CHAPTER FOUR
When they walked into the barn, Luke was
there with a big black gelding in crossties, while he saddled him.
His head was bent and his nimble fingers moved over the buckles and
cinches underneath the gelding with knowledge. He'd ridden a
motorcycle when they dated, not a horse. She'd never seen him
around a horse, other than hers when he watched her barrel race at
rodeos. He stood up then walked to the horse's head and expertly
pinched his upper lip and slid the bit gently between his teeth,
pulling the straps up over his cheeks and ears.
He glanced over at them when he was done.
"Hey, Bud...Cassie."
He tipped his hat at her then pulled a hoof
pick out of his back pocket and lifted the gelding's front leg to
inspect his hoof. After he finished inspecting all four feet, he
patted the big horse's side and unclipped the crossties and grabbed
the reins. "I'll be out back when ya'll are ready."
Why his ability to groom and tack a horse
would turn her on, she had no idea. But it did. Heat moved up her
throat to her face and she swallowed hard and nodded.
"We'll be ready directly, Luke," Bud told
him.
She watched as he turned the horse toward
the back door of the barn, the sight of his broad shoulders and
fine ass in those blue jeans ramping up the funny little flutters
that were dancing around in her chest. Forcefully, she tamped down
the fluttering and sucked in a breath.
Luke Matthews was off limits to her...she
was an engaged woman, she reminded herself. And even if she wasn't,
Cassie wasn't about to put herself out there again with him to let
the cheating bastard hurt her again. Even for what she knew would
be the best sex she'd had in ten years.
"Your saddle and spurs are still in the tack
room, Cassie Bee. You can ride Honey today. She's got some spunk,
but she won't give you any trouble." He led her over to a stall
where a beautiful golden palomino mare sat lazily munching on the
hay she'd put in there earlier. "Damn good cutter, too," Bud told
her.
Cassie clicked her tongue and the horse
looked up then sauntered over to put her head over the gate. She
scratched her behind the ear, then rubbed her muzzle. "Hiya, pretty
girl." The beautiful horse nudged her hand with her nose. "Yeah,
we'll get along fine, won't we?" Honey neighed and snorted and
Cassie laughed.
This is what she'd been missing for ten
years...her bond with animals. Maybe when she got back to Phoenix,
she'd find a barn where she could lease a horse to ride when she
got the urge.
Pushing away from the stall, Cassie went to
the tack room and found her saddle lovingly covered with a soft
cotton cover, her spurs on the shelf above. Reaching up she pulled
down the spurs and clipped them on her boots, then she removed the
cover on the saddle and ran her hand reverently over the gorgeous
well-oiled leather. She'd won it barrel racing, her title and the
date was commemorated for all time by the deep engraving on the
fender. Feeling sentimental, she leaned over the saddle horse and
hugged the saddle to her, then stood up and lifted it over her
shoulder, the stirrups banging against her waist and rear.
The rowels of her spurs sang a familiar tune
as she walked back into the barn to find that Bud had cross-tied
Honey and brushed her out already. "Thanks, Bud," she said and
walked over to pat the horse and run her hand along her spine,
before she placed her hot pink saddle blanket over the horse's
back.
She walked around front and petted Honey's
nose. "We're gonna look mighty fine today, Honey. You get to wear
my prize saddle." Cassie told her then gently set it on her back
and tightened the cinches. When she was done saddling Honey, she
grabbed a coiled rope from a peg on the wall and secured it on a
clip on the saddle.
"You got your rifle with you, Bud? Daddy
said the reason he got thrown was a rattlesnake."
"Always, honey," he said then patted his
saddle where it was sheathed. "The snakes are pretty bad this year,
but what happened to your daddy was a fluke."
"I sure hope so...you know how I hate
snakes."
"I remember," he said and a chuckle rumbled
deep in his chest. "That garter snake you ran up on in the garden
that time really made an impression on you. I don't think your feet
hit the ground more than twice, before you made it to the bunkhouse
to get me."
