the way I want to, not the way you dictate.”
Her mother’s gasp echoed over the line.
“Very well,” her father said in a steely voice. “If you’re not home in one week and actively looking for a suitable spouse, I will sell all of your beloved horses to a glue factory.”
Blood drained from Megan’s head, and her stomach flipped. “You can’t do that. Those horses are beautiful animals, and they should be with us. The horse-breeding program at Triple Diamond Ranch is one of the best. You can’t condemn them to a glue factory or even sell them just because you want me to come home.”
“I can and I will. If you care about the horses, show you care about your legacy and the future of Triple Diamond Ranch. One week, Megan.”
Daniel tossed all night. When he actually fell asleep he dreamed of Megan, her hair flying out behind her on a runaway horse. He chased her. For a long time she was just out of reach. When he finally caught up with her, he snatched her off her horse and into his arms. Then they kissed. The kiss turned into more and suddenly they were in his bed, making love.
Daniel jerked awake, hot, sweaty and more aroused than he’d ever been in his life. All stemming from a kiss that shouldn’t have happened.
Before dawn, he rose from his solitary bed in the cabin close to the breeding barn and pulled on a pair of jeans, a shirt and his boots. He couldn’t go back to sleep knowing Megan would be in his dreams, lying naked in his sheets. Everything about that image was wrong.
He’d be lucky if she even showed up for work today. And if she did, she’d probably come only to turn in her resignation.
By the time the sun came up over the horizon, Daniel had fed the horses, checked on his studs and prize mares and stacked twenty bags of feed in a corner of the barn. With his pulse still pounding and blood burning through his veins, he snapped a lunging rope on Rider’s halter and walked him out to the arena.
Daniel twirled the end of the rope and clucked his tongue. Rider started at a walk, more interested in an easy pace than actual exercise.
“Come on, boy. You need this as much as I do.” Daniel continued twirling the loose end of the rope. He clucked his tongue again and tapped the horse’s hindquarters with the rope.
Rider stepped up the pace and trotted around the circle, tossing his black mane in protest.
The monotonous circling calmed Daniel and the horse, and they settled into a rhythm of walking and trotting. Fifteen minutes passed before a voice called out.
“Daniel!”
Daniel’s hand tightened on the rope. Rider immediately came to a halt.
Heat rose up his neck and into his face as Daniel turned toward the voice.
Megan leaned over the arena’s metal fence, her arms folded over the top rail, lines etched across her smooth forehead.
Though he was happy Megan had returned, Daniel couldn’t erase his concern over the content of his dreams, and he worried his thoughts would be easily discernible in his eyes. Without meeting her gaze, Daniel nodded. “Good morning, Megan,” he acknowledged, gathering the rope until he held the horse on a short lead.
The normally reserved and always confident young woman chewed on her lower lip, and her brows puckered. “We need to talk,” she blurted.
His stomach knotting, Daniel braced himself. “Yes, we do. Let me take care of Rider first. Then we can talk uninterrupted.”
“Okay,” she said, biting on her lower lip again, driving Daniel nuts with the nervous movement that only drew his attention to the mouth he’d kissed so hard the day before.
He opened the gate to the arena and led Rider through.
Megan closed the gate and trailed behind Daniel and Rider, following them into the barn.
Not certain what he was going to say, Daniel chose to concentrate on the horse, putting off the talk as long as he could, hoping he could say something that would make sense and put things back on an even keel. He liked Megan. A lot. And he didn’t want to lose her over something as stupid, and inconsiderate, and completely unforgettable as a kiss.
Holy hell, he couldn’t even come up with an apology when he wasn’t at all sorry he’d kissed her. He’d be sorry only if she left because of it.
After grabbing a brush, Daniel stalled by running the brush over Rider’s back.
Megan fetched another brush and took the other side, working quickly, her strong hands smoothing over the horse’s sides, meeting Daniel over the horse’s hindquarters. She stared across the animal’s rump and said, “Daniel, I have to quit.” Then she spun and paced away from him.
“Won’t you at least give me the chance to apologize properly?”
Her head down, her boot heels pounding the dirt, she marched to the end of the barn and back. “Normally I’d give two weeks’ notice. But that’s impossible.”
His chest tightening with each of her words, Daniel stood with a brush in his hands. How could he salvage this situation and keep her on the Lucky C? “Under the circumstances, I don’t blame you, but I wish you’d reconsider.”
She paced, shaking her head, her long French braid whipping side to side. “If there was any other way, I wouldn’t go, but I don’t see another option.”
“Again, I don’t blame you. I blame myself.” He set the brush on a workbench and gathered Megan’s hands in his. “I wish there was something I could say or do to make it better. Please don’t go. I need you here.”
She stared up into his eyes. “I don’t have a choice. If I don’t leave, he’ll sell them all.” Her eyes swam with tears.
Daniel stared down at her. “What are you talking about?”
“My horses.” She frowned. “What did you think I was talking about?”
A wave of relief nearly made Daniel weak. “I thought you were mad about yesterday.”
Her frown deepening, she stared into his eyes. “Yesterday?” Then her eyes widened and her mouth formed a kissable O. “Yesterday.” Twin flags of color flew high on her cheekbones. “The kiss.”
“The kiss.” His hands slid up her arms and stopped before he pulled her close and kissed her again. “I thought you were going to leave because I crossed the line.”
“You think I’d leave because of a kiss? I thought you knew me better than that.”
“You had every right to quit. As your boss, I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
“For your information, there were two people involved in that kiss. It was not one-sided. And that’s not the reason I’m leaving.”
“Then what is?”
“My father.” She pulled in a long breath
