When It's Right(75)

Jeff kept his mouth shut. All the horses on the ranch came from impeccable bloodlines. “What are you doing in here? You’ve got a rider waiting in one of the training rings.”

“I came in to get Boots, but Gillian has a soft spot for the beast and had a hissy fit about me taking him.”

“Boots belongs to her.”

“Boots belongs to Three Peaks Ranch. He’s a racehorse. He’s only three and can be trained to race again. His bloodlines are some of the finest on the ranch. He should be racing and making this ranch money.”

“You mean you want to train him. If he comes through and is as good as his lines, you want your share of the purse. You don’t want Blake getting his hands on Boots and making him a champion while you’re working with horses that only place third.”

Ken closed the distance and got right in Jeff’s face. “We both know who the better trainer is.”

Jeff smiled and held his ground as Gillian had done with Ken. “Yes, we do.” He turned to her, his eyes wide when he realized they’d blocked her in against the gate. “Gillian, go into the office and take your call. Blake’s waiting and anxious to talk to you.”

More than ready to bolt, Gillian held her hands tightly together in front of her and rushed past the two men, heading for the office door, thankful Jeff had come along when he had.

“That’s a nasty cut. There’s a first-­aid kit in the office. Clean that up and put a bandage over it,” Jeff called as she continued to walk away.

“What were you two doing?” Jeff asked.

Ken ignored Jeff’s glare. “Nothing,” he hedged, unwilling to explain himself.

“You better hope Blake doesn’t hear about nothing. He’ll fire you. He and Bud made it clear, Gillian is off limits.”

Ken stabbed his finger into Jeff’s chest. “You should keep your nose out of other ­people’s business. You walked in on something, but you don’t know what really happened. It’s between Gillian and me, so leave it alone.”

Ken stormed out of the stables.

Jeff walked into the office and stopped several feet away, staring at her cut arm.

“I thought you said Blake was on the phone.” She staunched the blood with a tissue.

“You saw me walk in from outside. I only said that to get Ken to leave you alone. What’s going on? Why are you bleeding?”

“Ken tried to take Boots out of his stall by force. I got in the way.” Jeff’s frown deepened. She shrugged his concern away now that she’d had time to calm down. “Blake will be back tonight, and Ken will mellow. He was just trying to take advantage of Blake’s absence.”

She thought about what Ken had said about Boots. Bloodlines meant a lot in horse racing. “Let me ask you something. Is Boots really capable of becoming a champion racehorse?”

“Sure. He raced when he was a one-­year-­old. I understand he did quite well before he was bought and used for stud. You’ve seen him run in the training ring. That’s nothing. He wants to race. You can see it.”

She could see it. She felt it every time she let him take the lead and go as fast as he wanted. A good horse, he minded her commands with little coaxing.

“Do you think Blake would let me work with him? Maybe I can get him saddled and put a rider on him.” Jeff had taught her what she needed to do, and she’d spent weeks watching Blake.

“Boots is yours. At least, that’s how Blake put it. Bud agrees. His only intention when he rescued Boots was to make him healthy. I don’t see why you can’t try. I’d say that you’d have a better chance of getting up on him than anyone. You’re a good rider. Even the first time Blake got you in a saddle, you seemed to have been born to it. I saw you last night with Justin. You look like you could handle anything.”

“I love to ride. Who knew a city girl like me could take to horseback riding so easily?”

“You’re a country girl through and through. There’s no city shine on you. Not when you’ve got dirt on your boots and hay in your hair.” When she reached up to clean her hair, Jeff smiled. “Just kidding about the hay.”

He leaned against the desk. Relaxed, her hands steadier, she didn’t feel the need to back away.

“I don’t like the way Ken had you backed up against the stall door.”

“I didn’t like it either. Trust me, it won’t happen again.” That was the second time he’d managed to back her into a corner. Next time, she’d come out fighting.

“Things looked pretty intense when I came in.”

“Why did you come in?” She wanted to distract him from talking more about Ken.