SAM had actually been looking forward to arriving at River Ranch since he’d woken, although he was tiring of the one-hour commute from his place. Walter’s personal assistant had left him a message the day before extending an invitation to stay, but lately he’d spent enough time travelling away from home and not sleeping in his own bed. For now, he’d put up with the drive.
His phone rang and he pressed answer on his hands-free. It was Nate.
“Hey, how’s it going?” he asked.
“So tired,” Nate replied. “Seriously, you have no idea what it’s like having kids. I mean, why does nobody tell you how goddamn exhausting tiny humans can be? Not that I’d have ever believed it anyway.”
Sam laughed. When Nate had married his sister, it had just about ruined their friendship, until he’d eventually realized that his sister was crazy for the guy and he would have to get over it and learn to embrace it. Now, he felt sorry for his friend. His sister kept him on his toes, and now he had twin daughters to wrangle on a daily basis.
“Want to come give me a hand with the stallion I’m working? He’d do a damn fine job of taking your mind off changing diapers.”
“Wish I could,” Nate replied, “but I’m on a plane to New York in an hour. My eyes are hanging out of my head, but at least I’ll be able to sleep in flight.”
“You leaving for long?” Sam asked, frowning as he thought about his sister being left alone with the two kids. They weren’t a year old yet and they’d been a handful from the moment they arrived. “I can swing past and check in on Faith if you need me to.”
“I’m only gone for thirty-something hours. They might drive me crazy but I can’t leave my girls for longer than a day or two.”
“So no chance of catching up for a beer any time soon?” Sam asked. He missed seeing Nate. Hell, he missed doing a lot of things since life had changed so dramatically. Right now all he wanted was to hang out with Nate and his brothers, talk shit and drink beer, and then spend a month or two working his own horses and relaxing at his own ranch. Only he had to remind himself that he wouldn’t even have a ranch if he hadn’t worked his ass off and toured the country.
“How about the night I get back? I’ll have my car at the airport, so I can swing past your place on my way through.”
Sam grinned. “I’ll say yes, but I have a feeling you’ll forget all about me and speed on past to get home by then.” He knew how it was, and he wasn’t exactly going to begrudge Nate time with his family. They’d both been bachelors long enough before Nate had settled down.
Nate laughed down the line. “You got me,” he said. “Love my girls, but I need that beer with you. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Sam ended the call and smiled to himself. Nate had been completely whipped by his sister, and even though he’d personally stopped believing in love, he knew his sister and Nate had the real thing going on. And if Nate ever let her down, he’d forget they’d been best friends since pre-K and beat the shit out of him.
Sam pulled up and opened the door, waiting for Blue to jump out. He could have left his dog at home, but after all the months of seeing way too little of his canine friend, he’d decided to let him tag along. He had good people working for him, and they took great care of his animals while he was gone, but his dog was like a family member, and he kept him close whenever he could.
“Come on,” Sam said to him, ruffling his head then shutting the door. His ex had taken a lot from him, but at least she hadn’t tried to take his dog.
* * *
“Morning,” Sam called out as he passed one of the ranch hands. “Mia around?”
“In the arena,” he replied, hefting a bale of hay and nodding his head. “Good luck with the horse.”
Sam laughed. “I think I need more than luck,” he muttered.
“We’re all placing bets on you walking off the job before the end of the week. That stallion thinks he’s the king of the ranch and then some.”
They both chuckled, and Sam raised his hand in a wave and kept walking, pleased Mia was busy training. That meant he could avoid her and start working with Tex before she had a chance to insist on joining him. As much as he felt for her over what had happened, he still preferred to work alone and he didn’t want to change his methods just because she had a serious emotional attachment to the horse.
He didn’t bother collecting a rope and halter, instead stopping by the barn to grab an armful of hay. He’d left Tex in the makeshift round pen overnight, and he wanted to reward his trust with some extra food.
Blue trotted faithfully at his side, but he ordered him to lie down well away from Tex. The stallion had serious issues about his own space, and he didn’t want his dog getting anywhere near the beast.
