tossed her head and reared. Caitlin didn’t see it happen but she might as well have. She felt the whisper of air as the animal moved, saw the flash of awareness in the drifter’s eyes, and then he yelled a warning, caught her by the shoulders and tumbled her to the ground, rolling her out from under those slashing hooves.
They lay in the grass, tangled together, his hard, long body pinning hers beneath it.
“You okay?” he said, and when she nodded, then managed a shaky “yes,” he scrambled to his feet and made a grab for the mare’s reins.
Caitlin stood up, dusted off her bottom and watched. The chestnut whinnied, fought, but the stranger hung on, the muscles in his arms and shoulders bunching under his T-shirt. The horse was strong but the man was stronger. After a few minutes, the animal trembled and calmed. The stranger rubbed the mare’s throat. He stroked the trembling neck and spoke softly.
The chestnut’s body shuddered, then became still. She pressed her head to the man’s shoulder.
“She’s okay now,” he said quietly.
Caitlin cleared her throat. “Yes. I…I…Thank you. She’s new, you see, and scared…”
“She’s new and scared, and needs to know who’s boss.” The chestnut blew softly. “Isn’t that right, girl?”
“You—you seem to know horses.”
The stranger’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “What else would a man like me know, Ms. McCord?”
Women, Caitlin thought. That was what a man like him would know. A tremor raced through her, and she looked away.
“So, what do you think? Can you use an extra hand who knows his way around horses?”
Caitlin ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. “Look, I’m—I’m grateful for what you just did, mister, but—”
“Kincaid. My name’s Tyler Kincaid.”
He held out his hand. She looked at it, looked at him, told herself it was ridiculous to feel heat sweep over her skin again.
“Ms. McCord?”
Slowly she put her hand in his. His fingers clasped hers tightly. They were warm and strong, but she already knew how gentle they could be. She’d seen the way he stroked the mare. Would he touch a woman’s skin the same way?
Color flew into her cheeks and she jerked back her hand. “All right,” she said briskly. “I’ll give you a week’s trial. The ranch is a couple of miles beyond that ridge. Talk to Abel. He’s our foreman. Tell him…Hey. Hey, Kincaid! What are you doing?”
The question was pointless because he’d already done it. Tyler Kincaid had swung into the saddle. Now, he was holding his hand out to her, as if the horse and the land were his and she were the trespasser.
“You wouldn’t ask a man to walk in this heat, would you?”
He gave her a slow smile, the sort that made it clear she’d seem incredibly foolish to say yes, she would, if he were the man in question.
With a hiss of breath, Caitlin put her hand in Tyler’s and swung up into the saddle behind him. He’d saved her from injury or worse but she’d made a mistake, she knew that now, even if it was too late to do anything about it.
“Hang on,” he said, which she had no intention of doing. But he leaned low over the horse’s neck, whispered something and the animal took off like the wind. Caitlin had no choice but to wrap her arms tightly around Tyler’s waist as they raced toward Espada.
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