Page 16 of Keep You Safe
“Thank you.” My cheeks heated and my insides danced at the praise. “And I’m working hard on my recovery. Therapy. Meetings. Not going to fail.”
“You need time for meetings, you let me know.” Grayson gave me another of his stern looks, but this one was tempered by a certain kindness. “You won’t be the only hand I’ve had need time for those, so you be sure and speak up.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.” Shaking his head, he pursed his lips. “My dad was over twenty years sober when he passed on. He never missed a chance to help a fellow person in recovery.”
“He was the foreman before you, right? Maybe this really is a second chance ranch.”
“Suppose so.” Grayson didn’t seem inclined to keep talking about his father. “Let’s bring Cinder back around to the mounting block.”
A childish giggle escaped my throat. “Sorry. It’s still a silly name.”
“Think you have a dirty mind.” Grayson followed us over to the mounting block.
“Guilty.” I met his gaze, trying to remind him of every naughty thing I’d done by the pond.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” I faked innocence.
“Like you’re ten seconds from hitting the sawdust if I so much as lift an eyebrow.”
“Maybe I am.” I waggled my eyebrows at him. “You should test that theory.”
Grayson shook his head at my audacity. “Go on now. Let’s put your horse away.”
I hadn’t truly expected him to take me up on my suggestion, but the tiny sparkle in his eyes was victory enough. I was wearing him down. Give me enough time, and he’d end up liking me after all.
Chapter Nine
Grayson
As I approachedthe horse barn after a lengthy meeting with Maverick and the folks in charge of the ranch trust, I plodded along, steps slowing. I never would have thought the day would come when I’d welcome a ranch finance meeting, but such was my distraction level with Adler around. He was so darn cheerful about everything, from stall mucking to receiving a stack of inventory sheets. His relentlessly sunny attitude made it hard to keep him at arm’s length. Not to mention his unbridled joy at riding. He made it hard not to smile and shower him with the sort of praise he so clearly craved.
I was decades removed from learning to ride. In fact, I couldn’t say as I remembered ever being as outwardly excited as Adler was about being on a horse. His enthusiasm reminded me how lucky we were to get to do this work. He wasn’t wrong. Riding a horse was pretty special. But with all those reminders came a deeper appreciation for Adler himself. One might even say I was coming to like him, and that simply wouldn’t do.
“Inventory done?” I asked as I found Adler at Cinder’s stall, murmuring softly to the horse. Finding him not working meant I didn’t have to try to make my voice clipped and stern.
“Yes, boss.” Adler bent down and retrieved a stack of papers from near his hiking boot. We would have to see about getting him some decent gear if he ended up sticking around. He held out the papers for me. “Here you go.”
I’d handed him the inventory printouts earlier, but the ones he handed back looked closer to an art project with various colors of pen and an abundance of notes in the margins. “What’s with these colors?”
“I took the liberty of highlighting for you.” Adler stepped closer so he could reach around me to point at the pages. Having him this near made the memory of him pressed against me in the pond come rushing back like a creek after snow melt. Despite the October chill, my temperature rose a good ten degrees, and I struggled to concentrate.
“Did you?” I murmured, losing my stern tone by the syllable.
“Red are items you seem critically low on or out of.” Adler pointed at each color, and I was hyperaware of each movement of his arm, the barest brush of his coat sleeve against mine. “Yellow are things that are running low or might need replacing due to wear. Blue are duplicate items.”
Wow. He’d really gone above and beyond, and judging by his sly smile, he knew it.
“Not a bad method,” I allowed before striding away from him to place the sheets on the desk in the nearby room that Kat and I used as office space. I gestured for Adler to follow me out of the barn. “Come on, time for chow.”
“Good. I’m hungry.” Undeterred by my lack of praise for his efforts, Adler bounced along beside me.
“Not sure what all Maverick’s been cooking up at the big house for y’all, but tonight, we’re having chili mac at the bunkhouse.”
“Sounds good.” Adler grinned, but I made a skeptical noise. His grin dipped ever so slightly. “Seriously. I’m not a diva,especially when it comes to food. Ask Maverick. I ate more junk food than either of the kids at the county fair when I was here in August.”