“Morning, Tex,” he called out, not making eye contact with him. Sam took a small amount of hay in with him. The horse hadn’t been fed since he’d left the night before, so he knew he’d be hungry.
He put the hay down and backed off, senses on high alert even though he didn’t look directly at the stallion. Tex cautiously approached the hay and snorted at it, as if he were inspecting it to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. Sam went back through the makeshift fence and leaned against the timber rails beyond it.
The horse was cautious, but he was eating, and Sam was hoping that it would help him with his trust issues to be the one who fed him each day. Once he’d finished and there wasn’t any hay left to distract him, Sam went back in. He still didn’t make direct eye contact. Instead he stood, looking away for a moment, and let the horse size him up. Once he’d done that for a bit, ready to react if the situation changed, he looked at Tex and started to walk towards him. The horse snorted, pawing at the ground for a moment, before starting to move away. What he was doing wasn’t anything special, it was simply him motivating Tex’s natural instincts. Horses were flight animals, and right now Sam was behaving like the predator. He moved him around the pen, forcing him to keep moving. Eventually he stopped and stood still. He could hear Tex breathing when he turned away, his back to the horse. This could go horribly wrong, but he had to try it. Others would have, hell, Mia had probably tried something similar, but the whole process could be ruined so easily by not following through with the precise steps required; he doubted anyone in the last year or more had trusted the unpredictable stallion enough to turn their back on him and completely let their guard down.
Sam felt vulnerable, but he pushed the feeling away, breathing deep. It was important not to look at the horse, not even a peek to see what he was doing. In the past he’d spent hours sitting on an up-turned feed bucket, waiting for a horse to approach him. He did that a lot with the mustangs that he worked with, gradually getting their trust by ignoring them and letting them inspect him on their own terms, but they were different. They were wild horses, curious by nature, who had no fear of humans and a completely different outlook on life. Tex disliked and distrusted humans, and Sam needed to start over with him, re-teach him and remind him that humans hadn’t always been so cruel to him.
He hadn’t ever been scared of horses, and as unpredictable as Tex was, he wasn’t scared of him, either. Stallions could be notoriously difficult to work with, but he wasn’t going to change the way he worked unless he had to.
Sam breathed deep again, calm and happy to let the horse figure him out. Growing up he’d had it rough, so he’d been plenty scared before, he just hadn’t ever seen horses as being something to fear. He treated animals with respect and never pushed them, and he always got a lot back from them. He’d become used to trusting his instincts, and something in his gut told him that for all the overt anger Tex displayed, he wasn’t going to charge him and kill him while he was standing there. Although he also knew how easily he could be proved wrong.
He felt the horse move closer. Still he didn’t turn. He wouldn’t turn until Tex approached him, touching him or waiting expectantly within a foot of him, otherwise it would be over. He needed the horse to see him as a safe place.
He’d been standing for some time, waiting and biding his time, when he heard a soft snort behind him. Sam smiled and kept his back turned, only tilting when he felt the horse close. He wasn’t as close as he’d have liked, but he was close enough.
“Good boy,” Sam murmured, knowing the horse would be listening. “That’s a boy. It’s just you and me here.”
He slowly pivoted then, keeping his eyes downcast. He stood still, waiting for Tex to stretch his neck out. He did, eventually, but he was timid.
Sam slowly, slowly raised his hand, holding it out and letting him sniff it. Once he’d done that, he walked back a couple of paces and then turned to exit the pen. He wasn’t going to push him any further for the day.
That’s when he heard the clapping.
“Impressive,” Mia said, sitting on the grass with his dog. Blue had his head in her lap. “I’m annoyed that you snuck around here and didn’t invite me to watch, but damn impressive either way.”
Sam grinned at her, hoping she wasn’t too pissed at him. He got the balance of the hay he’d brought and ducked back through to leave it for Tex.
