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He chuckled. “Perhaps you’re right. Sure, I’ll keep a lookout for you.”

“Thanks, Sonny.” She turned and gasped, finding Riley close behind her. How on earth had he entered the barn with the horse and she hadn’t even heard him? Sonny didn’t even indicate that Riley had come in. Was she so twitterpated that she blocked out the most important parts of living out on a ranch?

Riley glanced from her to Sonny, then back again. “You want me to brush her down?”

She swallowed at the lump in her throat and pleaded with her body to behave. She didn’t need to blush every single time Riley was nearby. Nodding, she gave him a tight smile. “That would be great. I have some work to do back at my family’s ranch, so I’ll meet you back here around six. I think we can get them saddled in fifteen, don’t you?”

He shot another look at Sonny. “Yeah. That shouldn’t be a problem.”

She patted his upper arm as she moved past him.

Big, big mistake.

A strange electrical current seemed to flow from him into her at the point of contact. She sucked in sharply and continued walking. To stop and stare would have been to admit something had happened, and she wasn’t willing to admit to that just yet.

Nope. Nothing strange was going on. Nothing at all.

As she reached the doorway, she slowed and set one last fleeting look on the man who seemed to have a strange hold on her. He wasn’t paying attention to her, which was all the better. It gave her a moment to try to make sense of the churning sensation in her stomach.

Turned out that was a lost cause.

She might never figure out what was going on.

9

Riley

Hot,ugly, fiery jealousy sparked in his gut. Riley knew it from the second he experienced it. When he’d entered the barn and he saw Grace speaking with that cowboy, it was like a switch had flipped inside him. He didn’t want to admit it, let alone would he ever act on it, but deep down he would find a mild amount of pleasure in running the kid out of town.

His cheek twitched and he shook his head sharply to ease the tick. Maybe he needed more help than anyone actually realized. He was developing an attachment to Grace—and an unhealthy one at that. What would Shane say if he knew?

He’d probably reassign Grace to someone else.

The tightness in Riley’s stomach worsened. He couldn’t allow that. His attachment was normal, right? She was actually the one thing besides the horses that he looked forward to seeing each day. If she got fired, he didn’t think he’d be prepared to continue his sessions.

Riley glowered at the cowboy in question as the kid waved, walking past him down the aisle with a horse he was probably taking to the corrals himself. The kid immediately yanked his attention elsewhere.

Good riddance.

The funny thing was that Riley knew he wasn’t supposed to care this much. He didn’t even know if Grace liked the kid. They certainly looked to be about the same age. It would make sense for her to be drawn to someone who fit that description.

It also made sense for her to be interested in someone who didn’t cart around all the baggage he had.

Riley gave an exasperated grunt and continued brushing Maple down. She snorted and her ears twitched as she shifted out of his reach.

“Hey,” he muttered, “get back here.”

She pawed at the ground and shifted again when he reached for her.

Great. Now the horse was being stubborn again, which only meant one thing. His emotions were showing.

Ridiculous. He glared at the animal. “I’m not mad at you, you dumb animal. I’m mad at something else.”

She blew air out of her lips and tossed her head.

A groan left his lips this time. “I’m mad at myself, okay? I don’t like what’s happening.” He leaned against the wall and slid down it into the straw. His forearms rested on his knees and he peered up at Maple. “You’re lucky, you know that? You don’t have to worry about anything besides your food, shelter and training.” His tone softened a little. “What wouldn’t I give to have that kind of life.”

But then he wouldn’t have met Grace. He wouldn’t have the brief flickers of what could possibly be happiness.