Bareback(40)

    “I’m not looking for trouble. We were just leaving.” Skyler was navigating a path around Robbie when the woman’s fist connected with her left eye.

    Mindy was immediately at her side, restraining Robbie and hustling her to a nearby chair. Another large woman who worked as the bar bouncer stood over Robbie, assuring she would remain seated.

    “Tell me you don’t want to press charges, Sky,” Mindy pleaded.

    Skyler touched her cheekbone to feel the swelling, but shook her head. “No. Just keep her in here until we can get out of the parking lot.”

    “You got it.” Mindy sighed in relief. “You should put an ice pack on that eye. You’ll probably have a pretty good shiner tomorrow.”

    “Great.” Skyler nodded and nudged Kelly toward the door.



    Skyler had forgotten about her eye until she crept home just before feeding time and looked in the mirror after climbing out of the shower. Damn. Robbie had sucker-punched her a good one. Lots of alcohol and a burning desire for the elusive raven-haired rider with pale blue eyes had fueled a sex-filled night. But the encounter hadn’t quelled Skyler’s need, and only left her feeling worse. There was no substitute for the woman who haunted her every thought.

    Her bad mood lifted when she heard Jessica’s voice downstairs near Rampage’s stall, but sank again when she saw it was Tory, not Rampage, Jessica was talking to while she mucked the stallion’s stall.

    Tory grinned when she spotted Skyler. “Whoa! Who gave you that shiner?”

    Jessica’s head jerked around.

    “That new colt head-butted me when I was working him in the round pen,” Skyler lied.

    Jessica walked over for a better look, grasping Skyler’s chin to turn her face toward her. “Maybe you should have a doctor look at that.”

    Skyler looked away, afraid her eyes would reveal more than she wanted. She grasped Jessica’s slender wrist, holding it for a moment before pulling her hand away. “I’m fine,” she replied gruffly. “No reason to see a doctor for a simple black eye.”

    Jessica looked to Tory for help, but the vet only shrugged. They watched Skyler quickly tack up the colt she was breaking and head for the round pen.



    Chapter Ten

    Fall had begun to turn the center’s hardwoods into an artist’s palette of red, yellow, and gold before the mild winter put a nip in the air that energized both riders and steeds. Because Jessica’s knee didn’t seem to bother her as much anymore, Rampage’s training sessions lengthened. Skyler would saddle Con Air to share their exercises, and both women relished the hours they spent riding and talking together. They didn’t speak again about Skyler’s black eye, and the tension between the women began to ease once Skyler seemed assured Jessica wouldn’t press the bond that continued to grow between them into something more than friendship. It was Jessica’s relationship with Tory that didn’t seem to be going anywhere. While every day was a struggle not to fall into Skyler’s arms and kiss her senseless, Jessica was content to keep her physical relationship with Tory limited to a few innocent kisses. She’d noticed that Skyler was keeping a low profile. She seemed to have lost her lust for one-night stands. Instead, she’d thrown herself into the youth equestrian program, spending additional hours training the kids and their horses, swimming with them in the center’s pool, and helping them with their homework in the afternoons.

    Jessica had followed her to a paddock behind Creek Barn an hour earlier, to watch a group of kids testing their mounts at barrel racing. The object of the contest was to run their ponies the length of the arena, loop tightly around first one then a second barrel, and race back across the arena in the shortest time.

    Jessica’s smile faded when she saw Scott showing a short whip made of braided rawhide to the other boys. He waved to the boy holding a stopwatch, mounted his horse and headed for the barrels. He whipped the pony with the rawhide quirt around the first barrel and aimed for the second. The pony was running hard, but slipped coming around the second barrel and struggled to recover. When he was back on his feet, Scott flogged him hard to make up the lost time.

    “Skyler,” Jessica began, but the woman next to her was already heading across the paddock, her face flooded with anger.