think they are one of your best features.” He leaned forward and touched her freckled nose with his lips.
Megan’s eyes widened. Had he just kissed her? Was she dreaming? Her lips tingled in hopeful anticipation of a kiss that met her mouth, not her nose. She swept her tongue across her suddenly dry lips, and she stared up into his eyes.
Daniel’s thumb brushed her lips again. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“This.” He leaned forward and touched his mouth to hers, his tongue sweeping across the seam of her lips.
She opened to him as naturally as a morning glory opened to the sun. Her hands curled into his shirt, dragging him closer.
Daniel crushed her to him, his arms tightening around her. His tongue slipped past her teeth, claiming her in a long, sensual kiss that made her blood burn a path all the way to her core.
When at last he raised his head, he stared down at her as if seeing her for the first time.
Suddenly she felt shy. Her cheeks heated and she stammered, “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”
Her words seemed to shake him out of his trance, his body stiffening. “Right. You’re welcome.” He glanced away, looking anywhere but at her. “I’d have done it for anyone.”
He could have stuck a pin in her ego, as deflated as she felt after that incredible kiss and then his complete brush-off. A rush of adrenaline-induced anger made her back straighten. She was sitting in his lap, for heaven’s sake, and there was no mistaking his obvious attraction to her pressing against her.
“Here, let me help you down.” He gripped her arms and started to lift her off him.
Megan’s arms slipped around his neck, refusing to let him dislodge her from his lap. Damn it. She didn’t want down. Where she sat was exactly where she’d ached to be for so long. She wanted to scream with frustration that he now seemed determined to put her back in her place.
Megan tilted her chin in challenge. “I know you would have rescued anyone. That’s the kind of person you are. But would you have kissed anyone like you just kissed me?”
Daniel helped Megan slide around him to ride double behind him. Then he turned back for the barn.
“Aren’t we going after Halo?” she asked.
“We’re closer to the barn. I’ll come back to get her when she’s had time to calm down.”
All he got from Megan was a soft snort. He could feel her anger and was torn between regret and relief. She was his employee. He had no right to kiss her like he had. Instead of holding around his waist, she gripped the rim of the saddle’s seat and didn’t say a word.
Her silence made Daniel’s gut knot. This was the reason he didn’t mix business with pleasure. And holy hell, it had been all pleasure, the feel of Megan’s lips on his, her body pressed tightly to his. But when you crossed the line, you couldn’t go back. The easy camaraderie they’d had before the kiss might be gone for good.
Jack, the oldest of Daniel’s half siblings, and his younger brother Brett stood by the barn, sunlight glinting off their dark brown hair. They draped their arms over the wooden fence rail, their brows rising when Rider turned, revealing Megan behind Daniel.
Jack frowned. “Run into trouble?”
A grin split Brett’s face. “Or creating some of your own?”
Daniel glared at Brett.
As soon as they reached the barn, Megan slid off the horse’s rump, her cheeks bright pink. “I’ll go look for Halo,” she said, turning toward the barn to find another horse.
“Don’t worry about her. Jack and Brett can saddle up and help me go after her.”
“Fine.” Megan, her face averted, ran for the barn.
Brett’s smile disappeared. “What happened?”
“Something spooked Halo.”
His younger brother’s gaze followed Megan. “Not the horse. Megan. What happened with Megan?” He faced Daniel.
Heat suffused Daniel’s cheeks and spread all the way out to his ears. “When the horse bolted with Megan, I pulled her off. She rode back with me. That’s all.” He narrowed his eyes, willing his brothers to stop with the inquisition about Megan. “What did you think happened?”
Brett’s mouth twisted. “I don’t know, but Megan just ran off like a scalded cat.”
Daniel blew out a breath. “The point is, Halo spooked and nearly hurt Megan.”
Jack’s brows drew together. “That’s not like her. Halo’s one of our gentlest mares.”
“I know. All the more reason to bring her back and find out what’s wrong with her.” Daniel looked from Jack to Brett. “Are you coming or not?”
Brett spun and trotted toward the barn. “It’ll just take us a minute to saddle up.”
Daniel dismounted and led Rider to the watering trough, watching through his peripheral vision for Megan to emerge from the barn.
By the time his brothers had captured and saddled their horses, Megan still hadn’t come out of the barn. Daniel knew it had been a mistake to kiss her. Now she was too embarrassed to come out while he was still around. She was the best assistant he’d had. Okay, so she was the only assistant he’d had. Now that his breeding program was doing well, he needed all the help he could get.
Megan was smart, computer savvy and great with the horses. He hoped she didn’t quit because of one little kiss. One completely soul-defining, world-shattering kiss.
Daniel groaned.
“Got a bellyache?” Brett asked, leading his bay gelding out of the barn, followed by Jack.
“No, just thinking.”
Jack swung up on his horse, carrying a lasso in his right hand and reining with the left. “Thinking these designer horses aren’t the way to go after all?”
“No, not at all.” Daniel had put a lot of thought, planning, research and sweat into the horse-breeding program, and it was just beginning to pay off. He wasn’t giving up now.
“I told you, Jack,” Brett said. “With Daniel’s eye for excellent breeding stock and Megan’s record-keeping capabilities, we’re finally starting to take off. It won’t be long before the Lucky C becomes a household name in progressive horse-breeding programs.”
Daniel’s chest swelled. “I’m determined to continue that progressive trend. Has Big J considered my proposal to purchase semen from the Kennedy Farms?”
“He’s thinking about it. You already know how I feel,” Jack said. “The Lucky C is a cattle ranch. We’ve always run
