by Lucy Score
“What?” he demanded.
“Just checking for teeth marks,” she grinned.
“I feel like a piece of meat,” he shuddered.
“Those Parker women are like a Venus fly trap for men.”
“Yeah, and they’re trying to line me up as Moon Beam’s third husband.”
Cheryl filled a pint glass and shrugged. “Well, isn’t some Moon Beam action better than no action at all?”
Jax glared at her. “No. No, it’s not. Because I have a feeling she’d macramé me to her headboard and I’d never escape. Now, I’ll give you a hundred bucks if you take over that table of giggling vampires.”
“Done. But why can’t Deke resume service?” she asked, uncorking a bottle of Pinot Grigio.
“I’m in the middle of firing his ass.”
“About friggin’ time.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now, go divvy up the rest of his tables and don’t let anyone with the last name Parker within twenty feet of me.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” Cheryl said, throwing a mock salute.
Jax returned to his table and collapsed in the chair.
Beckett shook his head and sighed. “It wasn’t even two months ago that Mrs. Parker was trying to set me up with her daughter. Fickle, fickle women.”
“I blame you,” Jax groaned and drowned his sorrows in the beer in front of him. “So, what business involves buttering us up with another round?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Joey.”
Carter had Jax’s full attention with her name.
“Christ, you didn’t have an aneurysm and are thinking about firing her?” Beckett asked.
Every muscle in Jax’s body tensed for a fight.
Carter choked on his beer. “Jesus, no! Where did that come from?”
“I don’t know! The way you said it made it sound really serious,” Beckett said, tossing Carter a napkin. “You have beer in your beard.”
“Can we get on with this?” Jax didn’t like unfinished business attached to Joey’s name.
“Yeah, Carter. You’re making Hollywood nervous.”
“I’m thinking we should make her a partner in the stables.”
“No shit,” Jax said succinctly. “I vote yes.”
“Oh, come on. I prepared an argument and everything,” Carter said with a mock pout.
“What’s there to consider? There wouldn’t be a riding program without her, the stables would be a pigsty — no offense to Dixie and Ham — and we wouldn’t have ninety percent of the horses we do,” Jax said, ticking off the points on his fingers.
Beckett’s face remained impassive. “So why now? What brought this on?”
Carter tossed them each a stack of papers. “This is Joey’s proposal for starting a breeding program here in a year or two.”
Smart girl, Jax thought, flipping through the pages. “Why wouldn’t we implement right away?” he asked.
“The upfront investment is pretty significant for an operation our size,” Carter explained. A good stallion would cost—”
Beckett cut him off with a low whistle.
“I see you found the numbers.”
“Holy shit,” Beckett said.
“Yeah, those are conservative projections. The profits, even with cautious estimates, are worth talking about.
Jax and Beckett tore through their packets to the last page. Beckett squinted over the figures. And Jax frowned. “It looks like she’s budgeting low for the stock.”
“She’s doing this with our numbers in mind. We don’t have bottomless bank accounts to throw big money at newly retired racehorses. She’s looking to start slowly and selectively so we don’t go bankrupt.”
“Hypothetically if we doubled or tripled what we’d be willing to invest—”
“Then the profits would increase exponentially,” Carter answered.
Jax grinned as a plan took shape. A plan that would give Joey everything she ever wanted and more. The ultimate apology.
“Well, in the immortal words of Joey Greer, we’d be ‘fucking stupid’ not to move forward with this.”
“Which brings us back to the partnership discussion,” Carter reminded them.
“You already know my vote,” Jax said, raising his glass.
They looked to Beckett who was still pouring over the figures.
“Well?” Carter kicked him under the table.
“If we can get this off the ground, it’s going to mean a tidal wave of cash for the farm,” Beckett said, frowning.
“And?” Jax asked, a hint of belligerence in his tone.
“And it would be a shame to keep all that money to ourselves,” his brother said with a grin.
7
Joey kicked Romeo into a canter and enjoyed the bite of the wind against her cheeks. God, it was a beautiful day to ride, though it was cold enough to leave Waffles back at the stables. The January skies over Blue Moon were turquoise and cloudless. Being in perfect synch with well over a thousand pounds of thoroughbred muscle beneath her, always amazed her. That two beings could be so connected without technology, without words. To her, that was the miracle.
She guided the horse in a sweeping turn along the fence line lest he think she was giving him the go ahead for the fence.
“Another time,” she murmured to him. The bay’s ears twitched an acknowledgement. She let him run for a few more minutes before slowing Romeo down to a walk. Joey took a deep breath of the razor sharp winter air.
Gia had her yoga and Joey had her solitary rides. Just her, a horse, and Mother Nature. This was her window of sanity in days otherwise packed with work and responsibility.
She had two lessons tonight and the paperwork she’d been avoiding for days. But right now, she had this perfect, solitary window of peace. She loved it though. Every single second of it. She spent her time doing only the things that were important to her, except when Summer or Gia dragged her into something social. And even that she didn’t mind much anymore. She had friends, she had her horses, and she had her work.
What more could she want? Joey automatically brushed aside the restlessness that arose without examining it.