“Here you go, buddy,” he said, eyes lowered still so as not to challenge him. He left the hay there and exited again, only to find Mia waiting, arms folded over her chest as she stared at him.
“Sorry, I didn’t want any other distractions on my first proper session with him,” he said.
Mia raised one perfect brow as she glared at him. Her expression was hard to read, but it was like a cool breath of wind had blown through.
“I’ve been here for at least fifteen minutes. He was so busy watching you he didn’t even care.”
Sam shrugged. “I’d say that’s lucky then,” he replied. “But then maybe it was me who would have been distracted, had I known you were sitting there watching.”
He leveled his gaze on Mia, secretly pleased when she faltered. She was full of so much spark and although he admired it, he wasn’t used to having to justify what he was doing and why.
“Is it that hard for you to let me be part of this?”
He groaned. “Kind of, yeah. I’m a creature of habit, and I’m the kind of creature who likes being alone.”
“So no lucky wife then, huh?”
Subtle. Very damn subtle. He ignored the question. “I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to making my way down here without you seeing on purpose,” he said, not about to discuss his personal life with Mia.
“Maybe I should thank my lucky stars I didn’t get another critique on my riding this morning,” she quipped.
He laughed. “Bet you rode her into the jumps differently today though.” When her cheeks colored but she didn’t reply, he grinned. “And I bet you had the ride of your goddamn life on her.”
Mia burst out laughing. He hadn’t been expecting that. She twirled her long blonde ponytail and shook her head. “God, I hate you,” she muttered. “But yeah, I did, and she responded just like you said.”
He cupped his hand to his ear, leaning forward. “Sorry, did I miss something? I think this is the part where you thank me for my incredible tips.”
Mia didn’t look impressed. “No, this is the part where I realize that you’re worth the exorbitant sum we’re paying you. I’m just pleased I don’t have to fire you.”
Sam whistled his dog over and patted his head. He crouched down, looking up at Mia as she stood there, full of attitude and overconfident. He had a feeling that she was actually full of bluster, that she projected a confidence that she didn’t truly feel, and that it was her instant defense mechanism. He’d spent a lot of his life reading horses, but he got a feeling from people too, and he doubted he was wrong about her.
“If you’re not going to say thanks, the least you could do is make me a coffee.”
“Hungry too?” she asked, pausing to look at the horse before starting to walk off.
Blue jumped to attention and ran after her, and Sam silently cursed the dog for taking such a liking to her as he jogged to catch up. He fell into step beside her, adjusting his pace to hers.
“Most of our workers bring their own coffee and lunch,” she said dryly, glancing across at him, her eyes dancing with what he was fairly sure was humor. “But then again, you’re not exactly our usual kind of worker, are you?”
“No, ma’am,” he said, saluting her. “But in exchange for a coffee and a turkey sandwich, I’ll let you hang out with me and Tex for the afternoon.”
He saw her smile, knew she was trying not to laugh. He had no idea why, but he suddenly would have done anything to see her smile or hear her laugh again. And he wasn’t about to tell her that he’d already finished up with the stallion for the day. He was damn hungry, and he wanted that sandwich.
* * *
Mia watched Sam as he guzzled a bottle of water. After he’d left the night before, she’d downloaded Sam’s book and started to read up about him a bit more, brushing up on his techniques. Instead of resenting him still, she was curious again. One minute he seemed kind of standoffish, and the next he was charming as hell. She didn’t know what to make of him, but the familiar flutters she’d always felt when she’d thought about him before meeting him were starting to return.
The clips on his website and on YouTube didn’t do enough to show how impressive he truly was working a horse. Even watching one of his shows live was nothing like being one on one and seeing him work. For all her fuss about being annoyed with him for working alone, she had to admit that he was a genius. He’d been able to read Tex in a way she doubted any other human being could have.
Around her, he was guarded and hard to figure out, but the way he was around a horse was the essence of calm and control. Watching him was something incredible, being part of his work … She wished she didn’t admire him so much, but she did. And she knew that from now on she needed to respect what he was telling her rather than getting her back up over being told what to do. The man knew horses, and she’d be an idiot if she didn’t try to learn everything from him that she could.
