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A smile crept across my lips as I remained at a distance.
“So, what’d you have on Cassidy to get him to agree?” a low, familiar voice asked beside me. I jumped slightly, startled. Snapping my attention away from the invisible dance occurring in the round pen, I glanced at the towering cowboy beside me.
“Nothing, I just asked for his help with that horse,” I replied. This new visitor, the man I’d seen with Cassidy upon arriving, stood on my right, and my eyes traced a deep, large scar running across his left cheek, barely hidden by his exquisite mustache.
“Hmmmm.” He hummed, his eyes trained on Cassidy. “I wish he’d do that more.”
“Do what more?” I followed his gaze.
“Work with horses.”
“Why doesn’t he?”
I heard the towering man beside me inhale deeply, but not a word came from his lips. He was thicker than Cassidy and a little taller, but both were hard men, unafraid of anything that nature could throw at them.
“How does the dynamic between you two work?” I asked, pressing for more, and he chuckled. His voice was a little gruffer than Cassidy’s.
“I own the ranch; he’s the foreman.”
I furrowed my brows, watching as the stallion took another single step toward Cassidy. There was no way. The man that Rooney talked about wouldn’t work under someone, not for any reason.
“And he’s okay with that?”
“It’s how it’s been for years,” he casually answered and then cleared his throat. “Anyway, cut my little brother some slack. He’s annoying but a good man.”
“Li-li-little brother?” I gasped, and he tipped his head at me.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Are you Weston?”
“Last I checked,” he answered with a chuckle. And all the pieces came together. At least the few that I had from Rooney’s brief rundown of the Duke family.
“Weston!” a woman’s voice called out. My gaze followed Weston’s, shifting to look down the road at the petite lady who waddled our way. She had one hand planted against her back, and the other was rubbing her swollen, pregnant belly. The bear-like man beside me lit up, his eyes sparkling at the sight of her.
Immediately, he jogged away from me and easily swooped her up in his arms. “Hey, darling,” he said.
“Thank you for picking me up. I don’t think I’d have made it all the way back to the house,” she gushed, panting.
I smiled, watching his hardened shell break away as her green eyes met mine. “Hi there!” she called out, waving. “I’m Tenley, Weston’s wife.”
“Hello, I’m Briar,” I politely answered.
“She’s the one that brought the horse Cassidy is working with right now,” Weston explained, walking back toward me.
“Well, sorry to steal my husband, but walking up to the house is not going to happen at the moment, and I couldn’t find a Razor.” Tenley smiled kindly.
Weston gently pecked her lips; her cheeks turned rosy—whether from the heat or his kiss, I didn’t know, and I wasn’t going to ask. Her little sundress billowed lightly in the breeze, and a hushed conversation erupted between the two of them. A gentleness cocooned around a man that I could only assume was typically less teddy and more bear.
I moved away, quietly removing myself from whatever tender moment they were sharing.
Walking to the round pen, I watched as Cassidy’s chest expanded, his broad shoulders widening even more with a sigh, and then he turned away from the horse.
He swung himself with ease over the top rail and plopped down on the other side, facing me. His hazel eyes snapped to mine, and a mischievous smile spread across his lips. I barely caught the grin that was forming on my own, shoving it away with a frown.
“I thought you were going to let him settle,” I stated as he closed the distance between us.
“Yeah, well, I was curious,” Cassidy answered and tipped his head. “I’m gonna give you some chores, and then tomorrow, we’ll see how much of a pain you’ll be on this drive.”
