Riding for Love (A Western Romance) (9 page)

Chapter 8

“Darn. I’m late.” Eve grabbed her mug of coffee and the clipboard with her notes for the day. “I’m never late. Ever. This is what happens when you let a man get under your skin.” She jogged across the driveway to the barn. The clients weren’t due for another half an hour, but she wanted to meet with Tom early to go over her notes once more to make sure the horses matched the riders.

Her steps slowed as she entered the barn. Tom was talking to one of the employees at the other end of the barn. Since he didn’t immediately notice her, she took her time walking through the building, making sure the tack was all in place according to horse, helmets and riding sticks hung in order of size, horses back in their stalls from the field, and no stray horse droppings or straw littered the barn floor.

As she passed the row of licenses showing their employees were qualified as riding instructors, and she and Tom owners, he turned and waved her over.

“So how did your evening go last night, sweetheart? You danced quite a bit with Denton.”

“Yeah.” She batted her eyes at her friend. “You didn’t have anything to do with it would you, honeybunch?”

Tom laughed, threw an arm around her shoulders, and gave her a hug. “Ah, busted.” He kissed her forehead. “He’s not so bad, you know, Eve. He’s made some mistakes, and I believe he sincerely regrets them. But if he does anything to hurt you again, he’ll find himself lying in a pile of manure, face first.”

Eve grimaced at the image. “Well, I hate to say you’re right, but I did have a good time. I forgot how easy it is to talk to him. Besides, he can’t hurt me if I don’t let him.” She slid the clipboard from under her arm and started flipping through pages. “That doesn’t mean I’m still not mad at him. It’s going to take more than a few dances to get me into his good graces.”

“Give him a run for his money?”

“Yeah,” she muttered, glancing at her watch. “Now, let’s compare notes before our subjects arrive.”

For the next few minutes they walked companionably through the barn looking at stock, comparing horse sizes, and temperaments to clients. The stable of twenty-five horses ranged from duns to piebalds to grays and Appaloosas and included a few ponies for younger riders. Eve loved them all.

“I’ll take the slowest, laziest one with the shortest legs,” Denton said, interrupting Eve and Tom’s decision to pasture a smaller horse needing to be re-shod.

Eve nearly dropped the clipboard at the sound of Denton’s deep voice as she locked the stall door and tacked a note to the front for her staff. Keeping her back to him, she didn’t hide a smile at his nervous tone. By the time she faced him, the smile disappeared, but not the heat that had risen to her face.

“Mornin’, Dent,” Tom said, stepping over to the next stall. “I think old Della here will do fine for you.” He ran a hand down the bay’s forelock, over the blaze markings to her nose and slipped a sugar cube into her mouth. “Eve’s helped so many people learn to ride she’d teach me a few things, and I taught her to ride.”

Denton let out a breath of air and took a few steps closer to the stall. “Good to know.”

“Don’t be misled, Dent,” Eve said, following Tom’s hands down the horse’s face. “Della may be getting on in years, but she’s a horse and horses can pull a few tricks on the unwary.” Denton’s Adam’s apple slipped up and down as he swallowed a gulp. She pressed the clipboard to her chest. “Don’t worry, since I’ll be training you, I won’t let anything happen.”

“To me or the horse?” he asked.

“Good question,” Eve answered over her shoulder as she sauntered away from the men.

Denton raked his fingers through his hair and suppressed a shudder.

“Scared you, didn’t she?”

“And you’re enjoying it, aren’t you?”

“Don’t worry, boy. She’s never let a customer get hurt. Yet.”

Denton breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t get hurt, not physically, anyway, he thought. His emotions were another matter. His heart tripped a little faster as he watched her walk through the barn.

The rest of the group began entering the building. Amazing how, in such a short time, a person learned to recognize someone, even by their black silhouette against the bright sun-lit entrance to the barn. The unmistakable buxom figure of Jackie was outlined in the door.

His breath left him and he quickly searched for a place to hide. After her seduction attempts at the dance, she was the last person he wanted to encounter. He still felt her body pressed against his, his arm muscles even a little sore from trying to stop her from performing the vertical bedroom tango publicly. The next woman to use his body in any way would be Eve, whether she knew it or not.

