by Jena Wade
Perry took the tractor and hay rake into the barn, ready to take a quick break for dinner before doing the evening chores, when a pickup truck and trailer drove into the driveway. The cherry-red paint on the truck, combined with the chrome rims, nearly blinded him as it pulled to a stop in the middle of the drive, blocking the way for anyone who might need to get in or out.
The impressive rig had the ranch’s logo stuck to the side. Over half of the trailer accounted for the living quarters alone, with more square footage than the cabin Perry was staying in.
Perry shook his head. Hopefully the visitor didn’t plan on staying there long.
He parked the tractor and hopped down, hearing his back pop and crack as he hit the ground. He sure felt every bit of his twenty-eight years. And then some. Just another reminder that he’d spent too many hours working today without a break. Did he eat any lunch? He couldn’t remember.
Tonight would be a good night to sit in his recliner and lose himself in one of his Louis L’Amour books. It’d been too long since he’d sat down and read. And later, after he’d checked the horses for the night, he might actually be able to get more than a few hours of sleep.
Before he could even start walking in the direction of his house, the horses inside the trailer began kicking and neighing, not wasting any time expressing their impatience. The driver stepped out of the truck, and Perry had to stop in his tracks.
The man was tall and lean. He wore a plaid button-down Western shirt tucked into a pair of snug jeans that hugged every curve of his muscular thighs. A silver belt buckle glinted in the late-afternoon sun, drawing Perry’s eyes straight to the man’s groin. The man ran his hand through his hair and stuck a black cowboy hat firmly on his head.
He was exactly what Perry’s dreams were made of.
Feeling his cheeks heat, Perry headed in the opposite direction. This had to be the grandson he’d heard so much about. He would have to meet him sometime, but right now, when he was fighting a hard-on, was not the time.
Tre had neglected to mention that the grandson was so damn attractive. Though he looked a little young for Perry.
Of all the fucking men to attract his attention, it had to be his boss’s grandson? This couldn’t end well.
Ten minutes later, Perry stood inside his cabin, washing his hands at the kitchen sink, when a loud pounding like hooves on metal caught his attention. From the window he could see the trailer in the driveway rocking as the horses inside made sure everyone knew their discomfort. Everyone except the person who should be taking care of them.
“God damn it.” The grandson—what was his name? Cory? —he may be hot but he apparently didn’t know jack shit about taking care of his animals. Or he was too much of a dick to care. Either way, Perry didn’t have time to contemplate why the horses were still locked in the hot trailer after a long road trip.
Perry grabbed his hat and pulled on his boots, then stomped out the door and to the trailer, cursing Cory with every step.
He opened up the side door and found three quarter horses. Each more annoyed than the next. And rightly so.
Within a few minutes he had them out and in the arena. He removed their shipping boots and tossed them on the grass outside the fence. The horses ran, stretched and rolled, obviously grateful to be out of the stuffy trailer.
Perry filled the tank with fresh water and pulled a few treats from his pocket to give to them.
The massive buckskin came over to him first. The horse sniffed the treat carefully before taking it from Perry’s hand. Perry gave him a pat on the neck. The horse nudged his pocket for another treat and Perry chuckled. “No more for you, fella. Don’t want to spoil your dinner.” Whenever that was going to be.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Perry turned carefully and eyed the stranger. So this was the famous Cory up close. If Perry wasn’t so damn mad about the way Cory treated his horses, he might have been more attracted to him. Cory’s light-brown hair curled around the edges of his hat and his chocolate eyes glared at Perry. It was sexy as hell. But any man who didn’t take care of his horses’ needs before his own wasn’t a good man in Perry’s opinion.
“Tending to your horses.” Perry tried to keep his voice even. This was his boss’s grandson, but he had a feeling Garrett wouldn’t appreciate Cory’s actions any more than Perry did.
Cory rolled his eyes. “They’ve been in the trailer for five hours; ten more minutes wasn’t going to kill them.”
