She’d just finished taking the bridle apart and was dropping
the bridoon bit and the curb into a pail of warm water when the curtained stall
door opened a bit.
“Anybody here?” A male voice asked.
“Get out of there, Chetwynd,” another voice cautioned.
What the hell? Kayla pulled the door all the way open
and fisted her hands on her hips. “What do you want?” she demanded. “Who the
hell are you?”
“Aw, c’mon now, pretty lady. I was just wantin’ to say hello
and admire your horse.” The tall cowboy pushed his hat back on his head and
grinned down at her. His gaze swept her up and down, lingering on the swell of
her breast below the gapping neck of her old sweatshirt.
“I asked what your name was,” she repeated. “And I don’t
appreciate you just inviting yourself into my tack room. There was something
interesting about the man, his jeans snugged against his lean hips, broad
shoulders filling out his western shirt. There was some kind of advertising
emblazoned all over the red shirt but she couldn’t make it all out. The cowboy
just continued to grin at her in appreciation.
“I’m sorry, m’am. I’m Cody, Cody Butters and I apologize for
my partner here, he’s a little short on manners.” The second man elbowed in
front of his friend.
“Hell fire, man. She should know who I am,” the first man
said belligerently.
Kayla’s temper flared and she glared over Cody’s shoulder at
the cowboy. “I haven’t a clue who you are, and I could care less. Why don’t you
go back under the rock you crawled out of?”
“He don’t mean no harm, m’am. He’s just a mite uncivilized,
is all,” Cody intervened. This idiot, is Rob Chetwynd, the reigning Bull Riding
Champion.”
“At your service,” Rob swept his hat off and made a deep
bow.
Kayla sighed in exasperation. “What do you want? I have
things to do.”
“Just wanted to say hello and say how much we enjoyed your
riding,” Cody said with a meaningful glance at his friend.
“Actually, I wanted to see if your little behind was as cute
out of the arena as in it,” Rob said, lifting one eyebrow.
“That’s enough.” Kayla grabbed a stable broom from the
corner of the stall and smacked him with it. “Get out! Get out now, before I
call security.”
“Now, now, there ain’t no call to do that.” Cody grabbed his
friend by the back of his belt and started to drag him out of the stall.
“What’s going on here?” Anna demanded, coming to a halt with
Wellington in tow.
“These two yahoos invited themselves into our tack room and
made themselves very unwelcome,” Kayla told her, still brandishing the broom.
Cody turned and let go of Rob’s belt as Anna came up. “Man,
that’s a nice piece of horse flesh,” he said, eyes running over the 17.3 hand
gelding in appreciation.
“Yes, he is, and I’d thank you to not touch him and take
your…companion…and leave.” Kayla glared at the two men. “Now.”
“Sorry, yeah. I gotta apologize for my friend here. He’s
maybe had a bit too much celebratin’, if you catch my drift,” Cody said.
“That’s not excuse for being an ass,” Kayla shot back.
“Yes, m’am.” Cody ran his eyes over Wellington again,
stopping when Anna stepped out from behind the big horse into his line of
vision. Interest flashed across his face before he dragged Rob away.
“What was all that about?” Anna asked, her gaze on the red
headed cowboy. “What did he say his name was?”
“Which one?” Kayla stripped the cooler off Wellington and
picked up a brush from the tack box just inside the tack room door.
“The red headed one, not the other one,” Anna said folding
the cooler up.
“I don’t know…Cam, Cale, Cody…maybe…why?” She glanced up
from her work. “You can’t seriously be interested, can you?”
“Maybe,” Anna dragged the word out. “He seemed nice, I mean,
nicer than his friend. And he sure filled out those jeans…” She winked at
Kayla.
“Oh, you,” Kayla snorted. “You’d date the devil himself if
he had a nice ass.”
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