She walked into the stables and headed down the long corridor toward Austin’s office. She stopped short when she saw him coming from one of the stalls. His smile sent warm syrup melting through every inch of her body.
She smiled back and quickly gestured to her dog. “This is, Blue. Blue, this is Austin.” Her smile slipped a notch. Was it weird to introduce a man to a dog like that?
“Hello, Blue.” Austin stooped down and gave the dog a good rub. “You’re a good-looking pup. You taking good care of your momma?”
“He’s the best guard dog ever.”
“That’s good.” Austin gave him a pat on the head. “I have to cancel today. I’m really sorry. Things got so hectic around here I didn’t get a chance to call.”
“What’s going on?”
“Sunrise, one of my pregnant mares, is about to foal, but she isn’t feeling well. The vet is running some tests, but it’s going to be a long night. I’m going to stay and keep an eye on her in case there’s a difficult delivery.”
“Oh.” She saw the look of worry on his face. “We can totally do this another time. Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you. Again, I apologize for not calling.”
“OK. Come on Blue.” She motioned for the dog to come to her. “Looks like we’re going to have an impromptu movie night on the couch while momma types up some notes on her laptop.”
A man came out of the stall. It was the Bobby the vet. His expression was grim as he caught Austin’s attention. “Can I see you for a moment?”
Austin nodded to him, then turned back to her. “I have to go.”
“I’ll call in a day or so to see how things are going.”
“I look forward to hearing from you.”
Savannah got Blue in the car and then settled behind the wheel, feeling disappointed. She’d been looking forward to spending time with him tonight. Blue had been excited when she’d told him they were headed to a spacious ranch. OK, Blue got excited about everything. They could continue another time, she was still on schedule with her article. It wasn’t the end of the world.
But the look on Austin’s face concerned her. He looked bewildered, and it was strange to see. He cared about all the horses just like she cared for Blue. She prayed Sunrise made a full recovery, the sooner the better.
She was off the ranch and down the road when she decided she had to do something to help. She made a U-turn and headed toward the highway. After all, she’d need some supplies if she was going to be on sick watch tonight.
* * *
Austin hadn’t wanted Savannah to go, but he knew he wouldn’t be very chatty tonight with Sunrise being sick. The vet said the next twenty-four hours would be critical, and he wanted to be there.
Sending her away had been tough however. She’d looked so stunning today in a pair of jeans and a pretty jade-colored blouse. Blue was as adorable as she’d described. Although, Blue looked more spoiled than ferocious, Austin liked knowing she had a guard dog of sorts watching over her.
Sunrise had finally simmered down, so he sent Bobby to the living quarters to get some rest. He’d tough it out in the office. There was always plenty of paperwork to do. Maybe he’d be able to catch up with Logan if he wasn’t busy. He hoped his little brother’s talk with Megan about moving in together went well. The football season was winding down and that meant his little brother was figuring out how to spend his downtime with Megan.
The sound of his stomach grumbling was loud enough to startle him. He’d planned on asking Savannah to have dinner with him at his house tonight, but now that was out of the question. He had two primo steaks marinating in his fridge for nothing. Perhaps there was something else in the fridge he could snack on instead. He walked over and opened the icebox to find a turkey sandwich. He heard a bark. He walked out of the stall to find Blue coming his way.
“Blue.” He gave him a good pat. “You’re back. Forget something?”
Savannah rounded the corner and smiled at him. “We talked it over and thought it would be in poor taste to let you suffer alone.”
“Well, Bobby and a few of the staff are still on duty.”
“Yeah? Did they bring you Chinese food?”
“No.” He grinned. “They did not.”
“Good.” She flashed a satisfied smile. “There’s no reason we can’t mix business with pleasure.”
“Pardon me?”
“We can chat while we keep an eye on S-sunrise,” she stammered.
“Let me get washed up. We can eat in my office.” He smiled at her falling over her words.
A half hour later, they were sitting on the couch sharing food and trading stories. He liked talking to her. She was witty, well-informed but didn’t take herself too seriously. She could rattle off sports statistics, postulate about scientific theories, but she wasn’t ashamed to admit some of her favorite shows were animated, sarcasm-laced adult cartoons.
He took another bit of lo mien. “So how’s the story going?”
“I’ve interviewed some people who all have nothing but good things to say about you. Well, the women anyway.” She put some mu shu pork into her mouth with her chopsticks.
“It goes without saying you are loved in this town. I’d still like to know more about you.” She paused, eyeing him curiously. “You’re very comfortable in this office. I bet I can tell a lot of things about you just by looking around this room.”
He was amused by her confidence. “Be my guest.”
She put her food container down and strolled around the room. “You have a wonderful relationship with your brother.”
“Lucky guess. Most siblings do.”
“Not true. I know some people who only see their siblings at weddings and funerals. I know I avoid my sister at all costs.”
“Tough break. I’ve always been close to Logan.”
She picked up a photo of Logan and Megan in the gold frame on his credenza. “He’s handsome.”
“More handsome than me?”
“Now, now. You’re both pretty.” She bit back a smile. “Who’s the gorgeous woman with him?”
