Page 14 of Seeking Her Studs

“Don’t you have an entire staff for that?” I eye him suspiciously. “I respect hard work, but I don’t like being hazed.”

“It’s the weekend.” He shrugs. “Usually Kaylee works with me on Saturdays while Colt and Briggs take Sunday. You want me to wake her up and tell her Hollywood is above cleaning some stalls?”

I roll my eyes. “Obviously, not.”

“An eye roll, Hollywood? Even Kaylee has grown out of that one.”

He opens up a stall and brushes his hand along the mane of a yawning black stallion. I giggle when the yawn turns into a sneeze and Reese narrowly avoids getting sprayed.

“Glad you find that so funny,” he looks back at me with a cocked eyebrow. “You see this stall? You’re going to literally be shoveling shit and you need real shoes. One fumble and you’ve either got shit on your foot or a broken toe.”

“I’m fine,” I say stubbornly, even though I know he’s right.

He takes a deep breath and pats the horse, who is now looking at me curiously. He closes the stall door and turns to me, his arms crossed.

“I tried asking nicely and that’s obviously not working. Now are you going to make me hold you down and shove some damn boots on you, or can you just admit that maybe you didn’t dress right for working on a ranch?” He says, frustration lining his voice.

“Jeez, fine!” I throw my hands up in exasperation.

He nods and leads me to a room full of equipment. Everything is tidy and in place. He throws open a closet and throws a pair of worn boots at the ground near me and then rustles in a drawer and a pair of socks comes flying out after.

“Let me know if those fit.” He says gruffly.

“Aren’t you supposed to be the charming brother?” I glare at him accusingly.

“There’s nothing charming about someone putting themselves in danger for no apparent reason,” he bites back.

I cock my head. That seems a little dramatic.

“Is there something you’d like to say to me, Reese?” I pull a huge white sock up my calf.

“Nope,” he says, tapping his boot on the floor. “Just trying to make sense of why your grandma thought it was a great idea to just thrust you into our lives when you don’t even own one damn sensible pair of shoes.”

“Well, I’m sorry for being such a burden to you. You think I know why I’m here? Hell, I debated never even coming back here and letting go of the very last thing she left me on this earth.”

“Of course, you shouldn’t have done that.” His voice is strained and loud, but not quite a yell. He paces around the room, clearly trying to think about what he wants to say. “Damn it. Let’s just get through the morning, okay? Do the damn boots fit?”

I huff in frustration as sit on a wooden stool and pull the other sock on, followed by a boot. I stand up and test it out. They’re a little big, but they will do just fine.

“Yep,” I say and get to work putting the other one without looking at him.

“Good,” his voice is quiet now, almost sheepish.

I walk back towards the stall, and he opens it again.

“The horses need to be brought out of the stall before you can clean. I know how much exercise each one needs in the morning, otherwise I would split the riding with you.” He actually sounds apologetic as he places the halter on the black stallion.

“It’s fine, Reese. I can handle it.” I shoot back at him.

“I know you can.” He nods. For a moment I wonder if that’s his way of offering a truce. But he turns back to the stalls and spends a few more minutes explaining what to do.

I just obediently nod my head the whole time. Because he’s right. He didn’t ask for me to be here. The least I can do is not make his life any harder.

We go about the morning like this. He moves a horse out and I move in, shoveling shit and pee-soaked hay into a wheelbarrow. My workout dress is not so glamorous anymore and I’ve dropped the metal shovel about ten times, so Reese was absolutely right about having a broken toe if I hadn’t been wearing boots. Of course, I’m not going to tell him that. Behaving is one thing, but inflating his ego is another.

When we get to a stall with a white and grey spotted horse, Reese hands her lead over to me.

“Blaire, meet Daisy.” Reese nods toward the horse. “Your Gram convinced us to take her in. Another farm was closing down, and it’s not so easy for an older horse to find another life somewhere.”

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