinking about Sam.
* * *
“Are you free for dinner?”
Mia nodded, looking surprised, and he helped to put away her gear, walking beside her into the tack shed.
“Ah, yeah,” she said, “sure.”
“Good. Do you mind cooking then?”
Mia laughed at him. He knew it wasn’t exactly romantic, but then they weren’t exactly close to any decent takeout food and his house was an hour away.
“I’d take you out or order in, but I don’t have any other clothes with me, and I don’t think we’d get anyone to deliver here, right?”
She shook her head. “You’re right, and you’re also lucky that I like cooking. I’m just not used to making double portions though, so I’m not sure what you’ll be getting.”
“Can’t we raid the main house?” he asked, grinning. “I bet your dad has enough steaks to feed an army up there.”
He watched as she put the saddle down she was carrying and gave him a quizzical kind of look. “Actually, that’s a great point. I don’t eat a lot of meat, so I’m always turning down his offers of Angus beef. Probably why he doesn’t bother offering it to me anymore.”
“You had me at Angus beef…” Sam said. “I’m seriously trying not to drool right now.”
“Well, if we do steaks then you can grill them. I’m no good with meat.”
Sam tried not to smile, looking at her straight-faced. But then her face fell and she shut her eyes for a beat, shaking her head.
“I don’t believe it for a second,” he said in a low voice, resisting the urge to tease her.
“How did that end up sounding so…”
“Sexual?” he finished for her when she seemed lost for words.
“Exactly.”
“Because,” he said, moving closer to her, seeing how quickly she reacted to him by the way her cheeks colored, “you expected some kind of booty call, and instead I suggested dinner. Which means you’re wondering what’s going on, and what’s going to happen between us.”
She let out a breath, hand resting on the saddle she’d recently placed down. “And just like that you’re a mind reader as well as a horse whisperer. Amazing.”
“Am I wrong?”
“What, that you thought I only expected sex?” She shrugged, but he knew she was doing a good job of pretending she found it easy to talk like that, rather than actually being comfortable. She was too easy to read.
“Let me start again,” he said, moving closer and holding out a hand to her. When she raised her own he clasped it and tugged her into his body. “Would you like to share a meal tonight, so we can discuss our ground rules?” He didn’t want her to think this was anything more than it was, but he wasn’t about to treat her badly or use her. There was no way he’d ever do to someone else what his ex had done to him. Breaking hearts was not on his agenda, not intentionally anyway.
“Rules?” she asked him, standing on tiptoe. “You have rules?”
“Yeah, rules,” he replied, pausing before kissing her. “So neither of us ends up thinking the other is a jerk.”
Mia was the one who kissed him, her lips whispering across his, teasing him, drawing him in, and damn if he didn’t like the way she took charge. She wrapped her arms around him, and he didn’t need any encouragement to walk her backwards, to push her up against the wall in between the saddles and grab her hands. She was full of surprises and driving him wild. He pinned her hands above her, using one of his hands to hold them in place, the other snaking around her, holding her tight to him.
Mia moaned and it spurred him on, the combination of her wet mouth and the way she thrust her hips hard into him making it almost impossible to hold back. But he wasn’t about to strip her naked amongst the horse gear, where anyone, including her brother, could find them. He didn’t need a black eye or a broken nose from an over-protective big brother for having sex with Mia in a public place.
Sam kissed her one more time, let go of her wrists and skimmed both hands down her body, before pulling back.
“Not here. Come on,” he said, tugging her hand.
Mia complied, not fighting his hold. “My place for the night?”
“Not the whole night,” he said, slipping an arm around her and liking the feel of her fingers looping through his belt buckle when she did the same. “But yeah, back to your place.”
If she was disappointed that he’d said no to the whole night, she didn’t say. But that was one of his rules. He didn’t stay over. Boyfriends stayed the night. Husbands shared beds with their wives. And he didn’t have plans to be any of those any time soon. Or ever.
“I need to check on the other horses first,” she said, looking like she wanted to do anything but stay behind and do her rounds.
“Mind if I head over to your place and take a shower then?” he asked. “Unless you need help here?”
“Go for it. The door’s unlocked and there are towels and everything you need in the bathroom. Use the master one.”
He nodded and kissed her again. Her arm was still wrapped around him, and she slowly let go of his belt loop and used one hand to push him away.
“See you soon.”
Sam watched her go. If Kelly hadn’t happened, if he’d never been through what he had the year before, maybe he’d be standing here wondering if Mia was the one. But nothing could take away what had happened to him, nothing could make him forget the sting of betrayal and the pain of seeing the person he loved treat him as if what they had meant nothing.
He turned and headed for the house, wondering where Blue was. He whistled and waited, knowing his dog wouldn’t be far away. When Blue caught up to him he walked to Mia’s house, ready to wash off the dust and grit that had attached to his skin from a day out in the hot Texas sun. By the time Mia was done for the day, he’d smell a whole lot better than he did right now, that was for sure.
And this time when he had her pressed up against him, there would be nothing to hold him back.