“That’s Megan. They’ve been together for a while. It’s getting serious. I think she’s my brother’s first adult relationship.”
“They make a great couple.” She put the photo back. “You have tons of pics of Logan over the years yet the pictures with you and your father are more recent.” She held up a mahogany-framed photo of him and T.K. at a Tomcats event. “Recently patched things up?”
“Still working on it. I told you before. My dad and I are complicated.”
“I can see that. Dueling proud, stubborn personalities.”
“Wow. You sound like my momma.” He threw a piece of chicken at Blue.
She found another framed photo and examined it. “Is this her? She’s beautiful. You have her eyes.”
“I’d like to believe I have everything of hers.”
She paced around a bit more. “Why did join the Navy?”
“I needed direction and discipline. It gave me something to do besides rail against my father.” He shrugged. “Why didn’t you follow in your mother’s footsteps? Being the daughter of Clare Brewster, renowned talk show host, must have been a unique experience for you too.”
He’d done some reading up on her too. The name search of her on the Internet yielded not only the articles she’d written in the past but a cache of information about her celebrity family. Her mother the talk show host. Her dad was a famous mystery writer, and her sister was a supermodel.
“Damn Internet.” She shook her head. “I hope you didn’t pull up anything with a dreadful photo. My mom and sister are very photogenic, but I look like a vampire in every photo.”
“You have a more natural beauty. The photos I saw looked like glamour shots.”
“They are always keeping themselves perfect for the camera. You never know when you’ll be asked to pose,” she said in a snarky tone. She shook her head and looked at him. “My situation is different. I suspect your compe
titiveness with your dad has something to do with legacies and him wanting a son in his own image to share his empire. My mom was disappointed in me the day I was born.”
“I doubt that.”
“You don’t know my mom. Clare Brewster’s image has been her stock and trade for eons. One day she decided she had everything, but she wanted love in her life. She tricked my dad, a budding mystery writer at the time, into believing he was the one for her, and they got married and had two kids. Ella is a perfect little princess, while I’m the outcast. My dad did his best but that fast-paced, cameras-flashing-in-your-face-at-all-times existence wasn’t for him.”
“The spotlight isn’t for everyone,” Austin agreed. “It may seem glamorous, but it’s a hard way to live. My dad loved having the cameras on him. I despised it.”
“Me too. I was the daughter of Ms. Perfect. She has a standard of living that I could never…live up to. Everything had to be perfect. She wanted photo ops to share with her legions of viewers about her perfect life, but I wouldn’t comply. I was always a chubby kid. I never fit that image she was trying to project. I’ve struggled with my weight all my life. But Ella didn’t.”
He raised his eyebrows, surprised by what she had revealed. She was a long way from whatever chubby kid she had been, but he supposed the shadow of it lingered.
She read his silent question and shrugged. “I decided to give myself a makeover after Levi and I broke up. The end result is what you see before you.”
“What I see is a beautiful, confident woman who’s comfortable with herself. Trust me, intelligence, wit, and confidence is sexy.”
She smirked. “Come on. I’ve seen the kind of women you date. Women like Lucinda.”
“I’ve dated all kinds of women. Lucinda isn’t some cookie-cutter example of my personal taste.”
“But you have to admit women like her turn more heads.”
“Women like Lucinda send out a homing beacon for a certain kind of man and a certain kind of relationship. She wants someone to worship her for her physical attributes but doesn’t want to put any energy into a real relationship. I knew immediately we weren’t going to hit it off in a meaningful way, but she was hell-bent on going full-throttle with a relationship. I want an equal partnership and someone who can bring more to the table than beauty. I won’t settle for anything less.”
She nodded slowly. “Levi’s incessant need for me to be perfect is what led to our parting ways. He didn’t want me. He wanted to be Clare Brewster’s son-in-law. She opened doors for him. Sometimes I think he wanted Ella from the get-go, but she was out of his league, so he settled for me.”
“I have to say that’s all a load of crap.” Austin walked over to her. “No one has the right to make you feel bad because they imposed some impossible expectations on you. If he was coveting your sister, it sounds like you dodged a bullet. He showed he had no integrity or respect for you or your relationship. He wasn’t the right man for you.”
“You can say that again.” She let out a dry laugh. “Now tell my mom.”
“Give me her number. I’m an old pro at putting overbearing parents in their place.”
Instead, she pointed to another photo. “T.K. doesn’t look too overbearing here.”
“The old man has been trying.”
“Trying is good. It means he loves you enough to meet you halfway.”
“I guess so.” He moved closer to her. “Savannah?”
“Yes?”
He caressed her cheek. “Levi was a damn fool to hurt you.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
She had the most beautiful brown eyes he’d ever seen. It was something about the sparkle in them that made him feel good. He slowly leaned in to kiss her, but there was a knock on the door and they both drew away.
“Austin?” Bobby called through the door. “I thought I’d check in on Sunrise again.”
“Sure thing, Bobby.” His heart was pounding, and he felt like a kid who had almost been caught making out. He might’ve laughed, but he was struggling too hard to keep his voice even. “I’ll be out there in a minute.”
