Claire choked on her coffee, straining to block the vision that invoked. Far too vivid after her dreamful night. “Great. Thanks.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Hattie plating their food and trying to remain inconspicuous. Wordlessly, Hattie slid their plates across the breakfast bar and disappeared from the room before either could take much notice. The steamy, gooey eggs warmed her tummy and promised to keep her cozy for the rest of the day. She glimpsed Grady blushing at something he was clearly quite amused by. Likely caught up in the same mounting imagery that she was.
“What do you think?”Grady asked as Claire followed him into the stables, not having a clue what to say. His tongue was completely tied around her, nervous about things heknewhe did well.
The chill in the air was suffocating. It didn’t matter how thick your coat was in this weather, it seeped into your bones. Claire pulled her jacket tighter around her. Phoenix was a far cry from Washington in winter, especially in the higher elevations like this.
Grady watched as Claire took in her surroundings. She was like a kid in a candy store. The barns were impressive. Although his mother didn’t ride much these days, she still enjoyed keeping attractive stables and fine horses.
Claire seemed pleased with what she saw. “This is a great setup. We didn’t have land or money for a horse of my own, so I borrowed at our local stables. This is the type of place I dreamed about.”
On seeing the stable with new eyes, he appreciated the grandeur of it. Having left the design to professionals, his mother, fortunately, hadn’t had a hand in its construction. There was room for a dozen horses, but they didn’t keep nearly that many these days.
Without a horse of her own, or even easy access or funds, it must have been a major undertaking for her parents. “What made you interested in horses?”
She walked up to Daisy, laughing with that enchanting laugh of hers. A curious horse, Daisy stuck her head out of the stall, looking for a little loving from her visitor. “What kid didn’t want to grow up to be a cowgirl? Besides, I fully blame my mother. I showed a slight interest right around my birthday one year, and my mom bought me this horse encyclopedia. By the time I was nine, I knew the inside and outside of every breed of horse.”
“And so it began.” From his coat pocket, he pulled out a handful of carrots to give to the horses. Claire held her hand out, and he passed some to her, careful to avoid the potential electrocution if they connected again.
She held her palm out flat, leaving Daisy to nibble the snack. “Weird as it may sound, I think cows might be even more interesting. What strange creatures. Multiple compartments to their stomachs, sleeping aligned with the poles. They seem so dull, but they’ve got such heavy emotion in their eyes.”
She was so passionate about so many things. It was incredible. Refreshing. Just being around her made the world a little more colorful.
Grady hung back, not letting himself get closer. He was getting sucked in too deep already. “What does Ryder think about your fascination with cows?”
Daisy poked her head out for one last pat before Claire broke away and moved to check in the other stalls. Without answering his question, she took a deep breath before turning back toward him. “Show me the routine.”
His fault. Touchy subject. Following along as he tossed breakfast to each of the horses, helping to haul and tidy as they went, Claire examined each horse while they worked. The routine seemed to help soothe her, the tension she’d sported all morning fading.
He was just giving Misty a nose rub and a carrot when Claire broke the silence. “I guess I don’t know what you do for a living. I mean, you said you were part owner in a craft brewery, but I thought you were a lawyer.”
“Ryder doesn’t say much about his family, does he?”
And that lip was back in her teeth. His poor brain went right in the gutter, imagining running his tongue along the imprint she’d made. That pouty lower lip was absolutely worth biting. Sucking on. Hell, he could spend all morning writing an entire opening argument about those lips.
Stop it. Ryder’s, remember?
As if that ever mattered to Ryder.
It should have. Don’t stoop to his level.
Shit. Childish arguments spun his head until his vision blurred. He needed to get a life. Quickly. He bit his own lip to silence his rambling brain. Contagious, apparently.
“No. Well, maybe. We’ve both been so busy that we haven’t talked much lately.” She shrugged and grabbed another carrot and brought it to Caesar in the next stall.
Lately? “Claire, I’ve been a lawyer since you met my brother, and we started the brewery last summer.” He stood and watched as she avoided eye contact.
“Okay. So, that’s a no. He doesn’t talk about his family much.” Neatly avoiding further questioning, she crossed the barn and perused the office and tack room.
He let it slide.
“Take me for a ride?” Hands folded behind her back, she asked sweetly, the corner of her mouth quirked up as she realized her innuendo. Again.
Ha. He saw through it already. That charming face she pasted on seemed designed to get her way, without a person realizing that she’d gotten away with murder.
Hell, yeah, he wanted to sayyes. Her tempting lips were in full pout, driving his imagination straight to the gutter. He stepped closer, so they were toe-to-toe, the air between them sucking him closer like gravity was simply doing its thing, and he was the fool to ignore it. “Look, my libido’s running on overdrive already. Don’t push me.” Brushing past her, bristling with unbridled sexual frustration, he escaped into the tack room to grab his favorite saddle and, well, hide.
From the middle of the stables, her husky, mischievous laugh reverberated across the cavernous room and somehow made everything okay. At his honesty, she could have taken that so badly and stormed into the house, declaring to her fiancé that his brother was a lecher and a jerk.
