Page 4 of Cowboy Stole My Heart
If she hadn’t been so right, he’d have laughed at her, the way she threw that at him. But it was true. He wasn’t a team player and he never had been, unless his team involved a four-legged creature instead of another human being. But he didn’t need to be a team player to do the work he did.
“Look, I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” he said. “How about we take a look at the stallion and you can tell me a bit about him.” She was beautiful and fiery and he appreciated that in a woman, but this was work, not pleasure and he wanted to set the ground rules.
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Mia replied, sounding relieved. “The way I see it, there’s no point in you working a horse here without me learning from you, so I can put the same practices into place. That’s all.”
Sam didn’t reply, he just walked alongside her and quietly chuckled to himself about a cute, leggy blonde trying to give him a scolding about not being a team player. He’d take a look at her horses, politely give her an excuse about why he wasn’t right for the job, then head straight home and never come back. He didn’t need her telling him what to do, and he sure as hell didn’t need to be a riding coach for Walter Ford’s daughter, not even for two thousand dollars a day.
She obviously loved horses and wanted to learn, but Sam wasn’t interested in being anyone’s babysitter.
***
Mia glanced at Sam as they walked, amazed at what an asshole he was. How had she crushed on him for so long and not realized what a jerk he would be in real life? Ormaybe he wasn’t, maybe he was just a guy used to doing his job a certain way and she’d rubbed him the wrong way. Or he was so damn handsome he was used to woman dropping at his feet. But she’d gone from furious with her father for enlisting his services to excited about learning from a man that so many in the horse world were calling a genius. Only it was quickly becoming apparent that he wasn’t used to working with anyone other than himself and whatever horse he was focused on.
Or maybe, just like everyone else in her life, he didn’t take her seriously. To almost anyone she met, she was the pretty, rich blonde who spent her time playing with horses instead of working a real job, and she hated that. She’d thought Sam would take her seriously, that they’d bond over their mutual love of equines, that she’d be able to talk to him about her horses and learn from him, but it looked like he was no different than anyone else.
“How many horses do you have here?” Sam asked.
She wished he wasn’t so damn handsome. His eyes were as brown as the darkest shade of chocolate, his skin so tanned she wondered if he’d ever spent a day inside in his life, and his hair was just a bit too long the way it brushed his ears and dipped close to his eyes when he put his head down. She hadn’t been able to ignore how lean he was either, or how at odds that was with the breadth of his shoulders and his height. He was all sinewy muscle under that plaid shirt, she was sure of it, only her fantasies of finding out for herself how he looked without his clothes on were fading. She doubted they’d get that far if they were already at odds within minutes of meeting.
Mia slowed as they reached the stables, smiling at the beautiful horses looking out over the half doors, obviously curious about who was coming to visit.
“I have four of my own, plus the stallion that my father told you about. I keep all mine here, stabled overnight and out during the day unless I’m working them.”
He walked closer and so did she, grinning when her favorite mare, Indi, nickered out to her. She was always the most vocal of the group, and Mia never tired of her call. When she’d been working in Europe, it was Indi she’d taken with her to compete. She liked to win, hell, she only competed to win, and Indi was worth her weight in gold.
“You work with the ranch horses too?”
She nodded. “I oversee them all, but we don’t keep them up here. I had this purposely built for my horses, with the arena and other facilities I needed. We keep the rest of them turned out closer to the main ranching facilities.” Mia gestured to the right, where the main barn was located, the roof just visible. “Our foreman runs the show over there, but I like to check on their health and make sure they’re getting well looked after. They’re definitely under my watch.”
“Impressive place you have here,” Sam said, stopping outside Indi’s stall and stroking her cheek. Mia couldn’t help but notice how relaxed her sometimes highly-strung mare was as Sam touched her, and she wondered if the horse whisperer tag might actually have merit. Although she already knew from watching him at his shows that he was talented, unless half of the horses he worked with had already been trained and it was all an illusion for the crowd and cameras.
“So do you want to see them all or just the stallion?” she asked, watching him, trying to read his expression that had seemed, until now, completely impassive.
“Do you need help with the others?” he asked.
“How much do you know about show jumping?” sheasked wryly. She was used to having top trainers, and she was open to learning anything and everything about her favorite four-legged creatures, but she doubted even Sam Mendes could help with her jump training.
“Ah, and here I was thinking you were a Western rider.” His smile hit his eyes, making them soften, and she wished it didn’t make her heart skip a bit. It made it a lot harder to hate him. “So you’re a show jumper or an aspiring one?”
“Let’s be honest, Mr. Mendes. You thought I was a rich girl with a string of expensive horses that I play around with every day instead of working a real job. Trust me, I’m thick skinned, and to be honest I’m kind of used to it by now.”
This time she didn’t find his chuckle and smile so endearing. “Maybe I thought that.” He grinned. “Hell, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still think that.”
She glared at him, but she did appreciate his honesty. “Well, you’d be wrong. And no, thank you, I don’t need any help with any of these horses right now. And no, I wouldn’t classify myself asaspiring.” She’d beenaspiringas a teen; now she was a full-fledged show jump rider who made money from riding the show jumping circuit and goddamn winning.
Mia could have slapped his hand away from Indi’s nose. She didn’t even want the man touching her horse, let alone thinking he could act all superior to her. She’d just finished a successful season in Europe competing against some of the best riders in the world, and she took her reputation as a professional rider as seriously as successful people took their careers, so she wasn’t about to let him make her feel inferior. One thing she was not was a pathetic little rich girl living off a trust fund and not working hard.
“He’s down here,” she grumbled, pushing past Sam andtaking the lead. She shouldn’t have expected Sam to know, hell, he probably knew nothing about show jumping, and she’d always been careful to stay under the radar, but being treated like a complete amateur had rubbed her the wrong way.
“You want to grab a halter or something for him?” Sam asked, his voice husky, lower than it had been before.
“I wouldn’t bother,” she said. “No one can get near that damn horse right now, so the best you’ll get today is a look at him, unless you’re God himself.”
Sam raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything, and she guessed the arrogant horseman probably thought that he’d be able to get near him if he wanted to. She almost hoped the horse would teach him a lesson.
“I doubt even someone as good as you is going to get so much as a rope near this one,” she said defiantly as they approached.
***