Not that she was about to tell him that and make his ego any bigger than it already was though. Hell, there were Pinterest boards and a Facebook fan page dedicated to him, so she doubted he needed any more females fawning over him. She also guessed he was single, he’d sure as hell seemed to be flirting with her today, and there had been very little written about his personal life online. He obviously liked to keep to himself and not openly share anything that went on behind the scenes.
Not interested, she whispered silently to herself. She had to keep reminding herself that she was not interested in the man, no matter how damn gorgeous and talented he was. She wasn’t about to become some pathetic groupie.
When Sam put down the bottle of water she’d brought over for him, she passed him a sandwich she’d made earlier and settled down beside him to eat hers, trying hard not to look at him. She was careful to put some distance between them, not liking the way he threw her off balance. She’d always been wary of men, used to them having ulterior motives for wanting to get to know her or date her, but with Sam she didn’t know what to think. He treated her like a regular person, hardly put her on a pedestal just because of who she was or how much money her family was worth, and she found it … unnerving. For so long she’d been desperate to be treated that way, but she’d become used to the exact opposite. The only other person she was herself around was Kat, and talking with Sam wasn’t anything like hanging out with her siblings, that was for sure.
“So are you the only family member living on the ranch, other than your dad?” Sam asked, his question taking her by surprise.
“I’m the only one who has a permanent base here,” she said, picking at the crust of her sandwich. “My brother Tanner rides rodeo, and he comes and goes if he’s passing by, but my other brother’s a banker in New York, and my sister is an attorney in California.” Mia leaned her head back and took a tiny bite, chewing it quickly then swallowing. “Tan and I spent our childhoods riding and hanging out on the ranch, and Cody and Angelina spent as little time outside and around animals as possible. They’re more interested in my family’s investments, and I’m more interested in ranching.”
Sam laughed. “It’s funny how four kids can be brought up the exact same way, and have such different interests.”
“Trust me, my dad would have liked us all to have big city careers,” Mia said dryly. “He didn’t exactly hide his disappointment when I turned down college in favor of making a living from riding, but at least Tanner had fought the same battle before me. It made it a little easier to say no to him.”
“There ain’t nothing wrong with wanting to breathe fresh air every day instead of air conditioning, that’s for sure,” Sam said. “Good on you for doing what you love. Deep down he probably respects the fact that you’re your own woman with your own passions.”
Mia shrugged. She hoped so, but she didn’t do what she did for her daddy’s approval, she did it for herself.
“So what are we doing with Tex this afternoon?” she asked, leaning against the barn wall where they were having lunch. She had her legs out in front of her, basking in the sun. It wasn’t too hot and she was enjoying the heat on her bare arms, even if she did have to squint against the glare.
“Yeah, I may have misled you about that.”
Mia chewed and swallowed her mouthful. “I’m sorry, what?”
She sat in silence, waiting as Sam wolfed down the half of sandwich he was holding. He’d attacked it like he’d never eaten before. She was used to watching her brothers devour more food than a human being should ever be able to consume, but watching Sam was different. He was sexy as hell, and she found it hard not to stare at him now that they were close. He had a shadow of stubble on his jaw, his dark hair was tousled, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up past his elbow showing off tanned, muscled forearms. When he turned to her and flashed her a smile, she knew that Kat was right. She did think he was gorgeous and it had been way too long since she’d been with a man.
“I mean,” he said, looking guilty as hell, “that I might have misled you just to get you to give me lunch.”
“You what?” How could he be so gorgeous but so damn infuriating!
“I don’t want to push him, he did good today. So I’ll leave it at that until tomorrow. Other than to give him some more hay before I leave.”
“Sam! I’m not the hired help, you know. I don’t exist to bring you coffee and sandwiches for no good reason.”
She was pissed now. He was treating her like …
“The hired help?” he chuckled. “No, that would be me. Technically you’re the boss, sweetheart.”
