Cassie slid off its back, turned in Shane’s direction and blew him a kiss before running out of the arena.
Relief mingled with a sort of amused irritation. The man next to Shane guffawed and elbowed him. “What’d I tell you? Cassie knows what she’s doin’. There’s no one knows horses better’n her and Hawk Donovan.” He then fell silent, listening intently as the announcer stated her scores and the crowd applauded once again.
Minutes later, Cassie was slipping into the seat next to his, accepting the congratulations and good-natured ribbing of those around her with equanimity. She went into his arms with an ease that never failed to warm him. “I didn’t catch the score, did you?” When Shane repeated it for her, she wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
“What?” he asked. “That’s a great score. Best so far.”
“With eight more contestants after me, it won’t be good enough to win.” She settled in the seat next to his. “Half the score is based on the horse’s performance, and with my weight I’m never going to be exposed to the horse’s maximum strength.”
She could still surprise him, despite the fact they’d been dating six months. “If you know that going in, why the heck do you take the risks?”
Her lips curved. “For the thrill, of course.” She laughed when she saw his expression. “You know what else would thrill me?”
Her tone was innocent enough. The hand sliding up his leg was anything but. He clamped one hand firmly over hers to stop her teasing, even as his hormones expressed immediate interest. He wasn’t yet entirely comfortable with just how easily he responded to this woman. “What?”
“Letting you take me out of here and…” She leaned closer to breathe the rest into his ear. “…buy me a corn dog.”
Shane winced. “Do you know what they put in those things?”
“No, and don’t ruin it for me. We can’t come to the county fair without tasting all the once-a-year treats.”
He rose and followed her out of the stands. “Okay, but I’m not buying cotton candy. I do have medical ethics to uphold, you know.”
Slipping her arm through his, she leaned her head on his arm. “No problem. I brought my own money.”
Shane leaned back on the one empty bench they managed to find in the crowded midway and stretched out his legs. Crossing his arms over his stomach, he barely managed to stifle a groan. Despite his best intentions, he hadn’t done particularly well at withstanding Cassie’s constant invitations to take “just a bite.” As a result, he’d ingested some of the most dubious offerings masquerading as food he’d ever experienced. Following her gaze to a nearby food cart, he said emphatically, “Don’t even think about it. After three corn dogs—which could be more aptly named heart attack on a stick—cotton candy, a pretzel, a caramel apple and something called wild melon sorbet, you can’t possibly be thinking of eating a funnel cake.”
With a look of unmistakable regret on her face, she nodded. “You’re right. I should give it another hour. I’ll be hungry again by then.”
He cocked an eyebrow, raked her slight figure with disbelief. “Your metabolism just might constitute a medical miracle. I should alert researchers at the National Institute of Health.”
Quick reflexes had him deflecting the elbow she jabbed at him. “Not everything has a scientific explanation, you know. And my metabolism is only one of my inexplicable talents.”
Her words managed to puncture his feeling of well-being. He didn’t want to engage in yet another conversation about her so-called abilities. Not for the first time he wondered what had happened to the woman he’d thought he’d known. The one full of life and fun, but with shadows of secret sorrows in her eyes that she’d never spoken of. The one whose sudden claim of psychic ability terrified and dismayed him by turns.
Deliberately, he changed the subject. “What’s the game plan for the rest of the afternoon? Are you signed up for any more death-defying events?”
She laughed, shook her head. “Nope, but you really haven’t experienced the fair until you enter something yourself. I think they’re still looking for contestants for the pie-eating contest.”
Apparently the expression on his face was its own answer. She went on without pausing a beat. “No? Well, the longest beard is out, because even if you’d been interested, you didn’t get the head start most of those guys did. Although,” she reached up, rubbed her hand over his unshaven jaw, “I have to say, the day-old beard is a good look for you.” Her fingers lingered, and her touch, coupled with the slow smile she gave him, ignited an immediate flicker of heat.
“Really?” He lowered his voice intimately. “That’s not what you said when my whiskers were leaving marks on your skin yesterday morning. I distinctly remember when I was kissing your breasts and you said—”
“Or we could go see Hawk at the horse barn.” Cassie jumped up, her cheeks flushed. “I probably should. He’s been stuck with the chores all day.”
Shane rose as well, satisfied by the flare of color his suggestive remark had brought to her face. The woman was a study of contrasts. Strong and confident in her reputation as one of the leading horse breeders in the nation, yet appearing almost unsure sometimes of the allure of her own femininity. Assertive on one hand, with flashes of an unexpected vulnerability that had gotten to him from the first. Discovering the layers of her was an endless fascination.
Or had been until he’d uncovered the one thing about her that would have sent him running from any other woman. The one thing that he’d never be able to live with.
An innate protectiveness had him moving closer to her side, to shield her from the mob of people jostling around them as they made their way to the horse barn. He couldn’t explain to himself why he hadn’t run, couldn’t explain the stubborn hope he clung to that he could talk her out of her sudden foolishness. He only knew it was imperative that he do so.
The crowd thinned as they got closer to their destination. Cassie’s steps slowed as they approached a line of children having their faces painted by an older woman sitting on a stool at the edge of the midway. There were shrieks of laughter as the children dodged around them on their way back to their waiting parents, eager to show off the small brightly colored pictures adorning their cheeks.
“Well, this seems like a harmless enough interest,” he said, glancing down at her. She’d come to a complete halt, her gaze fixed on the woman with the paints. “Are you getting the lasso or the horse?”
Her head cocked, Cassie stared intently at the woman. “She looks familiar, but I don’t think I know her, and I recognize just about most in the county.”
Shane shrugged. The sun overhead was merciless in a way he’d been unfamiliar with until he’d experienced Texas heat firsthand. He found himself wondering if the horse barn would be air-conditioned. Somehow he doubted it.
“Maybe she’s someone who travels the county fairs in the area,” he suggested.
At that moment, the older woman looked up and smiled. “Come, Cassie, it’s your turn now.”
There was a slight accent to her words that Shane couldn’t identify, but it matched the exotic slant of her eyes. Aside from that, her appearance blended in with most of the other fairgoers.
