by Winter, Mary
Table of Contents
About 2 Hearts Rescue
The Quarterback and the Dressage Queen
Thank You for reading
About The Author
Rescued Love Excerpt
Striding Home Excerpt
copyright page
2 HEARTS RESCUE
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Bryan Dent had no idea what he was doing. Well, he was supporting his sister, who was currently riding around the arena on her brown off the track Thoroughbred, Pokey, so named for his lack of interest in racing, that much he knew. But what he was supposed to be doing, other than being very very quiet while the riders made their horses prance around an arena marked with random letters, he had no clue. They had beer at the concession stand and hot dogs, so there was some common ground there with the events he usually attended. But the rest of this? The smell of leather and hay and terminology so foreign to me he thought he was back in that dreadful first semester of French back in high school. No. Freaking. Clue.
Lindy rode down the center of the arena, stopped at the middle mark—he gathered that was X from hours of listening to her talk about dressage—and saluted. With a nod from the judges, she turned and exited the arena. Only then did applause, polite applause, ring out from the spectators in the bleachers next to him. He stood next to the gate. Lindy called him her groom, though he didn’t know a hoof pick from a body brush. Well, he could probably figure that one out, but the rest of this? Not his bag. There wasn’t an end zone or football in sight, and judging from some of the falls he’d seen, these riders needed pads more than his football players.
His sister dismounted and led Pokey in his direction. “It’ll be a bit before they announce the scores,” she said. “Let’s go back to the barn.”
“Okay.” A few moments later, he heard his sister’s name over the loud speaker followed by a score. She smiled and threw a hug around her horse’s neck, who to his credit managed to look bemused. “Is that good?” He smiled at her. Three years younger than his thirty-seven, she had her long blonde hair gathered in some sort of net beneath her black helmet. In her black jacket, white breeches and knee-high boots, she looked smart and kind of English. She reminded him of Erin Salcietto from school. She’d been all about her books and her horses, way too high brow to spend time with the quarterback of the three-time state champion winning football team.
“Very good. It’s our personal best.” Lindy beamed at him.
That he understood, about making a personal best during an outing. “Great. I’m happy for you.” As if his thoughts conjured had conjured ghosts of the past, he heard Erin’s name over the loudspeaker. “Just a moment.” He turned and strode toward the arena, just catching his sister’s bemused expression.
She was through the opening part of the test from what he could tell when he took his place by the rail. Her big grey horse moved effortlessly through the movements; Erin made it look so easy. He was afraid to say it, but she looked better than his sister in a couple of places. Her circles were rounder, her transitions more precisely on the letter. He may not know about this sport. He did know sports and such things mattered, whether it was football or equestrian pursuits.
Her caramel blonde hair was pulled back with a small silver clip and attached hair net. He supposed it created a clean and polished look, though it made him want to remove the helmet and the ribbon tie and see if her hair spilled over her shoulders. Her stern look could be called resting bitch face. He called it laser focus and admired it in an athlete. From white gloved hands to a coat with polished silver buttons, white pants and knee-high gleaming boots she gave an air of perfection. He remembered that from school too. She’d accept no less from herself, and he supposed from those around her, which was why she’d been mostly alone.
He’d longed to muss her up. That she didn’t go to prom or other social events only whetted his appetite. He hadn’t seen her at sporting events, either. The ice princess who would rather play with her horses than football players, or at least that’s what a few members of the team had called her. The ice princess. She’d grown up, and if anything, she was an Ice Queen, and he wanted to thaw that frozen exterior to see what lay beneath.
She finished her test. He didn’t see anyone at the gate, no trainer or groom, or even a friend waiting for her. He moved to the gate and smiled at her as she exited. “Need someone to hold your horse while you get off.” He knew he didn’t use the right term and vowed to pay more attention to his sister.
She stopped and glanced down at him, shocked. “Um, sure. Thanks. It’s Bryan, right?”
That she’d remembered him made him happy, because he sure hadn’t forgotten her. “Yeah. I’m here with my sister.” He moved to the horse’s head, who thankfully looked completely bored with the situation, and gently grabbed the reins.
Erin kicked her feet free of the stirrups and dismounted with a little bend in her knees to absorb the shock. She stepped closer to him and took the reins. “Thanks. Your sister and I help each other occasionally at the shows. I didn’t know you were into horses. Figured the job at the college took up all your time.”
“I don’t really know much about this actually,” he admitted. “But it’s important to Lindy, so I want to support her.” He fell into step beside her as she led her horse to the barn.
“That’s really nice of you.” She didn’t say anything else until she reached her stall a few down from Lindy and Pokey.
His sister gave him a look and a thumbs up. He had to ask her what she knew about Erin as soon as they were home. It seemed quite possible the two of them had talked about him, since Erin knew about his job. Then again, he was in the news often enough with the local college football team as their assistant coach, so maybe she just knew. She didn’t strike him as a type to actually follow football.
