Lilli smiled in her general direction. Hunter hadn’t clued Lilli in to where Kate was standing, but she seemed to know.
“Are we ready, ladies?” Hunter held out his arm, and Kate took it.
“Jet is going to kick butt,” Kate said with a wink. “He told me so.”
Lilli laughed with mirth. “We’re rubbing off on you.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Sadly, Sid doesn’t quite feel the same way,” Lilli said.
“Having another bad day, is he?”
Hunter mumbled something unintelligible while Lilli sighed. “He’s a drama queen, and he doesn’t think today is his day.”
Kate had to laugh. “I hope he feels that same way come Derby day.”
Hunter shot her an unreadable look, something between amusement, concern, and annoyance.
They drove in relative silence to the grandstand VIP parking area, letting valet parking handle Hunter’s ridiculously large truck. Kate always thought men who drove trucks like this were overcompensating for their small penises. Whatever issues Hunter might be compensating for, a small penis wasn’t one of them.
Together they walked to their box seats. Cam lounged in one of the chairs, going over a racing program like an old pro. He stood when they approached and greeted them with a hearty, “Welcome, ladies. Hunter.”
Kate shot a glance at Cam, then at Lilli. Lilli bloomed like her namesake when she heard Cam’s voice. She was naturally beautiful, and around Cam her face radiated pure joy. Her smile lit up the dreariest winter days. Cam grinned right back, basking in her glowing presence.
Hunter would have to be a fool to ignore the signs between his buddy and his sister, yet he remained oblivious. He sat next to Kate, and Lilli sat next to Cam.
Hunter leaned back in his seat and put his arm around Kate and leaned in. “We never discussed the terms of our wager.”
She cocked her head at him. “What wager?”
“On the San Felipe?” He winked at her. “What does the winner get from the loser?”
She rolled her eyes. “Perhaps the loser benefits as much as the winner.”
“You think?”
“If it’s a bet of a sexual nature, absolutely.”
His dark eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’d prefer you washed my truck. Naked.”
“Are you nuts?” She’d never washed a vehicle in her life. They’d always had staff who did that, but she wasn’t going to tell him and drive home how different they were. He was hers until the Kentucky Derby. After which she’d go back to Lexington, and he’d go back to Seattle.
“Probably, but that’s what I want.”
“Fine, then I want you to cook me a salmon dinner.”
He frowned. “I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
“Probably, but you never do.”
He held out his hand. “It’s a bet, one car wash or one salmon dinner.”
“You’re on. By the way, I prefer wild Pacific Coast salmon. I’m not crazy about pen-raised or East Coast salmon.” He didn’t release her hand but kept it clasped gently in his own big hand.
A smile of appreciation spread across his face. “Damn, you’re a woman after my own heart.”
“Really?” She sounded pathetically hopeful.
“Really.” He met her gaze with a smoldering one of his own.
“Do you two want to watch the race or drool over each other?” Cam asked with an amused chuckle.
Kate gave a guilty start and scanned the track. The race hadn’t started yet. The horses were still being loaded into the starting gate down the track for the one-and-one-sixteenth-mile race. She briefly turned her attention back to Hunter. He cocked a brow and smirked.
Kate forced her gaze back to the track. She had a race to win. Or, Jet did.
For a race of this length, the starting gate was placed several yards before the finish line on the homestretch. The horses raced past the grandstands and completely around the track before crossing under the finish line a second time for the end of the race. The starting gate was pulled out of the way as soon as the race started.
Hunter grabbed Kate’s hand and smiled. “Good luck, Kate.”
“Good luck, Hunter.”
“With Sid’s attitude, I’m going to need it.”
She couldn’t deny the truth, so she chose to say nothing. No sense in rubbing in the obvious. Kate held her breath as the last horse entered the gate. The starting bell clanged and the horses surged out of the gate. Except Sid. He leisurely broke from the gate and loafed along as if he were out for a canter in the park. Jose, his über-talented jockey, rode the animal with all the expertise he possessed attempting to cajole the stubborn Thoroughbred into running his race. The jockey bent low over Sid’s neck and rubbed his neck while using his body to urge Sid onward.
Jose never used the whip on Sid. That wouldn’t end well. At a minimum, Sid sulked if he felt the slap of the whip. Jose had learned the hard way that he couldn’t force Sid to do anything Sid didn’t want to do. Hunter had told Kate of the time Jose smacked a lazy Sid twice during a training run. Sid leaped over the infield fence and dumped Jose in the duck pond.
Sid’s easy gallop placed him several lengths behind the stragglers, while the leaders ran a scorching track-record pace.
“Fuck.” Hunter groaned and put his head in his hands.