Joey could feel Romeo’s energy vibrating under her. He wanted to run, to play. And maybe she did, too. “Okay, buddy. Let’s have a little fun.”
She kicked him into motion again and slid both boot-clad feet out of their stirrups. Keeping the reins in her hands, she gripped the saddle horn and brought one knee onto the saddle.
She extended her free leg back and up, toes pointing and stretching to the sky. Romeo maintained a rock steady canter while she balanced carefully, every muscle active, every breath deep.
She wasn’t sure if she sensed him first, or if Romeo did. But he was there all the same. Jax. He sat just on the edge of the tree line astride Cyrano, a dapple-gray quarter horse with an attitude.
She took a moment to hate the echo of awareness she had for a man she didn’t know anymore.
Joey didn’t have to see his face to know he was pissed.
And that pissed her off. She thought about turning and heading back to the stable, but Joey Greer never ran from a fight. Sometimes she galloped into them.
She pulled Romeo to a stop in front of Jax, careful to keep a safe distance between their mounts. Cyrano had the tendency to get a little mouthy.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jax said the words quietly, calmly. But there was a dangerous anger simmering beneath the surface.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” she asked evenly.
“Like you’re trying to break your neck, riding like an idiot.”
Far smaller sparks had ignited infernos between them. Joey took one of those deep, cleansing breaths that Gia was so fond of. The set of his jaw, the snap of fire in those sharp gray eyes. If he wanted a fight, then who was she to deny him.
“I know what I’m doing,” she said coolly.
“Being incredibly irresponsible? What the hell kind of stunt was that?” Cyrano shifted nervously under him.
/> “One I’ve been working on for awhile, along with several others. You’ve been gone a long time, Jax,” she reminded. “I’m not a kid anymore.”
“I can see that.”
She swore the heat from his gaze penetrated her winter layers and licked flames over her skin.
“Then using that stellar deductive reasoning of yours, you can probably figure out that a lot of things have changed around here in eight years, including my level of skill on the back of a horse.” She said it flippantly in a way designed to goad him.
“I’m not questioning your God damn skills, I’m questioning your sense. You flinging yourself around on the back of a horse without safety equipment or anyone to call 911 when you crack open your thick head is stupid.”
Romeo had wandered close enough that Jax grabbed his bridle. He pulled her mount closer until their legs were brushing. “Would you let a student come out here by herself and mess around like that?”
“I was just having fun. I didn’t realize that was illegal.” She hated that he had a very small, practically insignificant point.
“I need you to be more careful. Do this shit in the indoor ring. With a helmet. And your trick saddle. And someone else around.” He was waving his free hand around as if he was conducting a symphony of pissed-offness.
“Geez, Mom. Calm down.” She rolled her eyes.
He grabbed her by the front of the jacket. “Don’t.” He said it quietly and with heat.
“Jesus, Jax. Knock it off,” she said shoving at his hand.
“Promise me.”
She could feel the muscle under her eye start to twitch. She hated conceding to anyone. Especially Jax. But he was more than stubborn enough to keep her out here until she agreed. It would take days for anyone to find their frozen bodies.
“Fine. I promise,” she growled through gritted teeth.
“Good girl.”
That pissed her off enough to take another dig. “Why do you even care anyway?”
He still had a good grip on her jacket. “You know why, Jojo.” He yanked her closer until she had to brace herself against his thigh.
“Why?” she challenged. Why did she so desperately want to hear those words from him again? Would she start believing them if he kept saying them?
“Because I never stopped loving you. You’re it for me.”
And there it was, that jagged rush of elation followed by the slick dive of doubt. He left her, abandoned her in a hospital bed all those years ago. Whatever love meant to Jackson Pierce, it wasn’t what it meant to her.
“Then where the hell have you been?” she snapped, trying to wrestle free from his grip. But without clocking him right in the face, he wasn’t letting go. Joey growled in frustration. “Forget it. Just forget it. I don’t know how to ask you anymore than you know how to answer me.”
A hint of a smile played over his lips. The dark stubble that covered his jaw gave him a dangerous look. “We never were very good at conversation. We communicated better in other ways.”
She didn’t fight him when he pulled her in to him. But the battle erupted when their lips met, each fighting to be the aggressor. It was a war that could leave them both as casualties.
Why did she want him? Why did she need his hands on her? Her heart would never forgive, so why did her body crave his touch? Could she be with him physically and still keep her heart safe? There was only one way to find out.
And it terrified her.
Joey steadied herself by bracing her hands on his hard thigh. His groan of approval had her fingers flexing into the denim. She let the warmth of his mouth flood her body with heat, testing, always testing how far she could go and still hold on to her heart.
She slid her hands an inch higher on his legs and was rewarded with a growl. Her tongue tangled with his, determined to take control. But his hand busied itself at the zipper of her jacket. It gave just enough for Jax to rip off his glove and shove his hand through the opening, palming her breast through the layers of thermal and flannel.
It was closer than they’d been in nearly a decade and it wasn’t close enough for either of them.
Romeo shifted nervously under her and Joey pulled back, dragged her hands down his thighs as she went. His mount pawed the ground.
