Page 68 of Winning Her Duke

But with the danger over, she didn’t know where they stood. Were they friends again? Would he go back to avoiding her? Did she wish to speak to him, or should she just duck out and go home?

Despite their inability to speak, understanding horses was always easier for Gia. It was human men that were impossible to fathom.

The little boys cheered when Apollo beat his sister to his feet and stepped up to be inspected by his mother. Artemis didn’t take long to make her way and instead of waiting to greet her mother, dipped her head under the mare to start nursing.

Gia—still running on excitement—spent the next hour tending to the mother and her babies. All of which seemed healthy enough. Robbie and Sam were exhausted and Hale sent them to find their beds.

Using some of the water that had cooled, Gia cleaned up and reached for the bag containing fresh clothes.

“I’m going to change before returning home.”

“You can come into the house,” he offered.

“No need. I’ll just be a moment. I would just go home and change, but I fear if my father or Lydia saw me like this, they would have an apoplexy.” She gestured to her shirt now spattered with blood and other questionable things.

“Of course. That stall is empty and clean. No one is around so…” He swallowed as if only just realizing the impropriety of their situation. Not that they hadn’t been alone many times before.

This, however, would be the first time they would be alone since they’d kissed and while she was in a state of undress.

She carried the clean water into the stall he’d pointed to and closed the door behind her. She made quick work of stripping off her clothes and washing.

It seemed intimate to be naked while being close enough to hear him move about the room outside. He had muttered something to himself and huffed out a breath.

The thick stall door seemed too thin to block his sounds.

When she attempted to pull on her clean breeches, she realized her plans were hindered by her damp skin.

Instead of struggling and ending up on her arse, she pulled the shirt over her head and used the fabric to fan her bare legs.

Her usual impatience mixed with exhaustion proved fatal as words rolled out of her mouth without thought.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” When he spoke, it sounded as if he was speaking from just the other side of the stall door.

“I mean between us. Shall we take up as friends again, or will you go back to avoiding me?”

She heard him take a breath. “You saved my horses. I can’t very well go back to avoiding you.”

“So, you admit you were avoiding me?”

“I didn’t think it was in question. Of course, I was avoiding you.”

She heard the scuff of his boots and guessed he was pacing as he did sometimes.

“All because I kissed you? What if I promised it wouldn’t happen again?” She didn’t know if she had the strength to adhere to such a promise, but she missed him and was desperate for any way to have him as her friend again.

“I don’t think you have the power to promise such a thing when you have control over only one of the participants.” His voice was quiet and strained.

“To be honest, I probably shouldn’t have made that promise. I can’t say I have any control at all. I think I proved that already.”

He chuckled and she smiled. This was better. The safety of the door between them allowed them freedom to speak without the awkwardness of facing each other.

Gia gave up on her trousers for the moment and leaned against the stall by the door. Merely a few inches of wood separated them.

“I am equally unsure if I can be trusted,” he finally said.

“Really?” It came out as a whisper, but because she was so close to where he stood on the other side of the door he heard. That single word might have been said with more excitement than a regular question.