Kate lifted the binoculars and looked for Jet as the tight bunch of horses rounded the first turn. Jet sat back toward the middle of the pack, running easily and biding his time until the perfect moment for his stretch run. Jet was the consummate professional. He knew his job, and he did it without complaint. He never fought his rider, and he waited patiently for his signals. He liked to come from behind, as if he needed the challenge of catching the leaders to inspire him.
Jet was a saint in a horse suit, and Kate had no idea why his compliance bothered her, but it did. Most likely Hunter’s influence and insistence that all horses be allowed to express themselves. Just as Sid was doing now? She almost laughed as she thought, how’s that working for you right now, Hunter?
With a grin she couldn’t contain, Kate concentrated on the race. Jet ran with ground-covering efficiency, like a well-oiled machine. She chanced a glance back at Sid as the horses entered the backstretch. Sid hadn’t a care in the world. In fact, she suspected he was enjoying himself. Shaking her head, she slid the binocs back to Jet.
Sid was Hunter’s problem, not hers. His lack of interest in racing should give her satisfaction, but it didn’t.
The horses jostled for position as they entered the far turn. The blistering pace tired the leaders. They began to drop back. Jet’s jockey guided him to the outside and began to pass horse after horse. By the time they entered the homestretch, Jet turned on the jets and bore down on the two front-runners, gobbling up ground with each purposeful stride.
“Holy spirits above,” Hunter swore. She glanced at him, assuming his comment was directed toward Jet. Only Hunter’s attention was focused farther down the track. Behind her, she heard Cam’s excited running commentary as he filled Lilli in on the race.
Only then did Kate notice what held Hunter’s attention. Like a sleeping giant poked by a troll, Sid had roared to life. He thundered down the track with strides so long and powerful they reminded her of clips she’d seen of Man o’ War’s incredible twenty-eight-foot stride.
Nervously, she shot a glance at Jet. He’d taken the lead and was racing toward the finish line. Every muscle in his sleek bay body strained with the effort to run faster. Like a Ferrari bearing down on a Volkswagen, Sid’s powerful strides narrowed the gap with alarming speed. His red coat gleamed in the sunlight, reminding her of an out-of-control wildfire.
Kate leaped to her feet, yelling at the top of her lungs for Jet to hold it together just a little longer. Next to her, Hunter urged his horse on while behind them Cam and Lilli cheered. Sid’s nose approached Jet’s hindquarters with the finish line seconds away. Sid found another gear and surged forward lik
e a rocket ship. As if sensing he was about to be overtaken, Jet drew from his one last reserve of power. He didn’t pull ahead, but for one stride, he didn’t lose ground, either. That one stride was all it took.
The two horses crossed under the finish line. In the next stride, Sid surged ahead.
Kate should’ve been ecstatic, but she could only stare at Sid as his jockey stood in the stirrups and attempted to slow him. He shook his head and fought him, still full of energy. Meanwhile, Jet gratefully slowed to a canter and appeared completely spent.
She’d been around racehorses all her life, and she couldn’t recall witnessing a horse make up that much ground in that short of a distance.
Sid wasn’t just good.
Sid was destined for greatness.
Chapter 20—Sloppy Race
Back at the stables, Hunter praised Sid and plied him with carrots, Lilli cooed over him, and Carl rubbed him down.
“He gave it everything he had during the last half of the race.” Lilli hugged the big red horse. He twisted his neck and nibbled on her collar.
“He’s damned pleased with himself.” Hunter grinned. He wasn’t sad they’d lost. If they were lucky, Sid had turned a corner and discovered he had a competitive streak.
Lilli stepped back, keeping a hand on Sid’s neck. “He had fun.”
“Good. I hope he’s figuring it out.”
Lilli laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far. He’s still not sure it’s what he wants to do when he grows up.”
“Great,” Cam muttered from his location leaning up against the stall door. Being a city boy, Cam kept his distance from the horse. “You never told me when I invested in this manure machine that horses had personalities just like people.”
Hunter laughed. “You haven’t spent much time around animals, have you?”
“I had a fish aquarium in my dorm room,” Cam said defensively.
Both Hunter and Lilli broke into laughter. Cam scowled, not seeming to understand what they found so hilarious at his expense.
“Such a city boy.” Hunter grinned.
Lilli looked away, the picture of guilty innocence. Cam stared at her with— Hunter frowned. What the fuck was he staring at her with? Longing in his eyes? Lust in his eyes? Something more? Something even scarier. Every muscle in Hunter’s body stiffened as if he’d been sprayed in superglue that’d dried in a hot desert sun. Even his face froze to the point where it hurt. Only his fists clenched and unclenched. He waited not-so-patiently for Cam to notice he was near detonation. But Cam only had eyes for Lilli, as if he were some sap of a lovesick fool.
Hunter was going to gut the guy and maybe even take a scalp or two, though that wasn’t the way of his ancestors. He bet he could find someone who had an inkling how to do it. It didn’t have to be pretty, just effective.
