Page 13 of A Rancher's Bride
He made soothing noises and tried his best to relax, which was hard since he was still freaked the hell out over the danger she’d thrown herself headlong into. The same way she threw herself off things in the barn.
“Nobody got hurt too bad,” he assured her. “Your white-hat routine helped someone, and I won’t shout at you anymore tonight.”
She wiggled in his arms, rocking slightly, and he realized the damn woman was laughing softly. “No more shouting tonight? Good to know. That means you’ll save the shouting for later?”
No use in lying. “Probably.”
He patted her on the back, turning the motion into a slow rub between her shoulder blades. “Take a few breaths and try to relax. You’re wound up tighter than Chili Pepper when she first arrived at the ranch.”
Another snicker escaped. “Good one, boss. Compare me to a misbehaving horse.”
“If the shoe fits—”
They sat in silence until Kelli let out a long breath and finally relaxed against him. He held on to her for another moment, debating which way the conversation needed to go next.
Drop the topic for now? Distract her with something else?
Maybe it wasn’t the wisest choice, but then again, he could be totally upfront with her about this being only a possibility. “You good to move to the next subject?”
Her head rubbed across his chest as she placed a hand against him to wiggle herself free. Strong fingers lay over his biceps as she levered herself back to the passenger seat.
She still looked tense, but he didn’t blame her. Not after what had gone down tonight.
Distraction was definitely in order. “Do up your seatbelt. I’ve got something to tell you. This is not one hundred percent going to happen, but Silver Stone got an invite to an important event happening soon in Kananaskis. No horses present, but a whole lot of people who like spending money and earning money from horses—”
All the tension drained away instantly as Kelli lit up like a firecracker. “Silver Stone got asked to the Triple Crown? Oh. My.God.”
That was borderline creepy. “How the hell did you do that? I know you’ve got ears attached to the walls in the barns, but I haven’t told anybody about this except Josiah. Heck, I only found out a few hours ago.”
She did up her seatbelt then faced him again, enthusiasm back on high. “It was just a guess, but am I right? Because, jeez, Luke. The topic came up on one of the blogs I keep an eye on. They did a couple reports about previous attendees from that kind of event. If Silver Stone got an invite that’s stupid fantastic.”
He buckled up and headed onto the highway, his distraction working better than he’d planned. “I forgot you’re knee-deep in a bunch of those online groups.”
“Stop being so righteous. You go online just as much as me, only in different places. TCG got mentioned because it hasn’t happened yet,” Kelli admitted. “Nobody is connected enough to be headed there, of course, which makes Silver Stone getting to go even more incredible.”
“Invitation-only at this point,” Luke warned her. “I sent in my registration, but I haven’t heard back yet.”
“You’ll get in,” she said firmly. “Hell, I’m shocked you’ve never hit their radar before. Especially two years ago when a couple of Nemo’s offspring grew up enough to start placing on the circuit.”
That had to be a factor in their favour. Having a good strong horse was one part of the equation, but when a stud’s foals grew up and started winning races, it made a huge difference to a breeder’s bottom line.
“You helped broker a couple of those deals,” he reminded her. “That was you chatting him up at the Stampede.”
“Didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” Kelli insisted. “I didn’t even know who the other owners were when I started bragging on him.”
“Still, Nemo’s stud fee keeps rising steadily. If this keeps up, the income will make a huge difference in the ranch’s bottom line.” He glanced over at her. She was smart enough to know what was going on, especially considering how much she learned with her damn eavesdropping.
Kelli fidgeted. Twisting her fingers together on the strap of her seatbelt. “So, if you’re gone, I guess it’ll be a good time for me to take over Chili Pepper’s training.”
Luke chuckled. “Nice try.”
She gave him puppy-dog eyes. “Please? You’ll be gone for a few days, maybe more. Someone will need to take care of her while you’re away.”
“It’s a full six days, and you’re right. Someone will need to take care of her, but it’s not going to be you.”
“Luke. That’s not fair.” All of her indignation and energy was back to full force. It seemed she’d gotten over her upset from earlier in the evening. “You said that I could—”
“I want you to come with me,” he interrupted.
