when Cyrus Barron wanted something as bad as he wanted this place.
Then Chance inhaled. The dusty-sweet scent of Bermuda hay mixed with the musk-and-leather smell of horses. Rising above those, he caught a whiff of Cassidy—almond and cinnamon dancing with an underlying citrus tang.
“Yo, dude! Out of my barn. Now!”
Like a retriever coming out of a lake, he mentally shook to clear his mind. No distractions. Eye on the prize. But as she stood there, hands on her hips, forehead furrowed and chin jutting stubbornly, he realized she would always be a distraction. And that made him very nervous. No woman had ever gotten under his saddle like this one. His mouth curled into a slow smile, and he watched the effect on her—the slight dilation of her pupils, the flare of her nostrils and the swell of her chest. Yes, he could distract her, too. Good. The playing field was a bit more level now.
A not-so-polite hack and spit had them breaking their staring contest to glance at Boots. Chance recognized him now. Would the old man recognize him? Of all the Barron boys, he stayed out of the spotlight the most. Maybe he could slide through this as “Mr. Chancellor” after all.
“You here for a reason, son?”
Cass watched the stranger glance toward the stall, and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. Yes, he was sexy as all get-out, but she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw that hunky six-foot-plus frame.
“Yessir. I came to see Ben’s colt.”
“I don’t think we’ve met. How’d you know Ben?”
She cut her eyes to Boots. He didn’t sound too put out, but she knew him. He was suspicious.
“I helped him locate the little guy. I own his half-brother. Same sire but from one of my mares. I considered buying this colt but didn’t want to breed that close to the same bloodline.”
She shifted her gaze from one to the other as they seemed to play a game of verbal ping-pong. She trusted Boots’s instincts and for now she’d just let him run with the conversation. In the meantime, she could study Mr. Chance Chancellor. Tall, broad-shouldered and with a propensity for starched jeans and shirts, he looked like a model. But his boots were comfortably worn, if highly polished, and he wore that black Stetson on his head as if he’d been born to it.
If he traveled the rodeo or horse-show circuit, she’d lay odds he left a string of broken hearts in his wake. The hat covered his hair, but she remembered it being shiny, black and long enough to curl across his collar like the fingers of a lover. And his eyes. Amber, almost feral when the light hit them just right. His face? Chiseled. She had no other description for him. His cheekbones bordered on too angular but didn’t cross the line. Plain and simple, he was gorgeous.
A vague memory pecked at her like one of the speckled hens searching the straw on the barn floor for a bite to eat. He still seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place him. She’d figure it out eventually. She jerked out of her reverie when the guy took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Miss Morgan.”
“Cass. Everyone calls me Cass.”
Her nose flared as if she couldn’t inhale enough of his warm scent. Leather and rain—a fragrance both homey and... Her insides tightened, but she refused to acknowledge the tiny quiver in the pit of her stomach. Well, a bit lower than that if she’d be honest with herself. This guy was sex on a stick, there was no denying it. But why was she being nice to him?
“On second thought, until you can prove you were a friend of my dad’s, you can just call me Miss Morgan.”
He laughed. Audacious and arrogant of him, but the sound reverberated in the barn and even Buddy came over to investigate. He sniffed at the man’s boots, growled a little and hiked his leg.
“Buddy, no! Bad dog!” Her face flamed. Mortified that the dog was about to mark the man, she stammered an apology until Boots cut through her embarrassment.
“That dog has always had a good sense of people.” He stared at Chance unblinking and for a moment, Cass wondered if Boots knew something she didn’t. Her gaze darted between the two men, and tension in the barn ramped up a few degrees.
Buddy sat at her feet but his hackles rose, and she could feel the low growl rumbling in his chest as he leaned against her leg. Her father’s old dog definitely did not like this man and apparently, neither did Boots. So why were her girlie bits going all fangirl on the guy?
“I think it’s time for you to leave, Mr. Chancellor.”
He dipped his chin and made a move to touch the brim of his Stetson. The gesture seemed old-fashioned and almost endearing. Whoa, girl. Rein in that thought!
“Another day then, Miss Morgan, when you aren’t so stressed out or busy. Again, my condolences.” He walked away but paused at the barn door. “We will see each other again, Cassidy Morgan.”
Oh, hell. That dang sure sounded like a promise, but she wasn’t sure just what the man had in mind.
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