He realized he’d been lost in thought and hadn’t really been listening. “…an off the track thoroughbred. I am actually working with some good friends of mine up in Wyoming to open 2 Hearts Rescue South in southern Missouri.” She swung the saddle onto a stand, then followed with the pad, turned bottom side up.
“That sounds interesting. Where at?” His sister had driven a couple of hours to make this show south of St. Louis, so he figured Erin had done the same.
She named a town not far from Deer Hill, Missouri, where his team, the Stags played. If he had his geography right, she was maybe twenty minutes from his sister’s place. Erin reached into a trunk and pulled out a business card, handing it to him. “This is my place. I don’t have any of the rescue business cards printed up yet, but my cell is on here. If you want a tour or may
be need a community service project for your team, I’d be happy to help.”
He took the card from her and tucked it into his pocket. “Thanks.” He glanced over his shoulder and saw Lindy was almost done taking care of her horse. “I better get back, but I’ll call soon.”
“I look forward to it.” She turned her attention back to the horse, letting him slip down the aisle to Lindy’s stall.
She sat on her tack trunk, looking nervous. “We should probably go back out. They’re going to post placings soon. I think the class is almost over.” She stood and he allowed her to lead him out to a small building with a large bulletin board on the side. A few moments later a young man came out and posted a piece of paper. Not long after, he got to watch his sister do a happy dance. She’d won her class. Erin had come in second.
~* * *~
Erin had thought about Bryan the entire drive home. Lindy talked about her sister, and since they had the same trainer, they often saw each other. In fact, Lindy would be helping her with the rescue. She hadn’t expected to see him here. According to Lindy, her brother ate, breathed, and slept football—nothing else. In fact, according to Lindy he hadn’t even dated because no one shared his passion for football. Well that left her out completely, Erin thought with a chuckle. The red ribbon lay across the passenger seat along with her copy of the judge’s notes that she knew she’d be spending the next month pouring over with her trainer. She didn’t understand Bryan’s word any more than he understood hers. It was nice to meet him, but perhaps she ought to put him out of her mind. She had work to do, both with the rescue and to get ready for the next show.
A week later she was still thinking about Bryan. As summer waned and talk of football grew, she’d seen him featured on news reports scrolling across her social media feed. He spoke highly of this year’s football team, though she supposed he had to do that anyway because of his position. Each report served to remind her that they were worlds apart. It was best that way.
She paused in the tack room long enough to slide her saddle off its rack, tucking it onto her left arm, while grabbing a dry saddle pad with her right. She lay it across the saddle, swiped the bridle as she walked past, and set it on the stand in the barn aisle. Tires crunched on the gravel outside. She turned and saw a red truck pull into the drive. Immediately, she recognized Bryan. Her heart skipped, and Erin cursed herself for her foolishness. Wiping her hands on her breeches—at least they were dark to hide the dirt—she strode toward him.
“I hope I’m not intruding,” he said as he stepped from his truck. He wore a Stags t-shirt, jeans, and boots, pretty much the same thing he’d been wearing at the show. “I was visiting Lindy for our pre-season cook out and thought I’d swing by.”
“It’s a welcome surprise. I was just getting ready to ride.” She gestured to the chairs flanking a wooden table outside the barn and sat. “Want to sit?”
“Sure.”
She couldn’t help admiring his lanky walk or the way he eased himself down into the chair, stretching his legs out before him. Giving him a tour seemed too formal, though she’d gotten the 2 Hearts Rescue South sign picked up just yesterday. She needed to make time to hang it by the driveway. All her other signage was in place.
“So you finally got your horse farm and now you have a rescue,” Bryan said. “That’s what you said you always wanted to do.”
She nodded. “I did.” She remembered those days in high school, telling people that she didn’t need to go to college because she was going to run a horse farm and ride professionally. Little did she know about the money required and just how little there was to be made in horses. She didn’t mention she’d gone on to get a degree in English and taught classes at the local community college three days a week. It was enough to cover expenses, if she was frugal, and with lessons and clinics the farm got by. “And you are doing something in football. Seems that we each got what we wanted to do out of life.”
“Not quite,” Bryan said with a sly smile. “The one person I wanted in high school never gave me the time of day.” When she didn’t answer, he reached out and touched her hand.
Warmth radiated from his fingers up her arms and was making her heartbeat flutter. Erin looked at him, not quite believing what she was hearing. “But you were the star quarterback. I was…well, me.” Awkward and way too into her horses, kind of shy and living in her books, she’d been a very geeky high school student, more apt to be pushed or teased by the football team than asked out by one of them.
“I was envious of the girl who knew everything.”
“Not everything, I guess.” Nervous energy hummed through her body. She stood, unable to sit still any longer. “Want that tour?”
“Sure.”
