Page 20 of Texas Daze (Texas Montgomery Mavericks)

“I’d like to leave the door open so I can make sure she’s okay. This is her first one and I want her to remain calm. Grab a couple of hay bales and we can sit.” She gestured toward a stack of square bales across the aisle in another emptystall.

“Sure.” He went over and grabbed the first bale and reeledbackwards.

“Careful,” she warned. “Those might be a little heavy. Hold on, I’llcomehelp.”

“No, no,” he grunted out. “I’vegotit.”

He staggered back to Princess Diane’s stall and dropped the bale to the floor. He sawhergrin.

“You did that on purpose,” he said, squinting his eyes as though hewasmad.

She laughed. “You did great. That one probably weighs about seventy-five pounds. There are some smaller ones in there that weigh closer tofifty.”

He flexed his bicep. “Impressed,huh?”

Marti shook her head with an amused smile. “Oh yeah. Wet panties andeverything.”

He chuckled but the mention of her panties, especially wet panties, aroused him. He turned away before she could see the evidence her casual comment had on him. No use embarrassing himself liketeenageboy.

Going back to the stall, he grabbed a second, albeit smaller, bale and added it to the first. “There. That shouldholdus.”

After a quick glance at her horse, Marti adjusted one bale so that she was seated in direct sight of herhorse.

“Now,” she said. “What’s the mystery favor you keep hintingabout?”

Chapter6

Eli droppedonto the hay bale. “Yeah. The favor.” He sighed. “I have this patient. For his privacy, I won’t tell you his name, but he’s a teen. A great kid. Lost his legs in a horrificaccident.”

“Oh,” Marti said. “You must mean Joe Manson.Poorkid.”

“YouknowJoe?”

“Everybody around here knew Joe. He was on the fast track to the Olympics. Really popular kid. Worked here with the horses a couple of summers back. He could ride like the wind. Took to it like he’d been riding all his life. He’s yourpatient,huh?”

“Let’s just say, I have a teenage doubleamputeemale.”

“Fine. Joe’s a common name. Could beanybody.”

He explained about Joe and the challenge of getting this depressed teenager out of a wheelchair. He finished with his confession of having a fear ofhorses.

Marti walked over to the laboring horse and ran the palm of her hand along the mare’s protruding side. “You told a little white lie to get Joe going. No one would condemn youforthat.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly a lie.” His balls shriveled up at the confession. He waited for her to laugh, which would only further add to hishumiliation.

She whipped her head toward him and nodded. “Okay. I can understand that. They’re big and if you’ve not been around them, they can beintimidating.”

Her calm acceptance caught him off-guard. “Ridiculous,right?”

She rose and came back to sit by him. “You’re not the first guy I’ve dated who was antsy around horses. You should see some of the teen offenders I get. The first time a horse snorts at them, they freak but they get over it. Have you ever been on ahorse?”

“My history with horses isn’t great. I was kind of an awkward kid. Overweight. Glasses. A summer horses camp from hell. You get thepicture.”

“You’re not geeky now.” Rocking over, she bumped his shoulder with hers. “Fact is, you’re kind ofhunky.”

Heat flared tohisface.

She laughed. “Now I’veembarrassedyou.”

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