"It certainly gave me a healthy respect for
them."
"No worries, sugar. I'll shoot 'em for ya."
He grabbed his reins and led his horse toward the back exit and she
followed a safe distance behind.
Once they were outside, they met up with
Luke who was already mounted and waiting for them. She tossed her
reins over Honey's head and then grabbed the pommel and put her
left foot in the stirrup. With a bounce, she swung her leg over
Honey's back and settled herself in the saddle.
So far, so good, Cassie thought as she
clicked her tongue and Honey started moving forward toward the gate
to the pasture. Bud was right behind her on the big roan mare that
had been so friendly to her this morning, followed by an unusually
quiet Luke on the big black gelding.
When she got through the gate, she squeezed
her legs and urged Honey to a trot, then a cantor. Cassie stopped
her then circled her around testing the horse's response to her
reining commands. She was soft in the mouth and responded
beautifully in both directions. She pulled back on the reins gently
and the horse immediately responded by backing quickly until she
released the pressure on her mouth. Bud pulled up beside her and
she looked at him and grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah, she's real
good, Bud."
"She certainly is." Luke said and she looked
over at him. The intensity in his smoky brown eyes told her he
wasn't talking about Honey. "I've missed seeing you ride,
cupcake...I forgot how good you were."
Tingles from his deep rich voice worked
their way over her face, down her throat to settle around her
nipples, which had instantly had responded to his sexual innuendo.
Cassie lifted her chin, then spun Honey around kicking her sides
harder than necessary, then leaned low over the horse's neck as she
took off in a gallop across the open field. Cassie didn't know
where she was going, but wherever she wound up she'd be away from
the irritating temptation of Luke Matthews.
"She's somethin ain't she?" Bud said with
reverence watching Cassie riding hell bent for leather across the
field, her blonde hair flying out behind her.
"Definitely," Luke agreed swallowing down
the lust that mule-kicked him in the chest. He shifted in his
saddle, his current position, no longer comfortable. "Let's catch
up with her before she breaks her neck," Luke said then urged his
horse to a trot, then a gallop.
When they rounded the copse of trees at the
end of the pasture, he saw she had slowed her horse to a walk. He
pulled up beside her with Bud right behind him. "You think you can
wait on us?"
Cassie shrugged. "I felt like a run. It's
been a long time."
"Don't forget it sweet thing. You might have
been a rodeo queen, but it's been ten years since you've been in
the saddle. You need to be more careful."
"You don't have to worry about me,
honey
bunch
. I've been riding since I could walk."
"So has your daddy, and he got thrown." Luke
was seriously worried that she'd take for granted she was rusty and
hurt herself because of it.
She pushed her hat back on her head and
pinned him with angry blue eyes. "My daddy only got thrown, because
of an inexperienced horse and a snake," she told him then looked
away, her shoulders stiff.
Luke heard Bud chuckle behind him and shot a
look over his shoulder. The man could at least support him and give
her a warning himself, but it looked like the old cowboy was just
hanging back enjoying their conversation.
"Suit yourself, sunshine," he said to the
stubborn woman then kicked his horse into a gallop. Two could play
her game. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw that she had
Honey at a gallop again and she was low over her neck, pushing her
hard to catch up to him. He grinned and urged his mount faster
toward the fence in the distance. When he got there he lifted the
horse up and hugged close to his neck as the long-legged gelding
jumped the fence with ease.
Once he got over, he pulled him to a stop
and spun around to grin at her as she neared the fence herself. It
was poetry in motion to watch her communicate with her horse with
her body language to urge the beautiful palomino over the fence as
well. She didn't stop though, she gave him a cocky smile when she
passed and then kept hauling butt across the pasture toward the
herd grazing in the distance.
Instead of following her, Luke waited for
Bud to catch up and got down to open the gate to let him through.
