LITMIR.BIZ

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after that, they didn’t talk about charity, and Jack didn’t think much about it. He didn’t think about Kate, either. Well, not much.

      Sure, there had been some tension between them recently. But ultimately, she would always be the little mud-stained girl he’d helped distract while Connor and Eli had dealt with their drunken mess of a father.

      It had given him a place to be, something to focus on besides his unhappy home.

      The simple fact was the Garretts were more than friends to him. They were family. Connor and Eli were his brothers, a dream an only child like himself had never imagined could be realized.

      Then he’d grown up and found out he had siblings. Half siblings, but other people who shared his DNA. At that point he had another realization about just how little blood mattered.

      Colton West was his brother by blood, but he doubted the man would ever cross the street to shake his hand. He doubted the other man had any idea.

      Connor and Eli had always been there for him. And they always would be.

      Nothing on earth was worth compromising that over. Nothing.

      * * *

      THE LIST OF PARTICIPANTS for each event had grown. And thanks to Jack’s hard work it included several people from the pro circuit. Kate felt downright intimidated, she couldn’t lie. She was signed up to compete against some of the best barrel racers around, and even though it was just a charity competition, she felt as if it would be some kind of moment of truth.

      About her skills. About whether or not she had an excuse to hold back from turning pro. About a whole lot of things.

      She looked down and kicked a stone, watched it skim across the top of the fine gray dust in the driveway. She’d come out to get a ride in before the meeting tonight. Before Jack was due to pick her up and take her over to the Grange again. But she sort of felt numb, sluggish, frozen. Not in the best space to do a run around the barrel she had set up in the arena.

      But she supposed she had to. She kicked another stone.

      She hadn’t seen Jack since that day at the Farm and Garden. They had only shared one phone call, where he had rattled off a list of names that had made her stomach heave with anxiety. All the while, her heart had been pounding faster because of the deep timbre of his voice. She didn’t need professional psychiatric help at all.

      She let out an exasperated breath and shoved her hands in her jacket pockets as the wind whipped across her path. She upped her pace as she headed toward the barn.

      Her fingers were still numb as she tacked Roo up. She pulled the girth tight and checked everything over once. Then she leaned in and kissed Roo right over the star on her forehead. She inhaled her horsey scent, shavings and the sweet smell of the hay. It was like slipping into a hot bath, a moment of instant relaxation.

      “Okay,” she said. “We can do this.”

      She led Roo outside before mounting and taking it slow over to the arena. Roo was a soft touch, and it took only a little gentle encouragement to urge her horse to speed up. Then she let out a breath and spurred Roo to go even faster, leaning into her horse’s gait, making the turn around the first barrel easily.

      She wondered what her time was. She should have grabbed the stopwatch that was hanging on the fence. She leaned back slightly and Roo sensed the change, shaking her head and knocking against the second barrel as they went around.

      “Shit.” She looked over her shoulder and watched it topple. So that was it. That was her run.

      She slowed considerably when she approached the third barrel, then made an easy loop around it before stopping Roo inside the arena. She cursed again, the foul word echoing in the covered space.

      She lowered her head, buried her face in her hands and just sat there. Feeling pissed. Feeling miserable.

      “It was a pretty crappy run.”

      She raised her head and looked up, saw Jack standing against the fence, his boot propped up on the bottom rung, forearms rested on the top.

      “What are you doing here, Monaghan?”

      “I decided to come a little early and see Eli and Connor. Neither of whom are here.”

      “So you decided to come over and poke me with a stick?”

      He lifted his hands and spread them wide. “No stick.”

      “Verbal sticks, asshat.”

      “Sure. I have verbal sticks. Why the hell did you suck so bad?”

      “What does that mean? Why did I suck so bad? I didn’t suck on purpose.”

      “No, you didn’t. But you can do better. So the question is, why did this run suck so bad?”

      “I don’t think there’s an answer to that question,” she said, sitting up straighter on the back of her horse and crossing her arms.

      “There is always an answer to that question. And if you want to be a lazy-ass rider, then the answer to the question is that your animal acted up. But if you want to get better, then the answer is that you did something stupid. Always put the control with yourself. Then it’s your fault when you lose, but then it’s up to you to win.”

      “Are you going to have me wash your truck now?” Wax on, wax off.”

      “I kind of am your Mr. Miyagi at the moment. Your flirting guru. I might as well teach you how to win rodeo events, too.”

      “No one asked.”

      “But I am the only one of the two of us who has competed on a professional level. And if it is something that you really want, maybe you should accept my help instead of being stubborn.”

      “I’m not being stubborn.”

      “Babycakes, you eat stubborn-Os for breakfast.” He wandered over to the open arena gate and grabbed hold of the stopwatch that was looped over the top rung of the fence. Even while he was here witnessing her failure, annoying her, she couldn’t ignore how damn sexy he was. The way his jeans clung to his muscular thighs.

      Did women look at thighs? Was that even a thing? Or was it just a bad case of the Jacks?

      “I’ll reset your barrels.” He walked into the arena and made sure everything was lined up, lifted the one she had knocked down. Then he walked back to the fence. “Reset yourself, Katie.”

      She flipped him the bird while obeying his command. She had some pride, after all.

      Then she shut him out. Shut out his voice, shut out his presence and focused. The horse started to move, and she knew that Jack would have started the time at that moment. The start was a little bit slow, and she faltered going around the first barrel. Then she shook her head, spurring Roo on harder into the second. That went better. But she knew she wasn’t at top time. Not even her own top time. She was too in her head, and there was nothing she could do about it right now. Not with Jack here. Not with that whole list of professionals she was going to be competing against in front of people.

      Not when she was going to be faced with the undeniable proof of whether or not she had the ability to compete professionally and win. And down went the third barrel.

      Kate growled, bringing Roo to a halt. She slid off the back of the horse, walked over to the barrel and reset it herself. “I’m gonna call it good now,” she shouted.

      “Do it again.”

      “No. I’ve done it twice—that’s enough.”

      “Your horse can handle more than that. You know that.”

      “I’m done, Jack,” she said, feeling a whole lot angrier than the situation warranted. But she didn’t care. Because all of this felt like a little bit too much. Because she wanted Jack, and yesterday, just when she thought he might want her too, he had walked away. He had walked away and acted

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