By the time she gave Bryan the admittedly short tour, the energy had dissipated and she enjoyed the flirtatious banter between them. They stopped in the barn aisle, where Jack, her thoroughbred gelding, stuck his nose against the bars to huff into her hair. She laughed and stepped forward—right into Bryan’s arms.
His hand cupped her waist, his other sliding along her jaw to tangle in the hairs escaping from her pony tail. He leaned in and kissed her, not exactly tentative, though he didn’t push. She melted. The first brush of his lips across hers warmed her, set flame to a fire that’d been smoldering since his arrival. She touched his shoulders, leaning in. Her breasts flattened against his chest, the wall of muscle making her imagine him shirtless, sculpted abs and bulging biceps. Hyper-awareness prickled over her skin, aware of his hardness, the solidness of his body against hers. He moved forward; she instinctively backed up a step, finding herself against the stall door. Bryan leaned in, bracing a hand on the stall bars next to her head.
She sighed and melted against him. Yes. This was what she wanted, the adult part of her thinking that perhaps it was best that they waited until now, for she relished his athletic physique, the way he nibbled along her lower lip, never demanding as he sought more of her. Desire built. She fisted her hand in the sleeve of his t-shirt, wondering if it’d be too forward to pull it off her body. She was tempted to try, then Jack nudged her hard.
“Oh.” She pulled away. “I--”
“Really enjoyed that.” His husky voice swept across already inflamed nerve endings, and if it weren’t for Jack demanding she complete the ride she’d promised him, she would have taken Bryan into the tack room and laid him down on the couch to have her way with him.
“I did too,” she admitted. “It seems someone is jealous.”
Bryan laughed. “I see. Well I shouldn’t keep you from him.” He brushed a thumb across her lips. “Things are going to get hectic with the season starting. I’ll text you so you have my number. Text me your schedule. I want to see you again.”
“Okay. I’d like that.” At once, she felt like the geeky high schooler talking to the star quarterback. “I hope they don’t keep you too busy.”
“I’ll find time for us. Don’t worry about that.” He turned on his heels and a few moments later she heard his truck start and he drove away.
~* * *~
The promised text had come nearly a week ago and true to his word, his schedule had gotten hectic. So too had hers with the work to finish setting up 2 Hearts Rescue South, plus preparing for the next show. This one was an overnight show about five hours away; she planned to sleep in her trailer. The sleeping quarters held a queen sized bed, making it more than comfortable for one person. Or at least she thought so until Bryan talked about going with her just to get away for the weekend.
He’d mentioned a hotel room; she told him she didn’t need one. How he’d take to sleeping in the living quarters of her trailer, she wasn’t sure. She’d splurged about five years ago on a custom trailer complete with a cooking area and a bathroom with shower. It’d saved her so much money at shows. To her it seemed like air conditioned paradise on hot show days. Given that the team probably put him up in some pretty luxurious hotels, she worried Bryan might feel differently.
S
he just kept reminding herself that he’d invited her along. Now, they were on the road, after leaving promptly by six am, Jake loaded next to his stablemate, the big black sport horse Izzy, she was hauling for one of her students. Bryan sat next to her in the truck, so quiet she wondered if he’d fallen asleep. She liked this. She liked it a lot and tried not to think about getting her hopes up too high.
~* * *~
Listening to Erin in the shower was killing him. When she’d suggested sleeping in her trailer he wasn’t sure what to expect. Maybe sleeping bags in a swept out stall or something. This luxury certainly wasn’t it. She’d made chicken breast and sautéed vegetables with a vinaigrette-style sauce on the cook top, and they’d drank chilled Riesling from wine glasses engraved with horse shoes. The water stopped for a final time, the image of Erin naked, dripping with water, stepping out of the shower stall filled his mind.
Bryan groaned. The camaraderie they’d shared, the easy way he’d stepped into help, even when he could tell she wasn’t used to the help, though appreciated it, made him wonder why it took so damn long for him to step up to the plate. The stolen kisses and touches whetted his appetite for more. He’d even escaped to a convenience store not far from the show grounds to pick up some condoms. This had to be the weekend that he’d have her.
She emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair, a horse-related t-shirt on with no bra and a pair of yoga pants. The sway of her breasts tormented him. He rose to his feet and crossed the trailer to her. Cupping her waist, he drew her to him. He unwound the towel around her hair, dropping it next to them. Ten steps took them back against the raised bed. He wished it were lower, that there wasn’t a ladder leading to the queen mattress. The low ceiling made the choreography of their love making interesting; however, it would happen. Bryan was so sure of that as he slanted his lips across hers.
Erin flattened her palm against his chest. Bryan thought she might push him away, but instead, she leaned into him, opening her mouth to take the kiss deeper. Yes. He swept his tongue into her mouth, tasting her and a hint of the mint toothpaste she’d used. Mindful that he was still hot and dusty from the day, he tried to keep distance between them. Erin pressed her body against his, and he rocked his hips so the length of his erection pressed against her stomach. She moaned.
