who followed me, not the other way around.” He took a deep breath and met Hank’s dark gaze. “Yeah, I spent a few minutes alone with her, but she’s just as pure and virtuous as she was when she rode out to the north forty. I made her unroll her blanket near me the night she spent out there, so I could keep an eye on her, and we talked. Of course, there were half a dozen men within hearing distance, and I smelled like a horse and cow patties, so I doubt I was very appealing to a woman of her caliber. I’d suggest again that you ask her.”
“I did.” Hank gritted his teeth and then grinned. “She’s a scamp, James. Loves to lead men around by the nose, and I think she sees you as a challenge. I want to know why she followed you to the stream.”
“I can’t answer for her, and I won’t try,” Jamie said flatly. “But I’m smart enough to keep myself in the clear, Hank. I’m not looking to have you pointing a gun my way. I’m not messing with your girl. At least I’m not trying to get into her bed. I think a woman like Alex is better suited to marriage than a quick roll in the hay.”
“Well, that’s about as blunt as you can get. You got plans to marry the girl?”
“That’s not what I said. I’m not sure she’d go along with the idea anyway.” Jamie dropped to the top step and leaned against the corner post of the porch roof.
“Maybe I’ll ask her what she thinks of the idea,” Hank said with a measuring look. “You ready to settle down yet, Webster?”
“I’ve got a job to do here. I’m not about to get tangled up with a woman, no matter how appealing she is. Ask me that question again in a couple of years.”
“Hey, boss. What do you want done with those yearlings?” Woody approached the porch and posed his query in James’s direction.
“I’ll be right out. I’d say we ought to put them in the far pasture, keep them separated from the others while we work with them.”
“What are your plans?” Hank asked, his interest aroused by James’s words.
“Nothing unusual. Just getting them used to a bit and bridle. Leading them around in circles and letting them know what a human can do for them.” He rose from the steps and turned to face Hank.
“I found out that horses, especially young ones, are a lot like women. They need a bit of pampering, a lot of coaxing and a steady hand on the bit. It takes several months to turn a yearling into an animal that has learned how to respond to his owner, or trainer. But, the lessons are worth the time it takes. I’d like to use Alexis to help with the job, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Hank said expansively. “It’ll be good for her to have the responsibility, and she loves those babies out there anyway. Are you going to ask her about it, or shall I?”
“I will, soon as I get a chance,” James said. He set off after Woody, his mind was already racing ahead to the dozen or so yearlings that awaited him and to weighing the difficulties inherent in this whole plan.
To be asked by the foreman to be in the thick of a training regime, she would recognize that there would be problems with jealousy, with those who had done this task in other years. But James had already decided the final result of using the girl for his program would be worth the risk he took.
Not that he feared the men causing an overt problem, but his own interest in her was the challenge. Being with her on a daily basis would be hard on his patience. The urge to be alone with her, to touch her, was growing by the day.
Hell, by the minute. Working closely with her would be a mixed blessing, he thought as he left Woody and headed to the barn. It would lighten the workload when it came to the training sessions, and at the same time cause him a lot of trouble. Just keeping his hands to himself was problem enough.
She tempted him, as no other woman had. Not even those back in his early days when he was trying his wings. “I was a genuine scalawag,” he murmured to himself.
“Who says so?” From behind him, Alex had spoken and he stiffened, halting the movement of his hands, currycomb held upright.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, even as his heart began a rapid pace.
“Dad said you wanted to talk to me.” Lifting limpid eyes to his, her smile one of a cat set on mischief, she waited.
“I did. I do,” he said, and then turned from her. He could think better when she wasn’t right in front of him.
She tapped his shoulder. “Jamie, are you mad at me? Or is this a bad time for me to talk to you?”
“Neither,” he said. “Wait till I finish with this horse.”
She moved from behind him, and as if his hearing had grown more sensitive, he heard her progress as she walked to where a bench had been built against the wall. Distinctly, he heard the sound of wood shifting as she sat, knew the sound of her boots on the dirt behind him and with an added sense of smell, caught a whiff of the soap she used.
Damn, the woman was going to drive him crazy. His hands worked automatically as he cleaned his horse, but he cut short the process, working quickly on the stud’s mane and then turning him loose in the corral.
Looking back down the long aisle, he felt the heat of her gaze touch him, wished for a moment that the sunshine would light the interior of the barn, the better to see the young woman who waited for him. And then he stalked back to where she sat, stopping in front of her, hands on hips, as if he were fitting this conversation into a tight schedule, and she was but a minor detail on his agenda.
“I’d like to offer you a job,” he said briefly. “I spoke to your father and he said to ask you about it.”
She tilted her head back, the better to see his face. “If you’d sit down next to me, it might work better, boss. What’s your problem?”
He spoke without thinking, his voice harsh. “You, Miss Alexis. You’re my problem.”
“What have I done?” She sounded truly perplexed and he frowned.
“You’re a part of this ranch, and I’ll have to work closely with you if we go ahead with this project. The whole problem is, I have a powerful urge to pick you up and take you to the hayloft and spend a couple of hours with you, finding out—”
She held up a hand to halt his words. “That’s enough, I think.”
He watched as her throat moved, knew she swallowed with difficulty and felt a moment of triumph as he realized he’d shocked her. Maybe given her food for thought. And yet, he’d need to watch his step, lest Hank come after him.
He sat down next to Alexis then, their thighs almost touching, the warmth of her body reaching for him like the sunshine on a summer day. “All right,” he said. “Let’s start over.” He cleared his throat and consciously kept his eyes forward. “I’d like you to work with the yearlings, follow a program I’ve set up for their training. Three or four hours a day should do it.”
She was silent and he allowed himself to toss her a sidelong glance. Maybe she wasn’t interested, or perhaps she didn’t want to work alongside him.
The look of rapt attention she shot his way changed his mind. “You’re kidding. You want me to work with the yearlings? You’ll really let me have a hand in training them?”
“If you want to,” he answered, aware now that it was an idea that appealed to her. Maybe even enough so as to put herself in his vicinity daily, giving him jurisdiction over her movements for the morning hours.
“If I want to?” She sighed the words. “I’ve already told you, early on, how I feel about spending time with the young horses. It’s only a dream job come to life, Jamie. I love those yearlings. Working with them would be a pleasure.”
“How about working with me?” he asked. “Does that qualify as a pleasure?”
She eyed him soberly. “I