So desperate to be out of Jackie’s sight, he contemplated leaping over the gate into his horse’s stall and hiding behind her rump, then grabbing a shovel to start mucking out manure or take a hoof pick and clean out her hoofs. Before he could consider the wisdom of doing any of those things, Jackie spotted him.

He groaned. Everyone gathering at the end of the barn turned as she shrilled out his name. He moved toward her. If he moved fast enough, he’d get to the others and mingle, be able to hide among his compatriots, then shove her off on some other, more willing, male in the group.

With the brothers, Chuck, and employees available, he couldn’t figure out why she picked on him. Not only was he going to have to go through his seduction of Eve by actually mounting a horse, but do it while fighting off another, much less desirable, woman. Life was hell at times.

“Good morning, handsome,” Jackie cooed, grabbing his arm and bringing him to her side, her full breast pressing against his arm. “Did you sleep well last night? I tossed and turned all night long, thinking about the dance. Didn’t you?”

Denton eased his arm away and focused his attention on Eve, the expression on her face unreadable. Not a good sign. “Actually, I slept quite well, thank you.”

Obviously not one to give up, Jackie once again brushed the side of her breast against his arm. “Hey, if we’re lucky, we’ll be in the same group. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Her voice dropped to a sultry level, sounding as if riding around on horses all day was the same thing as riding together between the sheets.

He took two steps away. “I’m taking private lessons.”

“I’d take private lessons from you any day.”

As they approached the rest of the riders, he tried to think of something to get rid of her and allow her to focus on someone other than him.

“Hey, what’d you think of Sam and Gary? Couple of great guys, huh?” Then he thought of something Jackie had let slip. She loved kids, any age, any size; wanted a herd of them. Probably because she’d never grown up. Emotionally anyway.

“I’m glad Chuck and his son, Rob, are here,” Denton continued. “Poor kid. He’s not handling his mother’s death well at all, blaming his father, giving him a hard time. Guess he acts up in school, sasses his teachers, not doing his work. Chuck is hoping this trip will help. He read horses sometime help kids work through emotional problems.”

Denton could almost hear the wheels grinding in her brain. For all her loud clothes and man strutting, she seemed like an intelligent, caring woman behind the lipstick and false eyelashes. She tapped a bright red fingernail against her teeth. Without saying a word, she sashayed away and stood at Rob’s side.

Dent refrained from wiping a hand across his forehead in relief, but instead glanced at Eve. When she raised a questioning brow, he shrugged and joined the group.

Eve brought her attention back to the morning class. With so much to cover with newcomers, she couldn’t afford to be distracted by Dent and Jackie. She wondered how he’d managed to get out of the woman’s relentless clutches.

Last night, every time Jackie had hung on Dent, something came over Eve, making her itch to put an evil curse on the woman. Make her hair turn green or her tarantula-like false eyelashes fall off into someone’s drink, creating mayhem in everyone’s mad rush to get away, trampling Jackie in the process.

During Eve’s long night of tossing and turning and trying not to think of Denton, ways to eliminate Jackie had kept her spirits up.

“Good thing I don’t believe in murder,” she muttered.

“Uh, Eve?”

Eve shook off her destructive notions. Dennis stood beside her, the others waiting. She glanced at her clipboard to gather her thoughts, ones that didn’t include murder. She cleared her throat.

“Good morning, everyone. I hope you slept well and are ready to start your lessons. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Yeah,” Rob piped in, sneering at his father. “When’s the next bus out of this hick town?”

Chuck’s face turned red and he turned toward his son, but before he said anything, Jackie stepped to Rob and whispered something in his ear. He eyes opened wide, and he looked down at the ground, shuffled his feet, and mumbled an apology.

The disbelief on Chuck’s face said it all for everyone in the group who’d had to suffer the boy’s gripes. Whatever Jackie had said seemed to dispel some of his anger. Eve was glad she hadn’t done anything to the woman, like telling her to rub her well-endowed boobs with horse liniment.