She glared at him, losing interest in her lunch. “Well, as your boss, I’m telling you that I expect more from you today.”
“Oh really? Well, I say that boss or not, you don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do with the horse.”
Heat flooded her cheeks, burning her skin and vivifying her anger. Who the hell did he think he was?
“So you’re done for the day?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“No,” he said, eyeing up her sandwich. “You done with that? They were damn good.”
“Have it,” she said, hastily passing it to him, yanking her hand back when his fingers touched his. She angrily watched him eat it. “So what is it you propose to do for the rest of the day?”
He kept her waiting, taking his time to finish eating. “I propose that you saddle up a horse and get riding. Your father’s employing me to work here, so I may as well give you some pointers.”
“Pointers?” She dug her nails hard into her palms as she fought the urge to explode.
“Look, everyone needs coaching. It’ll be fun.”
Fun my ass, she thought. But she sucked up her anger, refusing to let him see how easily he’d managed to rattle her. She was a professional horsewoman, not some beginner, but he was technically right. Everyone needed coaching, and if he could give her an edge on her competition, then she’d be a fool not to listen to him and see what advice he had.
“Okay, fine,” she agreed. “I’ve already ridden Indi today, but I have a young gelding I was going to ride this afternoon.”
He laughed, and she wondered why he could rile her so easily.
“What?” she asked, drawing her knees up and feeling oddly vulnerable around him.
“Nothing. It’s just that you’re not used to anyone telling you what to do, are you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” she replied, meeting his gaze, looking into eyes so dark they reminded her of her favorite dark chocolate.
“You’re Mia goddamn Ford. Everyone looks up to you and everyone your entire life has probably been slightly in awe of you,” he said simply. “You’re used to being treated differently.”
She let his words wash over her, watching him, listening. “That’s not true,” she said, but the moment she said it, she knew she was lying. Maybe she had grown used to being treated differently.
“Look, I get it. You’re supposed to be my boss while I’m here. Well, you know what? I’m not any good being told what to do and having someone micro-managing me, just like you’re not used to being told you’re anything less than perfect.”
His words were blunt, but they were accurate. She didn’t even know what to say to him in reply.
“I’m a serious loner, and you’re a princess. We’re not exactly a team made in heaven, but I’m here and I’m curious about your riding, so what the hell are we waiting for?”
She laughed. She had thought she’d be more likely to cry than laugh, but the moment he looked at her and grinned, she couldn’t help it. There was more than a chance he was going to drive her absolutely insane while he was here.
“You’re fucking crazy,” she muttered.
“Oooh, did the princess just land an F-bomb?” he teased.
“Yeah, she did. And call me a goddamn princess again and I’ll punch you in the nose and break it.”
He shook his head, howling with laughter now. “Break my nose? Sweetheart, you couldn’t throw a punch that’d break my finger.”
“Oh yeah?” she sputtered. “It just so happens that I have two big brothers who beat the crap out of me when I was a kid. I learned quick to punch back hard, so don’t be so quick to judge me.”
They were both smiling when they pushed up to their feet, and Mia realized she hadn’t felt so good in a long time. Sam might be arrogant and a bit of a jerk, but he was honest, at least, and she appreciated that.
“Truce,” Sam said, holding out his hand.
Mia nodded and clasped it, smiling when his fingers wrapped around hers, engulfing her small hand in his. “Truce,” she agreed, thinking about giving him a quick jab to the nose to prove her point, then deciding against it.
“You know, I had you pegged as a pretty little rich girl who hardly knew the back end of a horse from the front, with no intention of ever working hard or getting her hands dirty,” he said.
“Guess you were wrong then,” she replied.
“Yeah, about everything except the pretty part.”
Sam held her hand a beat too long, and when she pulled away and met his gaze, she wished she hadn’t. Because the heat there was enough to make her want to back off, fast, and the confident, sexy look on his face told her that he could eat her alive if he wanted to.