“Is this Running Star?” Kenzie asked, momentarily forgetting about the span of time that had gone by since she’d last seen the horse.
Just the sight of such a beautiful cream-colored creature caused her to also forget about the ongoing argument. All she wanted to do was run a hand over what had to be the smoothest coat she’d seen in a long time. The horse was positively magnificent, and if she hadn’t already paid for frozen sperm, she’d match up this stallion with her mare Sweet Girl in a heartbeat.
The horse nodded its majestic head a few times, as if it knew what she’d been thinking.
“No. Running Star is too old to stud out, but he sired this fella. Morning Star is just about three years old and in top form.”
Jake stroked the animal’s shoulder, and the horse nuzzled him and nickered.
Kenzie leaned the pitchfork against a stall gate and ambled over to Morning Star, running her hand over his smooth muscular body when she stepped close enough. Then she pulled a small apple out of a sack that hung on a hook between two stalls and held it out to him. Morning Star gently plucked it from her hand, a true gentleman of a horse.
“He’s a sweetheart,” she told Jake. “What a beautiful animal.”
“He’d be a sweetheart to your mares as well,” he answered. “He was pasture bred, and is trained to do the same. I can introduce him and Bingo to your mares, and, well, within no time, even your lead mare will foal.”
She stepped away from the stallion. “As tempting as that sounds, that’s not the haphazard strategy I intend to use. In order to keep this ranch moving in the right direction, I’ve made other plans for my mares. And besides, there’s always a risk with pasture breeding that one of my mares might get injured, or worse. I can’t afford to take that chance. This ranch can’t afford to take that chance.
“As pretty as he is, I’m going to have to pass on your generous offer. Besides, I’ve already invested several thousand dollars in pedigreed frozen sperm that will be arriving any day now. It’s the safest way to go.”
“According to whom?”
“According to other breeders.”
“Commercial breeders. I’m talking about natural breeders, and they all agree with pasture breeding. Plus, it’s much more fun for the animals than a metal vagina and a long syringe.”
“You make it sound so crude and heartless.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Well, it sure ain’t the way nature had intended it.”
Henry cleared his throat. “I’ll be gettin’ on back to the house now.”
Kenzie turned to him. “Is there anything else you want to say before you go, Dad? Maybe ask Jake here to pack up and leave in the morning? That we won’t be needing him or his fancy studs?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Wouldn’t be hospitable of me to ask him to leave so soon. He’ll have to decide that on his own. Both of you will. I’m confident you two can work out the comings and goings of this here idea of mine. Till then, I’m hoping for the best.”
Then her dad hightailed it out of there, leaving Kenzie to deal with Jake all on her own.
“So,” Jake said as a self-satisfied smirk stretched across his fine lips, “when do we start mating?”
* * *
BY THE TIME Jake settled in his bed on the back porch that night, just on the other side of Kenzie’s open window, he was more tired than a mule after a day of pulling a plow. It had been not only a long day of driving, but a long day of trying his best to not cause a dustup between himself and the woman he was tasked with helping. Although as it stood at the moment, her accepting his help seemed about as likely as pigs flying.
The porch bedroom had all the accoutrements necessary for his comfort. The only problem was the area was designed for someone five inches shorter, and about fifty pounds lighter. He felt like the proverbial bull in a china shop. Every time he moved, he either knocked something over or bumped into a delicate piece of furniture. Everything seemed to be woven out of wicker and the chair would certainly split apart if he decided to sit on it and put his feet up on the rickety-looking stool.
The one thing he really liked, however, was sleeping essentially outdoors. There was a roof to shelter him from the rain, and the entire area was screened off in order to keep the flying bugs away. There was a wooden rocking chair in the corner that looked a bit more sturdy to sit in, a single-sized bed ran along the wall and ended under the window, an old wooden dresser stood on the other side of the window, with a hook above it to hang his hat, and a small nightstand was next to the bed for his keys and wallet. The small table also held a digital clock, a glass of water and a small frilly lamp. Everything he needed was in a space no bigger than one of those horse stalls in the barn, and even those were probably bigger.
“Are you going to keep that light on all night?” Kenzie called through the open window.
Trying to sleep on a single bed that was obviously made for a shorter person, and was about as wide as his shoulders, while Kenzie Grant lay about ten feet away from him in a comfortable-looking queen-sized bed—he’d peeked in through the curtainless window—was proving to be more uncomfortable than resting his head on his saddle while lying on the cold hard ground...in a rainstorm...without a tarp.
“I like to read before I go to sleep,” he answered. “It clears my thoughts and puts me in a sleepin’ mood.”
As if that was even possible tonight.
At the moment he was reading a thriller by Steve Berry, only for the life of him, he couldn’t remember what it was about.
Kenzie poked her head through the window. “Do you think you can do your reading somewhere else?”
He looked up from his book just as he caught her gaze slipping over his bare chest like a gentle breeze in summer. He couldn’t help the grin that captured his alley cat thoughts. “Is that an invitation into your bed? Because if it is, I’m sure we can find other things to do besides reading.”
She wore a sleeveless gray T-shirt and from the way her breasts pressed against the fabric, there was no bra restricting their movement. He mentally told himself to calm down, and was thankful for the blankets that covered the bottom half of his body. Her dark hair encircled her face and cascaded off her shoulders. The glow of his lamp highlighted the soft features of her beautiful face.
Oh, yeah, he was ready to sleep all right.
“You’re incorrigible, do you know that?”
No truer words...
She started to pull herself back inside until he said, “I’m just lying here minding my own business. You’re the one causing the fuss.”
She poked her head back out again, and this time she must have knelt on the floor of her room, as she rested her head in the crook of her arm like she was going to stay a spell. “I need it to be dark when I sleep.”
She yawned, then excused herself, her eyes filling with tears as she quickly wiped the salty liquid away with her fingers. Kenzie Grant looked like a dream framed in that window...his dream.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re doing much sleeping hanging out of your window, ordering me around in my own space.”
He couldn’t help himself. He enjoyed teasing her. She was so easily riled up.
“A space I was against my dad giving you, but you’re our guest, at least for tonight.”
She yawned again, covering her mouth with her hand. “Excuse me,” she mumbled again, looking all sleepy and content. He wondered what it would feel like to have a sleepy Kenzie Grant resting her head on his chest rather than her own arm.
He