Page 31 of I Knew You Were Trouble

She elbows my gut, and I pretend it hurts way more than it does, folding in half and taking a step away.

Candace lets out a laugh that sends that odd zap through me again. She turns to Luke and signs, talking out loud for us. “We’ll exercise the girls today. Have they been fed already?”

Luke signs something, and Candace nods, her fingers reaching up to play with the end of her braid. There’s not a stutter in her eye contact with him, no confusion pulling at her brow. She must know the language in and out… or she studied it a long time ago, or she studied so hard like she does with everything. The more I think about it, I’d believe it if she said she just learned yesterday.

Candace blows out a breath and faces us, dropping her braid to sign. “Hope you’re okay with some extra chores this morning.” Luke’s not even looking anymore, but she signs anyway. “The mares haven’t been fed or brushed or…”

“We get to brush them?” Maddie squeaks, and I jerk back and clean my ear out.

“Geez, Mad… take it down a notch.”

“Shut up. I’m allowed to be excited.”

Candace gives me a look, crossing her arms. “She is.”

“Already ganging up on me.”

She turns, and those jeans aren’t doing much for her backside, but I kinda like that they hang off her. And I’m checking out her ass and didn’t even realize it, so my eyes go straight to the sky and I trip over my own feet as we follow her to the stables.

The animal and hay scent grows as we step in, the temperature climbing about ten degrees already.

“This place heated?”

“Uh huh.” Candace reaches behind a stack of hay for a key hung up on the wall. “Have you guys ridden before?”

“Does the motorcycle count?” I joke, and I get a swift whack in the gut from my sister.

“No, we haven’t,” Maddie admits.

“That’s all right.” Candace leads us past a couple of empty stalls and pauses at the fourth down. “We just need to walk them, so you don’t have to ride if you aren’t comfortable.”

“What if I want to ride?” Maddie asks without missing a beat. I bolt out a laugh, and I’m surprised to hear Candace laughing along with me.

“Let me introduce you first. Maybe one of the girls will be smitten with you.” A sparkle glints in her dark brown eyes, and I start to think I didn’t eat enough, because with the zapping going on in there, maybe it’s running on empty or something.

We pass the fourth stall, and Mad’s eyes grow three times their size, her teeth gripping her bottom lip to keep from squealing, I’m sure. A light brown horse pokes its head out, rumbling its lips at Candace.

“This is Mona Lisa,” she says, patting the horse’s muzzle. I gulp, getting a good look at those chompers.

“Shit, she’s huge,” I stutter.

Candace lifts a brow. “She’s our baby.” She unlocks the door and pushes her way inside. Mad and I stay where we are. Mad’s probably sticking to her position until she gets the go ahead to pet the thing. But me? I can’t seem to pick up my feet.

“What’d you say?” I mumble, my gaze following up the horse’s neck and ears that stand a whole foot taller than I am. At least.

“She’s the little one,” Maddie reiterates, amusement sparkling in her eyes when she looks at my face. Shit, the color’s draining, I can tell. “Can I pet her?” she finally asks Candace. I give her props for being this patient.

“Go for it,” Candace says. “Start with the neck and let her get comfortable with you.”

Candace’s sentence isn’t even finished by the time Mad’s got her hand on the thing.

“Careful of those teeth,” I say. Her fingers are right there. I bet those things could take ‘em off.

“She won’t bite.” Candace chuckles, pushing her hand into a brush. “Hard, anyway.”

“That’s comforting.”

“Are you scared?” Maddie asks, her grin spreading.

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