Page 53 of His True Mate

Brady eyed me with open curiosity.

“Never thought I’d hear those words from you. Didn’t even know you were looking,” Brady confessed.

“Neither did I,” Dalton admitted.

“Does that mean you’re sticking around, Winnie?”

“We’ve agreed to a month, and we’ll see from there.”

Brady smiled and nodded. “I’m sure Clay’s relieved to hear that.”

I wasn’t so sure about that, at least not as long as I was set about working with that wild horse, but I didn’t say as much.

“So you two have already met then. Splendid. Brady helps out more than most around here. Has a good connection with the animals too.”

I learned it was Brady’s day to rotate in. That helped a lot having someone I already knew, sort of at least.

Clay had called and apologized for not being able to meet me for lunch after all. Something had come up that he needed to address. I hadn’t minded, though. I was used to skipping lunch, so I’d used that time to talk to the horse some more.

I really needed to come up with a name for him. I couldn’t just call him wild horse forever.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by quickly.

At five o’clock sharp, Clay’s truck pulled up to take me home. I said goodbye to Brady and Dalton and jumped in.

“How was your first day at work?”

“Familiar. Pretty much the same ole same ole from back at the rodeo. It was good. I really like Dalton and I got to work with Brady, so that was nice.”

Clay growled and then sighed.

“Sorry, it’s just…”

“Brady’s an unmated male,” I guessed.

“Yup. I really am trying to keep it in check.”

I grinned and linked my arm with his as I scooted to the middle of the cab and put my head on his shoulder. I wasn’t about to tell him that I got a thrill every time his possessive side surfaced.

Instead, I just casually said, “I don’t mind.”

Clay

Chapter 13

Winnie and I fell into an easy routine, or rather she seemed to seamlessly fit into mine. We got up and I made breakfast while she got ready for the day. We ate and then rode together into work. I dropped her off an hour early each morning, but she didn’t seem to mind my schedule.

My fear was that she was working with that beast in the morning. I hated thinking of her and that horse. If he hurt her, I wasn’t sure what I would do, and I didn’t think she’d forgive me if I killed the thing.

Brady had been working with her all week and that didn’t sit well with me.

While I’d left her alone on her first day, I found myself making excuses to be around the stables more and more each day since.

“Clay, just get out of here,” Ruby finally said.

“Huh? Why?”

“I’ve just asked you the same question four times and you have yet to respond. It’s clear you’re here in body but not in mind. I’d be willing to bet there’s a cute little brunette working right down the road that has you all tied up in knots.”