“Okay, let’s get the show on the road here. I’m glad you’re all wearing sturdy boots and jeans. This morning the staff and I will help you pick out your gear. I can’t stress enough the need to wear your helmet. After I call your names, please follow your instructor.” Eve eyed the clipboard, and, recalling the way Jackie had handled Rob, switched her and her cousin to put Jackie with the young man. Eve’s policy to separate family members if possible kept them from coddling each other, offering unnecessary advice, or becoming angry if one did better than the other. It made life easier for her instructors. Maybe by putting Chuck and Sophie together, something might happen between the two.

Eve took a deep breath. She couldn’t halt the inevitable, because as soon as the groups were assigned, she would be alone with Denton. Damn the man.

“Okay, now. I would like Joanne, Rob, and Jackie to go with Dennis. He’s the tall guy who’s been riding horses since before he walked. Chuck and Sophie will go with Sherry, a long-time staff member who will graduate from college next spring. And Richard and Ellen will be with Rory, who believes he was destined to be a cowboy since his father named him after Rory Calhoun. Todd, who rode on the rodeo circuit until he finally realized the bulls
were
bigger than him, will work with Trent and Sam. That leaves Joanne and Gary with Chris, the redhead, who happens to be my cousin, but don’t let that be a black mark against the ranch.”

“Hey, why can’t I be with my son?” Chuck called out.

“Geez, Dad, don’t be such a moron,” his son mumbled.

Before Chuck responded, Jackie again whispered to Rob. To Eve’s surprise, he again apologized to his father, but not before scowling. Eve was doubly glad she switched the cousin’s around, but Chuck looked as if he wasn’t happy she’d interfered with his son. If eyes could shoot poisonous darts, Jackie would be a goner. Yup, putting Chuck and soft and gentle Sophie together was a good idea.

Richard put an arm around his wife. “How come I can’t be with my wife?”

“I guess I should have explained earlier,” Eve answered. “We split up families so each member can concentrate on his or her lessons and not worry about the welfare of their loved one.”

After he mulled this over for a few moments, he nodded.

Eve pictured him fawning over his wife’s every movement. The poor woman would never learn a thing on her own. “So, go with your trusted leaders and let’s get the show on the road or the horses on the trail, as the case may be.”

“So, now what?” Denton asked into Eve’s ear. He grinned when a shiver ran through her body.

She turned to him. “Since I’m the instructor and you’re the very nervous, novice rider, I guess you must do everything I say. Right?”

He tried to get some saliva going in his dry mouth. Time to face the music. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he hoped just showing up for lessons would bring Eve around before he had to get onto a horse. He should have known better. She was showing way too much pleasure at his discomfort. As much as he willed his body to relax, perspiration formed on his forehead, the back of his neck, then rolled down his back.

“Lead on taskmaster,” he joked.

Eve walked to what he thought of as the torture chamber, commonly known as the tack room. Before going a few steps, she turned so quickly, he rammed into her chest. His heart picked up and not from fear, but lust.

Reaching out to grab her before she fell backward from the force of the impact, his gaze moved to her mouth. Her breath came in short spurts. She licked her lips. He leaned down to kiss her luscious mouth, see if their response to each other hadn’t changed in ten years. Here, in the barn with—

He stopped and looked at her. Her eyes were half-closed, her face flushed, her lips partially opened. “Damn. Looks like privacy is an issue here.”

She peered over her shoulder and stepped back. “I don’t see a problem. I’m not sure what you thought would happen, but, believe me, we have no need for privacy.”

Denton smoothed his hand over his head. “Then why did I sign up for
private
lessons?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.” She headed toward the tack room and stopped.

This time Denton fell into step beside her, disappointed he couldn’t watch her sexy ass sway before him.

“Denton, why on earth are you doing this? Why put yourself through something so scary? You’re sweating enough to make the humidity rise in the barn.” She glanced at him. “I don’t understand.”

Denton followed her to the tack room and enjoyed the way her anger made her hips sway seductively as her boots clicked stubbornly on the concrete floor.

“I do,” he said to himself, tamping down desires riding under the surface since she’d smashed into his car.

A short time later, Denton realized he was enjoying himself more than he ever thought possible. Of course, he hadn’t yet boarded his four-legged “friend.” His libido rose as Eve picked out and fitted equipment, giving her ample opportunities to touch him. Did she pay extra attention to him while tightening his chinstrap, then choosing another helmet when the first was deemed too tight, then repeating the process?