The big grizzly man was grinning from ear to ear. Bud was enjoying
the shit out of the sparks flying between him and Cassie. Secretly,
Luke was enjoying it too. It had been a long time since he'd had
this much fun.
"Thanks. Better go catch up with that girl
before she has the whole herd hog-tied." Bud chuckled and kicked
his horse to a cantor, after Luke was remounted. They reached the
herd a few minutes later, and Cassie was already off her horse,
moving through the black cows inspecting the pregnant ones more
thoroughly.
"I got a list of the ones we need to cut
Cassie Bee, but if you wanna look them over too, that's not a
problem."
She looked up at Bud distractedly then said,
"I'm just thinking since we're short on hands, we might wanna think
about having a twofer sale before they drop the calves."
"Your daddy would have a stroke. That's a
lot of money to give away, darlin'."
"I know, but if we sold at least some of
them, it would make the herd more manageable," she told him and
then pushed her hat back on her head to look at him earnestly.
"Carl ain't gonna go along with that,
Cassie. We'll have enough hands to handle it with the new hand I
hired, and you and Luke."
"I'm sure Luke has better things to do, and
if we sold of part of the herd now, we wouldn't need him." Cassie
glanced at Luke then back to Bud.
So that was her angle, Luke thought. Getting
rid of him. Well, she could put that thought out to pasture,
because he wasn't going anywhere. "I agree with Bud and Carl. We
have enough hands now, and if you sold the pregnant cows you'd be
losing a fortune."
Her eyes narrowed and she shot daggers at
him, her full lips pinched before she said, "And your opinion would
matter why? What the hell do you know about cattle?"
"A hell of a lot more than you think,
darlin'. Didn't Bud tell you I worked on a cattle ranch while I was
in college?" He looked over at Bud who was still just smiling from
ear to ear, but not backing him up at all.
Cassie's eyes flew to Bud as well. "No,
there's a lot he failed to mention, evidently." She stomped over to
her horse and remounted, then shoved her hat back on her head.
"Which ones do we need to cut, Bud?"
He pulled a small notebook from his pocket
and flipped back the cover. As Bud called out numbers, she and Luke
moved through the herd to search the ear tags on the pregnant cows
to find the one he called. Together, they worked as a team to cull
them from the herd then moved them over to the corner of the
pasture where Bud stayed behind to keep them cornered there.
They'd separated six cows from the herd so
far, and Bud said there were ten more on his list. Her thigh
muscles were aching and her ass felt like it had when she'd been
paddled by the principal in sixth grade for putting a frog in Becca
Harvey's book sack.
It had been worth it to see the horror on
Becca's face and hear her girly scream when she reached inside to
pull out her book and the slimy toad jumped out and landed on her
chest. There was a riot in class when everyone jumped up trying to
catch the jumpy amphibian. Mrs. Simpson was not as impressed as the
kids in her class were and sent her to the principal's office.
The number Bud had last called appeared on
the ear tag of the cow right in front of her and she signaled Honey
and managed to work the clumsy cow over by a tree. She waved at
Luke and he started toward her, then she heard a sound like
crunching leaves to her left and looked down to find a dusty brown
snake with a diamond pattern on his back coiled up and not looking
happy.
Cassie screamed and automatically squeezed
her thighs around Honey like a green horn. The mare took off from
under her and a limb caught her across the chest. She somersaulted
off the back of the horse then landed face first in the dirt
knocking the breath out of her. Numbness claimed her whole body as
shock set in and she began shaking.
She heard a rifle shot nearby and then Luke
was beside her his long-fingered hands moving over her body from
head to toe. "Cassie, sugar...talk to me. Are you hurt, darlin?"
His voice was choked and scared, as he begged close to her ear,
"C'mon cupcake. Talk to me." His fingers certainly got her blood
moving again as he gently moved them through her hair, down her
neck and then her shoulders, arms and ribs.