Page 12 of The Cowboy's Redemption
“Tanner’s brother took over after I left for college and Tanner headed off to ride bulls. Turns out Ford is better at it than we were. Otto still lets me ride, but now it’s for pleasure. It’s like taking a Ferrari out for a spin, except it has four legs rather than wheels.”
One of those Ferraris was about to be hers. A tidal bore of excitement rippled under her skin, chased by a tsunami of worry. What if Otto said no to her proposal? What would she do then?
“You’ve never tried to buy one of his horses?” she asked.
“Oh, I’ve tried to buy that blood bay, Nova, off him, believe me. Multiple times. He keeps saying she’s spoken for. I will admit, I had a moment of fear when he said the horse you’d looked at was available. I thought he meant Nova.”
His eyes met hers across Lady’s back. His face, limned in gold by the light from above the barn door, held a smile so sweetly charming that her thoughts drifted in an entirely different direction from horses. Her interest in sex had always been healthy, and that sweet, sleepy smile and those calm, lazy eyes promised her things. Things she’d lived without for three years and didn’t want to live without any longer.
“Why choose Tanoa over Nova?” he asked, apparently unaware of the silent promises his smiling eyes and lips made and the direction her thoughts had taken. “The horses are equal.”
She stroked Lady’s neck, pouring love into her touch. “Tanoa feels right.” It was a hard concept to explain to most people, but Levi understood horses. “Competition is about friendship and trust as much as performance. We have to want to give each other our best.” The same, in fact, could be said about sex. In terms of friendship and trust, Levi was perfect.
He’d come to her rescue. Held her hair. Made sure she got home safe…
“What happens to Lady when she retires?” he asked.
“I’ll have to sell her if Otto won’t accept some sort of payment plan.” Her brain shied from the thought.
“You want Tanoa that much?”
“I do.”
She’d sacrificed a significant portion of her life to her career. Things she hadn’t known how much she’d value. She couldn’t stop now. Not when she was so close to success. While she’d always known that Lady wouldn’t be with her forever, she only wished she’d been able to get them both there while Lady was at the top of her game.
“She’s valuable, you know,” Levi said. “Especially if she’s bred to the right stud. She’s getting up there in age, but aside from the start of arthritis she’s in great health and she should have a few good years to breed left in her. If you do decide to sell her, an endorsement from Otto would carry a lot of weight in the right circles.”
“It’s not only about money. I won’t sell her to just anyone.” The thought of Lady’s only value being in a few years as a broodmare, and her not receiving the love and attention she deserved, wasn’t an option. Dana would keep her and find some other way to pay Otto before she’d allow that to happen.
Thoughtfulness lurked in Levi’s expressive eyes. “Well, that explains that, then.”
“Explains what?”
He passed her the lead and slammed the gate on the back end of the trailer so that the latch caught. “Nothing. Talking to myself.”
Dana, leading Lady, followed Levi. He greeted two teenaged boys and a third male, this one a man who looked to be little more than a teenager himself, although he gave off a far more mature vibe. They blocked the barn doorway. The two boys were arguing while the man watched them, intently but patiently, as if prepared to intercede if it came to blows.
“Hey, guys,” Levi said easily, interrupting the argument to introduce her to them. “This is Dana Barrett. And this sweetheart is Lady.” He rubbed Lady’s poll, getting an appreciative bump from her muzzle in return. “Dana, these two goofballs are Owen and Paisley. They live here as part of a group program the ranch runs. The poor guy stuck supervising them is Colin, one of the counselors.”
Owen was short, stocky, and sandy-haired, with a grin permanently carved into his face that foreshadowed all sorts of trouble the world would forgive him for because he was so fun and friendly and cute. No problem figuring out why he was in a group home. Boys like Owen didn’t think about consequences.
Paisley was another story. Slender where Owen was stocky, but also fair, he had a more guarded, feline appearance to him. Trouble no doubt followed him too, but it would be a great deal more calculated and far less forgivable. Dana wasn’t sure she cared for the way he looked at her, even though he couldn’t be more than sixteen. He wasn’t creepy, exactly—more like too sexually aware for his years.
Honestly, neither boy inspired trust.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said to them.
“You’re the barrel racer,” Paisley said. His chin jutted upward and out. His unblinking stare was equally disturbing. If he was striving for macho, his approach could use work. Future serial killer, however, he’d nailed.
“I am.” Dana offered him the friendly-but-distant smile she reserved for her more persistent fans—the one that said she appreciated them, and while she wished she had more time to talk, she had to be elsewhere.
“Smooth,” Owen said to Paisley with overdone admiration. He picked at a fingernail with his thumb. “Considering I heard that thirteen-year-olds are more your type.”
“Shut the hell up,” Paisley growled. His fingers curled and uncurled, as if they had a mind of their own and hadn’t quite made it up.
“Excuse us. Horse coming through,” Levi said, stepping between the two boys to get to the barn’s entrance, the action driving them apart.
Dana followed with Lady, widening the gap, with the added advantage of allowing the boys’ counselor, Colin, to move in behind her. She heard his quiet voice, although couldn’t make out the words, as she entered the barn. LED lights flared to life along the length of the steel roof, chasing away scary shadows and regrouping scattered nerves.