Savannah waved him toward the door. “You go. I’ll clean up.”
“Save me a fortune cookie.”
Austin reluctantly walked out of the office with Blue trailing behind him. Apparently he’d just made a new friend for life, sharing his dinner with the pup. He’d learned a lot about her tonight. She came back to keep vigil with him and was genuinely concerned about Sunrise. That was tugging at his heart big time. Their conversation lingered in his mind. Imagine Savannah thinking she wasn’t beautiful enough. It was crazy.
It was even crazier that he was starting to suspect Savannah might just be the woman of his dreams.
* * *
Savannah stirred on the couch, yawned, stretched, and looked at her watch. She’d told Austin she wanted to go grab a cat nap and that had been three hours ago. She kicked off the blanket and went in search of Austin.
The stables were quiet. She walked down to the stable corridor to Sunrise’s stall only to find Austin asleep on a pile of hay with his hat covering his face. Blue was lying right beside him. But the bright spot was Sunrise standing there while her foal sucked milk from her udder. It had been quite an evening. Mother and child had made it through the birth and appeared to be OK. It was an amazing thing to witness a horse giving birth. It was exciting and nerve-racking.
She clapped quietly and smiled. She got why he loved these animals. Even though she’d been bitten by one when she was a kid, she still appreciated how majestic they were. She went back to the office and got the extra blanket that was on his sofa. She carefully covered him with it.
The moment was just too precious to pass up the photo op, so she pulled out her cell phone and snapped a photo. A cowboy tending to his mare and new her foal, with a dog nearby, all of them exhausted. It was one of those memorable scenes.
He was a dedicated man. She knew that about him very well by now. He gave his all to every endeavor he undertook, and he didn’t blanch away from hard work. He could’ve been the globe-trotting playboy son of a billionaire, but instead he wanted to find his own way and joined the Navy. Those things set him apart from the men she’d known in the past. They made him fascinating…and special.
She went back into his office and finished looking around. Her eyes settled on the photo of him, his father, and his brother. They were a handsome family. You could see the pride T.K. had in his eyes. He loved his boys. Austin may still have been wary of his father, but she could see the love in his eyes too.
She watched television for a bit, not really paying attention but just whiling away the time. Soon the sun was coming up, and the stables were coming to life. She put on her shawl and walked back over to Sunrise’s stall. Austin was awake and talking to the vet. They both had smiles on their faces.
“Mother and child look good,” Savannah said.
“Sunrise is a trooper. I knew she’d pull through.”
“What happens now?” She watched as Bobby went into the stall with his doctor’s bag.
“Bobby is going to give the foal a second neonatal exam to make sure everything’s OK. Sunrise passed her placenta without a problem, so she’s looking good too. I’m going to see if I can get her to eat something.”
“Would you mind if I fed Sunrise?” She had a ton of things to do at the office this morning but those things could wait. She wanted to remain part of the moment.
“Sure.”
Savannah couldn’t ignore the intimacy as she and Austin talked and she tried to feed the horse. It was a special thing sharing the bringing of a new life into the world. But it was more than that. She felt like she’d uncovered another facet to his persona. He was a nurturer. It was one of the reasons people were drawn to him. There was a comfort in his being that made you feel accepted and protected.
Too soon time was slipping away from her. She looked at her watch. She had to go.
“I have to get going. I h
ave to be at the paper at eight. So I have to get home and change then drop Blue off at the sitter’s place.”
“Why don’t you leave him here? I’ll keep him with me and he can get the lay of the land. I promise he’ll get plenty of exercise and a decent meal.”
“Are you sure? He won’t be a problem?”
“He’ll be fine.”
“OK. I’m sure he’d love to go all free range.” She laughed and gave Blue a pat on the head. “Be a good boy. Play nice with the other animals. By the way, did you name the horse yet?”
Austin looked at her. “I’ve been thinking about it and decided on Savannah’s Heart.”
They walked together out of the stables and over to her car. The dawn air was cool, and the sunrise a splash of colors on the horizon. She stepped toward her car door, but Austin stopped her with a single word.
“Savannah?”
Savannah turned toward him, her heart speeding up when Austin stepped close to her and pulled her into his arms. She looked up into his eyes and could see the passion brewing. She met him halfway when he leaned in and covered her mouth with his. There was a tenderness at first in their connection, but then he deepened the kiss. It was raw, sensual and chemical. She reached up and put her hands on his neck and pulled him even closer.
“Thank you for being here,” he said, his lips close against hers.
“Any time.”
“What do you say we have a proper date?”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” She swallowed hard. “What about my journalistic integrity? If we see each other socially, people may think I did a buff piece on you.”
“Puff piece.” He grinned and kissed her again. “Who gives a damn what people think? I’m willing to take a chance on a scandal.”
“What would we do on our proper date?”
“Dinner. A movie. Those are traditional dating rituals, but I’m willing to forgo all that if you have something more scintillating in mind.” He winked.
“We’ll work out the details when I pick up Blue tonight.” She stumbled into her car door.
Austin opened it for her. “I have to go into town to have dinner with Alex and Grayson later. I can drop him by the newspaper if you’d like.”
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