Kate was staring at him as if she was only
now seeing him for the first time. "No, I'm fine." A troubled frown
haunted her small, neat features.
"
We've made cookies." Jamie piped up,
seemingly unaware of the strained atmosphere. "You want
some?"
"
How about we get cleaned up first." Kate
shook her head as she stepped quickly away. "Then I'll make us
coffee to go with the cookies."
Taking Jamie's hand she hurried the little
boy towards the house, feeling Spencer's gaze on her back. The
unguarded look in his eyes when she first turned towards him was
nearly her undoing.
Spencer waited until they had gone into
the house. He wasn't fit company right then. He released his
pent-up breath in a rush. Those worn, butt hugging cut-offs fed
into every one of the illicit fantasies that had been troubling his
sleep now for days, leaving him feeling frustrated and on edge. He
remembered the pert sway of Kate's hips as she walked away with his
son. He almost envied the boy his innocent connection with
her.
Almost
. There was nothing innocent about
his current state.
He discovered a crazy impulse to tell her
everything. Lay it all out and watch her reactions. He pushed one
hand around the back of his neck, easing the rigid set of his
shoulders. This battle between his will and his senses was fast
becoming an unequal one. As soon as they could leave he was heading
home to take another long cold shower, several if he needed to. He
shook his head as he gave up the struggle and went in search of
cookies.
The simple task of eating and swallowing
seemed almost beyond her as Kate made the coffee. She handed Jamie
a glass of juice as the Stelanos men settled down at her breakfast
bar.
"
So are you still on for the horses?"
Spencer questioned in a harsh voice as she pushed a plate of
chocolate chip cookies across the bench-top.
Kate knew his brusque tone said he really
wanted her to refuse the grudging invitation, but his son's bright
look of anticipation and hope obviously drove him to question her
wishes. Make her the heavy in this battle. Therefore she nodded
quickly, against the dictates of the snippy little rational voice
in the back of her mind that told her to say no and mean it this
time. "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"
Fine." Spencer nodded his thanks for the
mug of coffee Kate passed to him. He scooped up a handful of
cookies and shared them with Jamie.
"
I...what's entailed?" she questioned
softly.
His darkened blue eyes lifted to study her
closely. "A little gentle exercise and some mucking out. Nothing
too hard for a beginner."
"
Mucking out?" Kate frowned, still unsure
of his abrupt mood.
"
It's our regular Sunday job." Spencer took
a long mouthful of coffee before he said, "You'll need to change
into something more...more...um, serviceable."
"
Serviceable, uh huh." Kate stared down at
her crumpled clothing.
Did his tone imply he wanted her to wear
something less revealing? Was it an issue with him? She looked up,
but Spencer's expression was once again closed and unreadable. He
didn't want her around him, his whole posture said
starkly.
Spencer exhaled roughly as he watched her,
contemplating the day ahead. To his mind, if Kate arrived dressed
in those cut-offs she was going to end the day well and truly
tumbled deep in the stable straw. With him.
His lips tightened. He held on fast to his
need to maintain some distance. "You did say you wanted to
help."
Did I say that?
Kate nodded
cautiously, remembering their stilted conversation from that first
day at the medical centre. "I did say that, didn't I?" It seemed
like a lifetime ago now.
"
Well, then there's no time like the
present." Spencer shrugged, reaching for another cookie. He dropped
his gaze to his son and the boy giggled. Kate eyed them both with
suspicion and wondered what else she was letting herself in for by
agreeing.
After walking over to Spencer's place
together, Kate found the stable work heavy going, but enjoyable.
Now her tired muscles were beginning to ache. Surely now that the
sun was going down they would call it quits. She longed for a bath
and her bed.
"
You can lead this one back to its stall
and then we're done." Spencer handed Kate a heavy lead rope and
walked away.
Kate frowned and looked up. There was a
horse attached to the other end of the rope. A very large,
impossibly tall horse. She snapped a glare after Spencer, but he'd
already disappeared into the stable block leaving her stranded in
the yard.
She frowned, looking back at her new
charge. "Good horse," she cooed.
The animal stretched its neck and yawned.
Kate stared at its teeth. They looked large, strong and menacing.
The animal blew a grassy breath into her face.
"
Okay, horse, let's go home." Kate tugged on the
rope.
The animal didn't move. It stared at her
with big, liquid brown eyes.
"
Now, please." Kate pulled harder. The
horse shook its head, ruffling its long mane. "Oh, come on." She
leaned back, putting all her weight onto the rope, but nothing
happened.
She clicked her tongue encouragingly. The
animal stamped its right front hoof and shivered its glossy
chestnut skin against a circling fly. Not one other powerful muscle
moved.
"
Okay, have it your way." Kate gave up.
"Stay out here all night."
She bit her lips together. Everything she
owned ached. She was tired, hungry and she just wanted to go home.
Her recent fight with the brush fence seemed tiny by comparison.
That hot bath and a soft bed would be pure heaven right now and a
very distant dream.
She heard a smothered snicker behind her.
She turned her head. Jamie was standing behind her holding the lead
rope of an equally huge animal. It dwarfed his small body.
Kate knew a moment of panic, but Jamie
shrugged his unconcern.
"
Not like that, Auntie Kate," he said,
smiling gleefully. "Like this."
He turned and walked away, his back to the
horse. The animal began to follow him like a lamb, dropping its
huge head to push its velvet nose into the side of the boy's
neck.
