Page 33 of The Cowboy and the Stray

And the foal had spit on. And the horse had trampled. I was a walking biohazard in muddy boots.

Calder just shrugged, the movement rippling across his shoulders. "You look fine to me. Better than fine."

I risked a glance at him. He was smiling, a real smile that warmed his eyes to emerald and crinkled the corners. Smiling at me, messy hair and horse muck and all.

My heart turned over in my chest. Oh no. No, I could not be noticing Calder Maddox's face, or his shoulders, or his smile. He was my boss. My very off-limits, very much out of my league boss. And probably carved from stone by vengeful Greek gods.

And I was a drifter hiding from her problems, not a cowgirl looking for a happily ever after. I needed to remember that.

I ducked my head, scrubbing the shirt over my filthy arms. "Well, I probably smell a lot worse than I look. Sorry about that."

"Nothing to apologize for. Birth is a messy business."

"That's the damn truth," a new voice said. "And it looks like y'all got more than you bargained for, if the state of you is any indication."

My head snapped up. Midge stood in the open stall door, one eyebrow cocked nearly to her hairline. She looked from me to Calder and back again, her weathered face unreadable.

Then her gaze dropped pointedly to Calder's bare chest. "You airing out the merchandise for company?"

If it was possible to die of embarrassment, I'd have dropped stone dead in the straw.

Please bury me beneath this horse. Thanks.

Calder, drat him, just grinned that slow, easy grin, completely unruffled. "Naomi wanted help with the foal. Tess pitched in, but she got a little messy. Figured she could use the shirt more than me."

Midge snorted. "I bet. You just keep that mess off my floors, you hear? Last thing I need is foal slime tracking through the house."

She turned her sharp gaze on me, and I braced for another tongue-lashing. But all she said was, "You did good, girl. Takes grit to do what you did."

I blinked, stunned. "I... thank you. I didn't really know what I was doing."

"But you did it anyway. That's the important part." She jerked her chin at the foal, now wobbling at her mother's side. "She won't forget it. And neither will I."

With that, she turned and clomped out of the barn, leaving me gaping after her.

"Don't let it go to your head," Calder said, laughter in his voice. "You impressed her, but she still thinks you're a city slicker who can't boil water."

I glared at him, but I couldn't hold it. Not with him standing there grinning, his hair tousled and hay clinging to his broad shoulders.

Far too appealing for my peace of mind. I was going to need a cold hose-down and a priest.

16. CALDER

We'd just made it back to the barn after a good, long run, after shifting well away from the house, of course, when I heard the crunch of gravel outside. I knew that tread. She'd caught us. I froze, one hand still halfway to the beef jerky stash we kept hidden behind the horse feed. Crap. Perfect timing.

Reid recovered first, snatching his hand back and wiping his mouth as if that'd hide the fact that we were elbow-deep in Jack Link's finest. Eli kept chewing, because my brother never met an awkward silence he couldn't make worse.

"Hey, Tess," I managed, trying to angle myself between her and the open cabinet. "What brings you out here?"

She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, one eyebrow arched. Even in the dim light, I saw the gleam of suspicion in her eyes. "I could ask you the same thing. Shouldn't y'all be in a food coma after that dinner?"

Dinner. Right. It'd been particularly bad tonight. Midge had tried to salvage whatever the meat had been. Maybe pork chops? It was hard to say. But she'd been so proud of it, none of us had been able to break her heart by not eating it.

"Just needed some, ah, protein," I said lamely. Behind me, someone snorted. Probably Gray. I threw an elbow back, hoping it connected with his ribs.

Idiot.

"Protein?" Tess repeated slowly. "You ate two pork chops."