“We should move before Cyrano takes a chunk out of Romeo,” she said through lips swollen from the kiss.
Jax was staring at her, his expression unreadable. There had been a time when she could read the thoughts that looped through his mind. But gone were the days she’d shared with the carefree boy and, now, in his place was a dangerous man.
He released her with what looked like reluctance and Joey wheeled her mount around to give them all a little space.
“You need to come back to the barn,” Jax told her.
She stared at him, daring him to give another order.
“Please?” he amended.
“I’m not going to have sex with you.”
“Yet,” he corrected. “You’re not going to have sex with me yet. But there’s a delivery that needs your signature.”
“More flowers? More bacon? Not another dog. Waffles and I are just starting to enjoy our life together.”
He grinned and for a second, the fun-loving boy she’d loved so much was evident in the face of the man before her.
“Even better.”
“I don’t think you can top Waffles.”
“Guess you’ll have to find out.”
She arched a brow. “Race you back?”
8
Joey didn’t wait for an answer. She kicked Romeo into a run and grinned when she heard the thunder of hooves behind her. Cyrano was fast. But Romeo was a sprinter. The wind stung her face as pine trees and fence posts whizzed by in a blur. With any luck, Colby and the rest of the stable help would think she was windburnt, not flushed from a scorching kiss.
She leaned low over the horse’s neck and let him have his head.
They beat Jax by two full lengths, pulling up to a dignified walk on the slope behind the stable. Joey was still laughing when they came around the corner and she spotted the trailer in the drive.
A wisp of a man buried under a thick outer layer of Carhartts swaggered over to her. His red hair poked out in tufts under the thick wool cap, his cheeks pink from the air.
“You Joey Greer?” he asked, consulting a clipboard. She was a little disappointed that his accent was more Kentucky than Irish, taking away from his leprechaun-like appearance.
She dismounted and looped the reins over Romeo’s head. “I might be. Depends on what you’ve got in the trailer.
They man’s eyes sparkled. “Trust me. You’re gonna want to be Joey Greer.”
A shrill whinny erupted from the trailer followed by an impatient stamp.
Jax whistled and Carter and Colby ambled out of the barn.
Joey shot Jax a look. “Just what the hell did you do?”
He slid down off Cyrano’s back and took Joey’s reins. “Colby, you mind taking care of these two?”
Colby took the reins with a grin. “No problem. We made some room inside,” he said with a wink.
“Why are we making room and why the hell didn’t someone consult me?” Joey snapped. These were her stables, this was her program. Horseflesh did not magically appear on the farm. She carefully researched, weighed options, and then negotiated the purchase with an iron spine and a meticulous plan.
No one was paying her any mind and she was about to start yelling when the driver released the butterfly latches on the trailer ramp.
“Now, hold on here,” she said following him. Without thinking, she helped him lower the ramp while she continued to argue. “There’s been some kind of misunderstanding. I didn’t buy a horse.”
“Horses,” Jax corrected behind her.
He and Carter were enjoying her irritation. Standing shoulder to shoulder there was no mistaking the family resemblance, right down to their matching shit-eating grins. “You’re both in a lot of trouble so you
might as well wipe those asshole smiles off your faces,” she said, setting her jaw.
The southern drawling leprechaun ignored the bickering and hustled into the back of the trailer.
“Mind your mouth!” The command came affectionately from Phoebe as she huffed and puffed her way across the drive. “Whew! I was worried I was going to miss this,” she chirped, skimming a kiss on each son’s cheek before doing the same to Joey.
“You’re in on this mess, too?” Joey felt ganged up on.
Phoebe shoved a red mittened hand through Joey’s arm. “Sweetie, I know you’re not big on surprises, but trust me.”
“This here is Calypso’s Secret,” the driver announced as a stunning mare picked her way daintily down the ramp.
“Calypso’s Secret as in second place in last year’s Breeder’s Cup?”
“That’s the one,” the man bobbed his redhead as he walked. “She’s retired now and looking forward to the good life.”
“Oh, holy fuck,” Joey muttered to herself.
The chestnut mare swung her head around and nuzzled at her pocket. Joey fished out a carrot from her stash and let the mare delicately nip it out of her gloved palm.
Jax approached to get a closer look.
“Jax?”
“Yeah?”
“What is Calypso’s Secret doing in my yard?”
“I heard a rumor that you wanted to start a breeding program,” he said, running a calloused hand down the mare’s neck.
“You didn’t.”
“You said I owed you an apology.”
“Jax.” Joey’s voice had the sharp bite of warning in it.
Damn right she wanted a breeding program. But she’d wanted it on her own terms. Terms that involved budgeting and starting with a broodmare less spectacular than Calypso. The horse in front of her—with the perfect white star on her nose and glossy coat—was levels above where she’d planned to start.
“If y’all want to move her out of the way, I’ll get the big bastard out.”
Joey shot Jax a murderous look. “Two horses? Two friggin’ horses, Jax?”
He took Calypso’s reins and passed them over to Carter. “You can’t have a broodmare like this and a middle of the road stallion.”
“Y’all might want to move back. He’s a handful,” the driver warned.