That was just the attitude that Perry loathed. Anger boiled in his gut. “If they’ve been in the trailer for five hours, they shouldn’t have to wait ten more minutes. You didn’t waste any time taking care of yourself.”
“Fuck you. I’ve been gone for a month, and I wanted to say hello to my grandparents. Who the fuck do you think you are anyway?”
“That’s the new ranch manager I was telling you about, Cory,” Garrett said.
Perry hadn’t even heard him approach. He’d been too preoccupied with the man in front of him with the steam rolling out of his ears. A week on the job and he was already pissing people off? When would he ever learn?
Cory pointed his finger at Perry and stepped closer until he was almost poking him in the chest. “You might manage the ranch, but my horses aren’t your responsibility, and you don’t have any damn business working with them, tending to them, or even looking at them. You understand me?”
Perry couldn’t suppress his chuckle. His anger at the younger man dissipated the more he spoke. Cory was too fired up over something so minuscule and obviously had a lot to learn about life. He shook his head. The kid was just like all the others whom Perry’d met while in college, too good-looking for their own good, too spoiled to be any good to anyone else.
“I’m the manager around here. And when I see a neglected horse, I will do something about it. Take proper care of your animals and we won’t have a problem.”
He pushed past Cory, nodded at Garrett, and returned to his house. It wasn’t too late for him to at least relax with a good book for a while before he had to start chores later.
Chapter Two
For the first time in a month, Cory was able to fully stretch out on his bed, and when he woke the next morning he could sit upright without worrying about knocking his head on the ceiling of the trailer. But, still, old habits died hard, and he slithered out of the bed and didn’t stand until his feet were firmly on the ground.
It was then that he realized he was in his apartment above the garage. Home. At his grandparents’ ranch. Not stuck in the living quarters of his trailer, sleeping in the parking lot of whatever show he was at. He could rent a hotel room while on the road, like some of the other riders. But he preferred to be closer to the arena and stables, where he could keep a better eye on his horses, and catch a few extra minutes of sleep each day.
His grandma must’ve come in and cleaned up the place when she knew he was coming home. He had clean sheets, the floor had been swept, and the fridge was stocked with his favorite drinks and snacks. He smiled to himself. So his grandma spoiled him; there was nothing wrong with that, right?
Cory checked the clock on his cell phone. Six thirty in the morning. Ugh. He couldn’t even sleep in properly when he was at home.
He flipped on his laptop and pulled up the video feed of the barn. He glanced through the images until he was satisfied that nothing had run amok in the middle of the night. Each of his horses waited patiently in their stalls for their morning rations. Later he would let them out to pasture. Maybe he would take Cash for a quick ride.
Maybe he’d run into the know-it-all ranch manager too.
Cory ran through the events of the previous night in his head. Maybe he’d overreacted. After all, the guy was just trying to be nice and take care of the animals. Cory’d seen red when the other man had taken liberties with his horses and then had accused him of neglect. He never did take well to being told how to handle his own stock.
Instead of calmly explaining the
situation, Cory’d jumped into arrogant-asshole mode and flown off the handle like a teenager.
While competing, he’d learned that playing nice didn’t always get the best results. It was hard for some of his competitors to accept that he was gay. For the most part no one bothered him, but every once in a while a bigoted asshole had to make trouble. Cory’d learned to be cautious of people he didn’t know until he could predict how they would react.
Cory ran his hands over his face. Sometimes it was hard to tell who he was anymore. Next time he saw Perry he would be nice. Normal. Play it cool.
He should’ve settled the horses before he went into the house. He knew better than that. He just forgot momentarily. He’d been doing that a lot lately. Yesterday he’d driven a full hour before he realized he hadn’t properly tied Denny in the trailer. It was mistakes like that that could cause serious accidents. Once he realized his error, he’d quickly pulled into a rest stop and checked each of the horses’ ties and filled their hay bags.
He didn’t know where his head was these days.
