what’s on the agenda, boss lady?” he asked, certain she had one.
“We’ll separate twelve horses to be gentled. One of you can help Garret rig them with cinches so they can get used to having their barrels strapped before we toss a saddle on them.” She grabbed another rope from a bundle on the fence. “The other can work with me.”
Tough choice. But he’d never been one to take the easy way out. “What are we gonna do?”
Her gaze flickered up, and Tucker swore he saw a smile in her eyes.
Seemed he wasn’t the only one who enjoyed a challenge.
“We get to teach your mustangs some manners,” she said.
“And we’ll work with the other eight tomorrow?” he asked.
Taken aback by his question, Skylar wondered just how much this handsome cowboy truly knew of horses. “No. We’ll work with the same twelve tomorrow.”
His pinched expression told her he didn’t like that answer.
“Morgan, you can either have twelve well-mannered horses, or twenty that won’t ride worth a damn. Your choice.”
“I hope you don’t think I’ll be leaving the others behind.”
Skylar hoped he didn’t plan on arriving in Wyoming with all twenty of his mares. They had plenty of wild territory to cross, and his band of horses would slow them down, making it nearly impossible to travel without being detected. Four measly horsemen certainly wouldn’t intimidate a band of thieves or hostile Indians into keeping their distance. Unsure of how Tucker would react to the prospect of such situations, she decided not to mention it. He’d catch on soon enough.
“You won’t have to leave any horses. The others will follow the more dominant of the group, but we need horses we can ride. I won’t put Garret on a wild mare, and I won’t kill our two stallions by pushing them too long and hard. When I’m finished, we’ll each have four horses, including our own mounts.”
Tucker’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re planning on doing some hard riding.”
“I plan to head out in two days and keep as fast a pace as possible.”
“Two days?”
“I already went over this with Chance, and he didn’t have a problem with leaving in two days. In fact, he seemed real pleased and said he’d ride out tomorrow to get supplies.”
“You’ll have twelve horses ready in two days?”
“I will.” She waited to hear him say she couldn’t. He surprised her by saying, “Then we bes’ get busy,” before he beamed one of his smiles.
She wished he wouldn’t do that. With his freshly shaven face all bronze and shiny, and the scent of shaving lather strong on his skin, Tucker was already plain delectable.
Skylar turned away from him, her face warming from the ridiculous thoughts fluttering through her mind.
Delectable?
Good Lord. She’d gotten carried away with a single kiss and now she was thinking like a harlot. She’d been working and bunking with men most her life, yet not one of them had ever caused her pulse to stir or mind to spin by simply looking at her. But she didn’t want a repeat of her encounter with Randal. She’d make it perfectly clear she had no such interest in Tucker.
What she needed was to get her hide on a wild mare and focus on work, not the green-eyed cowboy with a fallen-angel smile.
Tension eating at his spine, Tucker sat anxiously in his saddle, watching Skylar in silent fascination. After working with most of the mares they’d separated from the herd, he wasn’t proud to admit he’d eaten far more dirt than she had. In fact, she was presently sitting on the only horse that had managed to toss her from its back. More than once.
The first time he’d watched Skylar’s body slap against the unforgivably hard earth, his initial reaction had been to make sure she was all right. Before he could dismount, she’d jumped to her feet, dusted herself off and marched toward the mustang with a determination Tucker couldn’t help but admire.
Hang on, darlin’, he thought as the spotted mare dipped her head, digging her front hooves into the ground and whipping Skylar to another sharp stop. To Tucker’s surprise, the mare didn’t kick and thrash, but stood stock-still. Skylar appeared relaxed, her eyes narrow with concentration as she dug her boots into the stirrups and tightened her hold on the reins, preparing for another round of bucking.
The woman was amazing. She seemed to be able to predict the horse’s movements. And her voice… Tucker damn near melted off his mount every time she used that soft, sensual voice of hers to calm the mares.
As if cued by his thoughts, Skylar began talking softly to the mare, attempting to reason with a creature that had proven to be as strong-willed as she was.
Tucker’s muscles tensed as her sultry tone grated over his skin and curled around his senses. Needing a distraction, he glanced out at the wide streamers of pink streaking across the western sky, and doubted Skylar had even noticed the blush of sunset, her sole focus being the wild horse.
“Skylar,” Tucker said when she was quiet once more. “You’ve got to be exhausted. What do you say we call it day?”
“I’d like to ride her back to the ranch.” Her frown deepened. “But what I’d like don’t count for spit, or I’d be chin deep in a long tub filled with sudsy, warm water.”
Tucker chuckled. That had been another surprise. Though it was as dry as the desert floor, Skylar had a sense of humor, and she wasn’t as impossible to work with as he’d feared. In fact, they’d worked really smoothly together all day. Of course, the only time she seemed aware of his presence was when they switched mounts, and even then, their verbal exchange was minimal, each knowing what needed to be done without prompting from the other.
“Suppose I should be happy she’s letting me sit up here without trying to get me under her hooves,” she said with a heavy sigh.
She clearly wasn’t happy with the progress she’d made with this particular mare. The horse had only one direction in mind, and that was toward the setting sun. Skylar had managed to work her in circles, but they’d been steadily moving west for the last hour despite Skylar’s efforts to urge the horse in the opposite direction.
Tucker rode slowly toward her. “Put the lead back on her and you can stay in that saddle while I drag her back to the ranch. Perhaps after we walk her through the routine, she’ll catch on.”
Skylar did as he suggested and tossed him the rope.
When they reached the yard, Tucker dismounted and grabbed the mare by her harness. “I’ll take her,” he said as Skylar stepped down from her saddle.
“She’ll be the first to go out in the morning.”
“You got it, boss lady,” Tucker said as he led the horse toward the corral.
A short while later he walked from the stable after finishing with the horses. He spotted Skylar leaning against the small single corral on the opposite side of the stable