Jamie giggled as the horse blew a breath. "See,
it's easy."
Kate stared after him.
Easy, huh
?
"
Okay," she breathed. "You can do this."
She looked back at her own horse. It stared
right back at her, a wicked gleam of intelligence in its dark
eyes.
"
If you want to eat tonight, horse, you
won't play any more games with me." Having voiced her deep sense of
frustration, Kate turned away.
She began to walk, expecting any second to
be brought to a halt or be jerked onto her butt once she reached
the end of the tether. Instead she heard and felt movement.
She looked over her shoulder in surprise.
The horse had dropped its head, picking up its huge feet and
putting them down, following her meekly.
She felt a sense of triumph out of all
proportion with the task. She walked into the stables, her charge
behind her, pushing her gently in the small of her back with its
nose. She looked up to encounter Spencer's inquiring
frown.
"
What took you so long?" he
asked.
"
I had to find first gear," Kate told him
cheekily. "I still have to pass my learner's permit in horse
walking."
"
You've never tended a thoroughbred
before?" Spencer asked incredulously.
"
I'm a confirmed city girl, remember?" Kate
smirked. "Not too many horses in Chicago."
"
Can you ride?" Jamie closed the stall door
behind his own animal. He came to take Kate's lead rope.
Kate frowned at his question. "Never given
it much thought," she admitted honestly.
"
We could teach you." Jamie smiled
gleefully.
Kate thought of the size and height of the
animal she had just led into the stables. "Ah, no thanks." She
shook her head.
"
Coward," Spencer growled. "We keep riding
horses that are more your size. And your speed."
She chose to ignore his comment. "I simply
know my limitations, that's all," she said warily, her gaze lifting
to his.
Something indefinable and dangerous lurked
in the back of those sinfully beautiful eyes. Something she didn't
want to acknowledge or name. His troubled look both confused and
concerned her. He appeared to be about to try and say something
again. Confide in her.
"
I...it's getting late. I should be going."
Backing up, she knew she really didn't want to hear whatever he
wanted to say. It would cement another level of intimacy in her
unwanted involvement with this man.
"
Thanks for an interesting afternoon." She
stepped further away from the temptation of his
nearness.
Spencer's
eyes tracked her movement. He
said something low and savage in his own language that didn't sound
at all complimentary. Kate put out a denying hand as he came
closer, filling her personal space with his overwhelming
presence.
"
Look, Kate, I need to tell you something
and I don't know how to—"
"
No!" Kate's breath caught in her
throat.
Not looking where she was putting her
feet, she tripped over the edge of the channeling behind her.
Something sharp cut across the open palm of her left hand as she
fell to her knees. Kate couldn't suppress her gasp of shocked
pain.
"
What on earth have you done to yourself
now?"
To her dismay, Spencer was beside her,
sinking down onto his haunches right in front of her, filling every
part of her vision and her wary senses. So much for the safety of
distance!
"
Running away again, Kate?" His question
was roughly tolerant.
She sucked in a steadying breath. "No,
just not looking where I'm going and tripping over my own two
feet."
"
That seems to be a habit with you, Dr.
Martin." Somber blue eyes stared straight into hers. "I wasn't
going to hurt you. We do need to talk, you and I."
"
I know." This close Kate could see the
tiny flecks of gold in his eyes. And her startled reflection. "It's
just that I…" she trailed off, unable to explain.
"
I understand, I shouldn't have said
anything. I guess my timing is off again. That's never happened
before." Spencer inhaled as he turned his head to instruct his son.
"Jamie, go inside and fetch my bag. We'll be there in a minute. I
think Kate just needs to catch her breath."
"
Okay." His small face set and pale, Jamie
shot off at top speed.
Kate grimaced. It wasn't her breath she
needed to catch, it was her unwise heart. In that moment it seemed
to be slipping out of her control and into this man's brusque
keeping. Her jumbled thoughts tumbled over one another. Somehow she
knew she must reclaim her foolish heart, before it was too late and
she committed the unforgivable sin of falling deeply in love with
yet another man who didn't want her.
Just like
Eric
, that
annoyingly snippy little voice in the back of her mind told her,
with a measure of smug certainty. Kate acknowledged the thought
with a rueful sigh.
No, Spencer is nothing like Eric.
She watched him move closer. Hemmed in
between the stable wall and the open door to the horse stall, Kate
had no place to go unless she wanted to push him over backwards.
This close he made her vitally aware of the uncertain thudding of
her heart; the sharpened tenor of her breathing. His warm scent
filled her nostrils, jangled along her nerve endings. A chill
shiver rippled through her.
"
You okay?" He questioned softly. "You've
gone very pale."
"
Yes..." Kate nodded jerkily. "I'm fine. Or
I will be soon."
She could see the laughter lines around
his eyes. He was trying to coax her to laugh with him over her own
silly predicament. Lessen the sizzling tension between them. She
dropped her eyes to her injured hand. "I can take care of it
myself."
"
Stop being so stubborn. Let's take a look
at the damage." Spencer's long fingers moved swiftly, turning her
injured hand over before she could object, or think to resist him.
The laceration across her palm was superficial, but jagged. Blood
welled sluggishly from the wound.
"
It doesn't look too bad." Kate frowned at the
mess.
It gave her a necessary focus for her
attention from the jean clad, muscular thighs hemming her in on
either side, warming her chilled flesh with their closeness. "A
simple careless mistake on my part. It's nothing."