stepped into the tack room right behind her.
“Sit.” She gestured to a stool pushed under the edge of a workbench against the side wall.
Mac pulled it out and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest.
She turned around to reach into an overhead cupboard and grab the first-aid kit. He was unprepared for the sweet smile on her generous lips when she turned back around, or the fact that it was directed at him.
“Solberg did a great job referring you. You’re just what I needed—someone who looks the part and fits in with my work crew. No suit-and-tie stuffed shirt, aviator shades … you know, that movie-star-bodyguard type.”
“I aim to please.” And he planned to give Winslow Solberg a good understanding of the less-than-ideal employment situation he found himself in right now. Bodyguarding a horse. He uncrossed his arms and watched her smile fade.
She cleared her throat and put the kit down on the work counter next to him. “For what it’s worth, Mac—I can call you that, can’t I?”
Engrossed in the pleasant vibe jolting his body, he almost fell off the stool when she reached out, grasped his chin and forcibly tipped his face up toward the overhead light.
“You can call me anything you like, Miss Clareborn. You’re paying the bills.”
A slight furrow formed between her eyebrows and smoothed a second later. “Call me Emma, please. Ooh, he kicked you good.”
It took every ounce of restraint he had to ignore the heat pulsing from her hand and spreading on his skin. Her grasp was firm, but tender. She let go and opened the kit.
“It’s a clean cut. I’ll glue it shut.”
“Glue?”
“A trick I leaned from my dad. Superglue works wonders on a clean cut. Barely leaves a scar.”
Annoyance pitted his thoughts and dragged a reply up his throat, but he clamped down on it. Soon enough she’d discover that scarring was the least of his worries.
Refocusing, he studied her delicate hands as she manipulated a piece of gauze and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.
Curiosity opened up inside of him. He reached out and grabbed her right hand the instant she set the bottle down. Turning it over he stared at the bridge of hardened calluses spanning her palm. “Work crew, huh.”
A tinge of color spread on her cheeks. She swallowed hard and pulled her hand back.
“Someone has to make sure Navigator gets his run for the roses.”
Irritation flooded his brain, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her the odds weren’t in her horse’s favor. “I’ll take up the slack for you, since I’ll be here 24/7.” He stared into her eyes, but it wasn’t appreciation he saw there. “Don’t worry. I can protect your horse at the same time.”
There it was, a brief veil of relief passing over her features for an instant. He liked it, but it didn’t stay long enough.
“I hope so,” Emma whispered. She raised the gauze and began dabbing at the cut on Mac’s cheekbone. “Things haven’t been the same around here since my dad had his stroke.” Not the same was an understatement, a sweet lie she wasn’t proud of, but didn’t care to clear up with the muscle-bound protector she’d been forced to hire using some of the farm’s draining liquidity. Between her Derby ambitions, Firehill’s operating expenses and her father’s private nurse, there was no room for financial surprises like having to hire a bodyguard.
Silence encircled them and she focused on her task of scrubbing away the blood and sawdust from the two-inch gash on his handsome face. Her stare locked on his left jawline.
Tension gripped her muscles, forcing her to suddenly withdraw her hand, as if she’d just been scalded.
“One more scar isn’t going to make a hell of a lot of difference on me.” His matter-of-fact observation was ground out with as much emotion as a traffic cop issuing a citation to an upset motorist.
Sucking in a breath, she continued working, unable to take her gaze off the thick, ruddy scar riding the length of Mac Titus’s left jawbone, from his ear to his chin.
She stepped back, watching his dark blue gaze raise to meet hers.
This scar was fresh … this had been a life-threatening injury in his recent past.
“It’s none of my business … but how—”
“Did I get it?” He glanced down at the floor, then dragged his gaze back up to hers, and for a moment she thought she saw his rock-hard features soften.
Anticipation bubbled up inside of her and she automatically leaned closer, like a confidante waiting to hear a juicy confession.
The moment burst like a bubble in her face as he stood up.
“The only thing you need to know, Miss Clareborn, is I’m here to make sure nothing happens to your animal. Anything beyond that is off-limits.”
She looked at him, measuring the seriousness in his eyes, but there was something else there. Something raw and exposed. Pain?
The shuffle of footsteps rushing into the barn drew her attention to the door.
Victor Dago poked his head into the room.
“My horses are going ballistic, something stirred them up. Everything okay in here?”
Tension snapped in the air. Mac watched hostility spread across Emma’s face, tightening it until he was certain she had some sort of aversion to the man who darkened the doorway.
“Victor Dago, I’d like you to meet my new farmhand, Mac. He took a tumble and spooked Navigator. I’m sorry if it got your horses riled up.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed. He stepped through the doorway into the room and reached out to grasp Mac’s hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m glad to see Miss Clareborn has finally hired someone to help her.”
Mac released the man’s thick fingers, trying to attach a country of origin to his accent.
“You stable horses here?” he asked.
“Yes, half a dozen, with two still in quarantine via the Virginia Port Authority at Front Royal. They’re on day two of a fourteen-day evaluation.”
“Anything contagious?”
“No. Just waiting for their Coggins results. They’ll come in soon. We’ll go to pick them up and put some track time on them before the Christmas Classic at Keeneland on the twenty-fourth.”
Emma inched closer to him. If he pushed his elbow away from his body he’d be able to touch her.
“Sorry for the commotion. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Victor nodded and turned around. “Good night, then.” He disappeared through the door.
Emma
