Genevieve glanced up to see that same intense, focused, almost examining expression in Knox’s eyes.
“No,” she said with an easy laugh. “And obviously I wasn’t his! He’s married to Sarah and everyone in town knows how much he loves being a father to baby Sophia.”
Genevieve gently moved the horse’s hoof onto her stand so she could smooth out the rough edges left behind by her nippers. “My dad says I’m too picky, but is there really such a thing as being too picky when you’re looking for your soul mate? I mean, unless I meet that exact right guy, I’m not even all that sure that I want to get married and have kids. I have my business and my career to build. I’m happy. Why fix what ain’t broken, right? That’s why I’m living in the apartment above my parents’ garage—I’m saving money so I can move to California. There’s a lot of really exciting stuff happening with holistic approaches to horse care there and I want to be a part of it.”
“So, you’re not even planning on hanging around Rust Creek Falls?”
“Nope.”
“That might just be perfect, then.”
The cryptic tone Knox used to say those words made an alarm bell go off in her head, but she didn’t ask him about it. Some things, in her experience, were better left alone.
Genevieve finished her work and unhooked the last horse from the cross ties, hooked the lead rope to its halter and handed the horse off to Knox.
“You can tell your father that all the horses got a clean bill of health today. I can see these four again in four to six weeks.”
Knox nodded rather absentmindedly. He led the horse back to its stall, and then he headed back to her, covering the distance quickly with his long-legged stride. There was a new determination in the way he walked, and there was a glint of mischief in his dark brown eyes that caught her attention and made her feel a little queasy in her stomach, like she had just gotten a mild case of food poisoning.
Instead of handing her a check as was typical, Knox stood in front of her, his hat tilted back a bit so she could see his eyes, and asked her, “How would you like to get your dad off your back while you’re earning your way out of here?”
“How would I like that?” She shook her head with a laugh. “Are you kidding me? I’d love to get Lionel Lawrence off my back.”
“Then you and I are in the same boat. Because I would love to get Max off my back and out of my business.”
Genevieve heard, and understood, the frustration in Knox’s voice. Having an overbearing, meddling parent as an adult could strain even the most solid of parent-child relationships.
She shrugged. “I hear you, Knox, but so far, nothing I’ve tried has worked. If I could find a guy who would just be a no-strings-attached boyfriend for a while, that would placate dad for a while I think. But, all the guys around here want a commitment. Something weird in the water around these parts, I think.”
“I wasn’t really thinking about a boyfriend,” Knox said.
“Oh, no?” Her brow wrinkled curiously. “What were you thinking?”
Knox pinned her in place with those deep, dark eyes of his and his lips—very nice, firm, masculine lips—curled up into a little smirk. “I was thinking more along the lines of a husband.”
The idea that she would leap from single to married struck Genevieve as laughable.
“Giant fat chance of that!” She laughed as she swept up the leftover fragments of hoof that were scattered across the red rubber pavers. “Marriage? To a local guy? How would that get me closer to my goal of getting to California?”
When she finished cleaning up her area and dumping the hoof fragments into a nearby trash can, Knox still hadn’t moved from his spot. Usually, as was their established routine, he would have gone to the office, written her a check, and by the time she was finished packing up her small cache of tools, the check would be in her hand. Genevieve slid her phone out of her back pocket and glanced down at the screen; she had gained a couple of minutes of time and if she left the Ambling A shortly, she would actually be back on schedule for her next client.
“Well...?” she prompted, hoping the fact that she had her hoof stand in one hand would be a silent signal to Knox that, as enjoyable as his company was, it was time for her to move along.
As if it just dawned on him that he was holding her up, Knox gave a quick nod of his head. “Let’s go to the office and I’ll write you a check.”
Fine. We’ll do it this way.
Genevieve set her hoof stand down on the rubber pavers and followed Knox the short distance to an office space that had been incorporated into one of the tack rooms. Knox opened the door for her and let her walk in first. The room, which had rows of Western saddles and bridles lining the far wall, smelled of leather and soap, along with the sweet smell of hay from the small stack of bales just inside the door. Genevieve walked over to a black saddle with ornate designs carved into the leather and fancy-edged silver conches as accent pieces. From the smoothness of the leather on the seat, along with the craftsmanship, she knew that this was a classic saddle from the 1950s.
“That’s my dad’s saddle,” Knox said as he closed the door. “Seen a lot of work over the years.”
At the sound of the door closing, Genevieve’s Cat Woman senses started setting off alarm bells in her brain and she spun around to face the rancher. Knox had a strange look on his classically handsome face. She didn’t like the fact that he was blocking the door and she especially didn’t like it when he reached behind his body and locked them in the tack room.
“Listen here, Knox Crawford.” Genevieve scowled at him, moving her body into a defensive stance. “I’ve had six weeks of self-defense training when I was in college and if you make so much as one wrong move, cowboy, I will hurt you!”
Knox lifted his hands as if he were surrendering, a slightly lopsided grin on his face that she hadn’t seen him use before. “I promise you, I only want to talk business.”
She pointed at the door. “We don’t need a locked door to talk business, Knox. I trim the horses’ hooves and you write me a check. Simple.”
“The delivery of hay is here,” Knox noted distractedly. Earlier she had heard the piercing sound of squeaking brakes on a large delivery truck backing up to the opening in the hayloft and the sound of deliverymen yelling to one another. But she didn’t understand what the heck that had to do with the fact that Knox wanted her alone in the office.
“I have a proposal for you and I don’t want us to be overheard or disturbed.”
Her arms crossed in front of her body, Genevieve’s interest was piqued in spite of herself. Even though he had locked the door, Knox wasn’t giving off any creepy stalker vibes, so her defenses lowered ever so slightly. Knox had always been gentlemanly, kind, consistent and had never come on to her in all the months she had been working with him. It wasn’t beyond reasonable to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“What
