Page 10 of Stirring Up Trouble (Saddle Up #1)

Eight

Blaze

“We can go lower on the price if you want, Mr. Anders,” Hazel Grove, one of the horse trainers said. “I understand if it’s not to your liking. I’ll call my father?—”

“No need. The price is fine.”

I should have made an excuse about why I was scowling at her. I should have admitted my mind wasn’t in the moment.

But that would have meant telling her where my mind actually was and that wouldn’t do. No one needed to know about the man who had me losing my fucking mind.

Robin Joffry had taken every ounce of my focus when he’d shown up. I couldn’t hold a steady thought for more than a few minutes. Soon as I’d get into the task, I’d wonder where Robin was or what he was doing. I’d think about the people here at the arena and how they might speak with him.

There was part of me that wanted to walk right behind him scowling at every person we came across. I wanted to assert my dominance in a way they’d know not to speak to him unless it was about the rodeo.

It was ridiculous, yet I couldn’t seem to stop.

“In that case, I’ll get the papers drawn up for the sale. Thanks for reaching out to me about this. I don’t usually have anyone asking after any sheep for sale here.”

I bet she didn’t. And considering I hadn’t planned on getting any, it was a damn wonder I was leaving with half a dozen of them.

When I’d watched Robin and Elton move through the sheep pen earlier, I couldn’t ignore the way his eyes lit up as he checked the animals over. Before he’d gone in, his mouth had been downturned, and his shoulders lifted. His annoyance with something — or someone — was obvious.

Then he went to petting the sheep and it all fell away.

I knew then that I needed to get some out to the ranch.

We weren’t really a place to have said sheep at the moment, which meant I needed to contact my foreman, Keaton, to get things in order. He’d know exactly what we’d need to make this all look intentional.

While I sure as shit wanted to make Robin happy, I didn’t need to show my hand too soon. First, we had to sort out this thing between us. I needed to know how far he wanted to take things. Was he seeing me as only a potential hookup? Or did he want more?

I also needed to assess my own feelings deeper. Could I see myself being with Robin long-term? Prior to his arrival, I’d sworn off relationships altogether.

One look him, and I wanted to break all my rules.

I wanted a home with him. Wanted to give him my heart and have him trust me with his. I wanted forever.

My pulse skittered at the idea. What the hell did I know of forever?

Mama’s voice echoed through my mind: “Forever is yours when you find the person meant for you. It’ll all line up in ways you couldn’t even imagine.”

She was right about part of it at least. Robin was not at all what I imagined, even when I was looking for love.

But now I didn’t want anyone else. I only wanted him. My adorable vet with a heart too big for his own good.

“Keaton will be in touch about delivery. Call him once the day’s events are over. He’ll be done with ranch chores by then.”

Hazel nodded, then waved as she drifted away. Her tight smile told me I wasn’t fooling anyone with my shortened attention span.

Leaving my office behind her, I stalked further into the arena. It had been forty-nine minutes since I’d last laid eyes on my—on Robin. He wasn’t mine. Not yet.

As I rounded the corner closest to the stalls, I caught sight of him talking with a small group of men. He held their full attention as he spoke. Every pair of eyes watched him closely. A few even looked like they wanted to take a bite out of him

What the fuck was wrong with people? First Corny tried to flirt with him. Now these motherfuckers thought they had a shot.

I’d ended up sparing my ranch hand from murder, though the hell raising I did to him made it clear he wasn’t supposed to flirt with any guest of the ranch. But these men weren’t under my rule. They didn’t have any loyalty to me other than participating in events for the rodeo.

Before I could figure out a plan to get them to leave him alone, Robin’s phone rang. His gaze when down to the screen as he was laughing about something. The smile on his lips died instantly.

“I have to take this,” I heard him half shout before he jogged in my direction.

Leaning back against the wall, I waited for him to pass. Instead, the man turned the corner to where I’d hidden myself and answered the line.

“What’s wrong?”

Since I couldn’t hear the other caller, I could only guess what was going on from this side of things. With how tightly Robin was holding on to his phone, I had to believe he was expecting the worst.

“Of course I think it’s something bad. You don’t ever call unless it is. Hell, you didn’t call for so long, I had a PI look for you. Remember that?”

I frowned. Who would he need to hire a private investigator to find?

“Well then tell me the good news, big brother. I’d love to hear why you’re calling me out of the blue.”

Big brother? Things were starting to piece together. His animosity, the call out about the search from before, and the level of sarcasm put it into perspective for me.

Robin and his brother had beef.

Long standing, if I had to guess.

And they didn’t talk often.

“I’m in the middle of a rodeo right now. I can’t come visit. If you wait, then I’ll come see you in a few weeks. Deal?”

There was a pause. A long one. Which told me his brother was giving his own spiel about the situation.

Eventually, Robin sighed. “Yes, that’s fine. Please give Gerald my best. Love you too, Wes.”