Maybe getting second-to-last place at the most recent competition bothered him more than he realized.
When he’d told his grandparents about the ranking they hadn’t said much. Then again, he hadn’t expected them to. They didn’t seem to care if he won or lost, as long as he enjoyed himself.
Cory tugged on his jeans and boots and headed out the door. Perry was pulling the tractor out of the barn, heading God knew where. At least Cory wouldn’t run into him in the barn. He didn’t know why his grandpa insisted on keeping the farmland they had. Why couldn’t they just buy all the hay they needed each year? Then they wouldn’t have to deal with baling hay or any of that crap.
“G’morning, Cory.”
“Hey, Tre.” Cory nodded to the other man as they passed each other.
“You meet Perry yet?”
Cory scoffed. “Yeah. He gave me some shit for leaving the horses in the trailer for too long. I don’t think we quite got off on the right foot.” That was an understatement.
“No shit?” Tre laughed, and for a moment Cory’s temper flared.
He took a step forward, intent on putting some space between him and the rest of the world for a little while.
Tre grabbed his arm to stop him. “Perry can be a bit standoffish. He isn’t much of a talker, but he’s a good guy and he’s done a lot for the ranch in the short amount of time he’s been here. Give him a chance. You and him bat for the same team, ya know.”
“Seriously?” Cory hadn’t exactly gotten the gay vibe from him, but then again he never did have good gaydar. “I’ll try to behave. I promise.”
Tre chuckled. “It’s good to have you home, man. Swing over later; you and I can go grab a beer.”
“Sure thing.”
Inside the barn, Cory tossed Denny and Cash a few flakes of hay, then mixed up their vitamins with their grain, making sure Cash got a little extra.
Cory eyed the two new horses he’d brought home. He wasn’t even sure why he’d bought them. The two-year-old had barely been started yet. But they had great bloodlines, and even better conformation. He’d seen their movements as they played in the pasture; they would make quality reining horses.
But was now really the time to start two brand-new horses? Based on his last few competitions, Denny could still use a little finishing. Or Cory had completely lost his edge. He shook that thought aside. Now wasn’t the time to start analyzing why he couldn’t seem to place well in competition lately.
“I see you brought home something extra this trip? If my memory serves me correctly, you only left with Denny, and now you have two more horses.”
Cory laughed as his grandma came up beside him. “That’s the problem with having a big trailer. I always feel like I need to use the space.”
“They are pretty.” Grandma held out her hand to the horse in the stall and scratched his nose. “What are their names?”
Anyone else in the horse world would’ve asked about their bloodlines, or their training. Not Grandma. “Their registered names are Mister Mister and Snug as a Bug in a Rug.” For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out where the previous owners had come up with those names. “So far I’ve been calling them Mister and Bug, though I am seriously tempted to change their names.”
“No, I think they’re cute,” Grandma said.
Cute names weren’t going to win him any competitions, but he wasn’t about to say that. “Do you have a big breakfast for me before I get started working on training these two?”
Grandma narrowed her eyes at him, and for a moment, he thought she might have something to say about him picking a fight with the new guy. He was sure he was in for a lecture. Instead, she just hugged him.
“It’s good to have you home. C’mon inside, I’ve got cinnamon rolls; that will tide you over while I whip up some breakfast.”
Cory smiled as the comfort of being home filled him after being away for so long. It was a great feeling. Only two more months until finals, when he had to leave again. Hopefully that would be enough time.
Chapter Three
Perry grabbed the reins to Spice’s bridle and led her down the walkway of the barn. The gorgeous summer sun made for a good day to ride the fence line to make sure everything was in working order. It was Perry’s least favorite chore, but a necessary one, and he couldn’t have asked for a better day.
A noise came from the indoor arena and caught Perry’s attention before he reached the barn doors. He sighed deeply. He’d better make sure everything was all right, or else he was likely to come back to a disaster.
He directed Spice down the hall to the arena entrance, but stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Cory running his reining drills with his black-and-white paint, Cash.
This was the horse Cory had won the youth reining championship with when he was just sixteen years old, according to Garrett. Once Perry’d heard that, he’d taken a little time to look up the videos on the Internet. It was easy to see why Cory had won. He and the horse were amazing together. Seeing it in person was even more incredible.
Cory wore a teal T-shirt and his black cowboy hat. So far, Perry had never seen him without the hat or an obnoxiously large belt buckle. Not that he saw much of Cory anyway. In the two weeks that he’d been home, he’d never come out of his apartment before ten in the morning. By that time in the day Perry had half of his work done.
Perry was under strict orders from Garrett and Cory not to take care of Cory’s horses. Someone was feeding the creatures in the morning before Cory got out of bed, though Perry wasn’t sure who.
His gaze never left Cory and Cash as the two ran through the familiar reining routine. Cory’s cues and weight shifts were minuscule, but Cash obeyed every one without hesitation. Perry didn’t know a lot about judging these events, but if this was a competition Cory would be going home with first place hands down. The two were quite impressive together, moving as one. Each movement was precise, the athletic ability of both horse and rider evident with each step.
Once the pattern was done, Cash and Cory stood in the middle of the arena, backs to Perry. Cory leaned down and hugged Cash’s neck.
For the first time, Perry felt as if he was intruding. Obviously the two shared a special bond. It was the first indication Cory gave that he cared about his horses as more than just a paycheck. Quietly, Perry backed Spice down the hall and out of the arena, away from Cory and his horse.
Perhaps Perry had misjudged Cory, assuming that he was just another spoiled kid who’d gotten lucky in a few competitions and thought he was invincible. Based on what Perry saw today, with Cash, there was a lot more to Cory than met the eye.
* * * *
Four hours later Perry came back to the barn. He and Spice had worked up a sweat repairing fences. Well, Perry repaired the fences; Spice mostly spent her time grazing.
He dismounted and led Spice to her stall. A blast of cool air from one of the many fans hit him, and he stood
still, basking in the chilly breeze.
“Is that what you’re paid for? Standing around, fanning yourself?”
Perry turned and faced Cory, who stood in the stall with one of his horses. Mister Mister, according to the nameplate.
He bit back a retort, shrugged, and kept moving. Spice followed along reluctantly.
Inside her stall, Spice shook her whole body, and Perry stepped back. Once she was finished, he took off her saddle and bridle, tossing the tack outside. Spice nosed her way into the hay bag as Perry brushed her down.
“So what kind of mutt is she anyway? She has a unique build.”
Perry bit his tongue. So many remarks swam around in his head, but he ignored them all. Cory was obviously trying to get a rise out of him. And it really wouldn’t be a good idea to tell off the boss’s kin.
“She’s a mustang, if you must know. She was captured in Nevada six years ago.”
“That’s pretty cool. She’s got poor conformation though.”
Perry stopped brushing and met Cory’s eyes. “She’s the most sure-footed horse you’ll ever come across. There’s nothing this horse can’t do.”
For once, Cory didn’t argue. He did, however, roll his eyes.
“Are you just going to stand there and watch me brush her down? Why don’t you do something useful?” Perry’s skin prickled as Cory gazed at him. The man had a way of setting him on edge. Despite the poor personality, Cory was still a hell of an attractive man, and Perry couldn’t help but be drawn to him. But he damn sure wasn’t going to be fooled by a pretty face. Just because Perry’s dick reacted to Cory didn’t mean hooking up with him would be a good idea. “Isn’t it your naptime or something?”
Cory chuckled. “Actually, I’m going to head into town to meet with one of my sponsors.”
“Good for you.” Perry kept his voice dry and even. Like he cared what Cory did with his time. As long as he stayed out of Perry’s way, Perry couldn’t care less.
Cory took a deep breath, like he was annoyed. Perry glanced up at him quickly as he switched to Spice’s other side. Cory’s brow furrowed and real concern etched across his features.