I realized too late I should have left before he turned around. The minute he spun around, I was there, an obvious observer to his private moment.

“Blaze!”

“Robin,” I drawled slowly. “You good?”

He shook his head, then stopped himself before nodding slowly. “I’m ok. Just… just talking to my brother. He wants me to come visit.”

“You don’t want to go.”

It wasn’t a question. We both knew as much.

His gaze went back to his phone as he remained quiet. Was he going to try to contradict me? Or did he feel different about the situation?

I wanted him to open up to me. I wanted to know every piece of the reasoning behind how he felt about this Wes fellow.

But I didn’t deserve all those details yet.

Robin knew it too, because when he answered, it was with a dismissive, “It’s all fine. We’ll get together when there’s time. I need to get back.”

He walked past me with his head held high. I almost reached out to grab him. If I’d had any idea of what kind of advice to give, then I would have. As it were, I was as lost about it as he seemed to be.

I waited until I heard his footsteps disappear before I took off to find Leslie. She might know what was going on with all the time she’d spent around our guests. That, and she was a nosy person in general. She could sniff out the truth before someone even finished their lie.

As I searched for her, I pulled my phone out to call Keaton. My foreman answered on the first ring, which I always appreciated. He was prepared for damn near anything with those lightning reflexes.

“Boss. What can I do for ya?”

“We’re going to need some space cleared away for a few sheep. 'Bout six of them will be coming in from Hazel Grace’s place later this week.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You ain’t gonna ask me why we’re bringing in sheep, Keaton?”

He grunted. “No, sir. It’s not my business. Only need to know what I’m managing. The rest is yours to decide.”

“And if I wanted to bring home four times that amount?”

“Then we’d need to get to work building some fencing to hold them while we got better shelter in place.”

“Don’t worry, Keaton. I’m not going to increase those numbers. We’ll start with these to see if it works out. We might find ourselves proper sheep farmers before it’s all said and done.”

“Yes, sir. We might.”

“Let me know if anything comes up, ok? I’m never too busy for the ranch.”

“I know, Mr. Anders. I’ll call ya if I need ya.”

With that, I hung up. He couldn’t give me any better assurances than that.

Leslie wound up being by the food trucks. She was flirting with a young girl who looked more like a college student than a woman who could go toe-to-toe with my friend. Leslie would eat the poor thing alive if given the chance.

I placed my hand on her lower back when I approached. Her head whipped my way. The curl of her lip told me she was seconds away from letting me have it because she thought I was some stranger.

“Darlin’, I need to talk to you about something. It’s rather urgent.” I made my voice deeper as I thickened the accent.

The girl at the window damn near swooned. Leslie groaned when she realized the attention was no longer on her.

“Sure thing, sugar. Let’s go talk over there.” She pointed to one of the empty tables.

I shook my head as I steered her somewhere private. We didn’t need anyone else eavesdropping on our conversation. Too many people wanted a shot at my spot. I didn’t need to give them any ammunition to falsely accuse me of anything.

“What is this about, Blaze? I was having some fun during my lunch break. You ever heard of that.”

“Which part? The lunch break or the fun?” I paused. “Doesn’t matter. I need you now.”

“Ugh! That’s what I wanted her to say.”

“She’s a baby, Leslie. Don’t corrupt the young ones. Give them a chance.”

Her snort made me smile. “That girl was kinky as fuck. She just looks innocent. I know. My radar is never wrong.”

“Enough with your whining. I need to know if you’ve heard anything about Robin’s brother. Or his family in general.”

“Why? Did something happen?” Leslie’s brow arched.

“He got a call earlier. It seemed to have upset him a bit. I wanted to offer support, but he acted like he was fine.”

“Maybe because he was.”

“No. I could tell he wasn’t. He mentioned Wes and said it was his big brother. I’m just looking for some intel to help me out.”

She crossed her arms as she took me in from head to toe. Whatever she saw had her arms dropping and a stupid grin lighting up her face.

“You really, really like him! That’s why you’re all torn up about him. Oh, this is great. I knew you were curious, but this is much, much better. There are feelings and shit, huh?”

“How elegant of you. Are you going to tell me anything useful or is this now an interrogation?”

“I don’t know much, Blaze. He’s hinted at some stuff but didn’t go into detail.”

Throwing up my hands, I turned away from her. Leslie chuckled as she gripped my bicep. For anyone else, I might have snarled or smacked their hand away. Since it was the person I trusted most next to Ms. Connie and Marian, I kept control as I waited for whatever she had to say.

“I’ll try to talk to him if I can. It is probably nothing. But if it’s worth your time, I’ll come blab right away. Deal?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

“Anything for you, sugar.” She patted my cheek, then winked and sashayed away. I laughed, then got on with my own plans for the day. Standing and looking lost wasn’t going to keep this rodeo running. I could fall apart later.