Mess with my sister, and you pay with your soul.
In a brief moment of lucidity, it occurred to Hunter that his buddy may have paid with his heart already.
But this was his sister. His sister. You don’t mess with a bro’s sister. He had to get out of here and think this over. There’d be time to sort this out later when he was able to formulate a plan more logically. Murder truly wasn’t an option.
“I’m going to find Kate and let her get her gloat on,” he said.
Cam blinked several times, then focused on Hunter. “Okay.”
“Will you give Lill a ride home?”
“Absolutely. I’d love to.”
“Of course you would,” Hunter snarled.
“Hunter.” His sister didn’t finish her sentence.
“Sorry, just cranky about the loss.” His answer seemed to placate Lilli and Cam, poor naive fools that they were.
He got the hell out of there.
Kate stood near her horse as a groom hosed him off. He took a moment to take her in, grateful for the distraction. She looked hot in her simple attire. He fully planned to avail himself of that hotness later. His gaze roamed freely over the perfect breasts outlined by the soft material of her top, down past the curve of her delectable hips to her well-shaped thighs. He brought his gaze upward slowly, stopping at her kissable lips. The woman gave him something to think about other than killing Cam and putting Lilli in a convent.
Perhaps she could take the edge off him. Their gazes met, and his mouth turned up in a wolfish grin and he was rewarded with a sultry smile.
Oh, yeah.
“Congratulations,” he said.
“Thank you. But Jet deserves the credit, not me.” She indicated her horse.
Jet stood as quietly as an old plow horse. His lead rope was draped over his neck and his head hung down low. His eyes were shut, and not one muscle moved as he stood obediently and enjoyed his warm bath.
Hunter was struck with how he was more like a machine than an animal. Hunter preferred to see his animals with more spirit than this one displayed. The horse’s complete lack of opinions disturbed him. Kate’s riding horse had behaved the exact same way.
“Jet has no spirit. No personality,” he blurted out before he thought better of it. He’d probably have said it anyway, though, because he was that kind of guy.
“He won, didn’t he?” She didn’t mask her irritation and probably considered him a poor loser.
“Not with joy, but he gave you all he had.”
“Joy? We aren’t going to discuss this again,” she scoffed. “He’s a racehorse. Running is his job. In exchange, he’s well treated, well fed, and well cared for. What more can a horse want?”
“To be appreciated for who he is, not what he is.”
“Jet doesn’t care. He’s an animal.”
“Maybe I care,” Hunter said quietly, reminded once again just how huge of a gap there was between them and their outlooks on the world. Her ancestors raped and pillaged the land. His took only what they needed and cherished the earth as the mother of all things. Now her family did the same, and his struggled to honor the old ways while living in a conflicting world.
Kate whipped around and stopped. “What did you say?”
Hunter shrugged. He’d pushed her too far. A smart man knew when to shut up. Hunter shut up. Kate didn’t abuse her animals or over-race them. That counted for something, even if she didn’t treat them as creatures with personalities and needs.
For now, he’d be satisfied with what he had. Little by little he could whittle away at her stubborn refusal to open her mind to possibilities.
Chapter 21—Scratched
Hunter drove the rental car the couple hours to his family home near a Puget Sound inlet. During the trip, he and Kate made small talk. He fretted about her reaction to his large extended family and their modest surroundings, and their lifestyle. He was proud of his people and his heritage. He expected her to experience some culture shock, but he hoped she handled things well.
As they drove the final few miles to the reservation, he turned to her. “You know this will be the opposite of the luxury you’re accustomed to?”
“I know.” She nodded, chewing on her lower lip in that cute way she had when she was nervous.
“Are you still mad at me?”
“A little notice so I could’ve prepared would’ve been nice.”
He cringed. “Sorry. I promised you a traditional salmon dinner, and this was the best way for you to enjoy the experience and meet my family.”
“What if they hate me?” She wrung her hands in her lap, and her voice wavered slightly.
“They won’t. My parents are very gracious people, like my sister.” Who’d chosen to stay behind with Cam. Hunter wasn’t thrilled about that one damn fucking bit, but he could only deal with one minor crisis at a time, and right now that crisis was introducing his…girlfriend to his family. Thinking of her as such still seemed strange and unnatural, which gave him pause. Relationships shouldn’t be like that.
“You said you have a large family.”
“I do. They can be overwhelming at times, but they’re good people. They mean no harm, e
xcept to me.” He laughed, thinking how the cousins loved to needle him.
Kate sucked her lower lip farther into her mouth and stared at him as if he’d grown a rack of elk antlers and decorated them with blinking red and green Christmas lights.
Hunter fixated on those plump lips of hers and her top row of teeth nibbling on her lower lip. Shit. Fuck. Damn. He wanted those lips on his cock and her sucking him deeply inside her hot mouth.
“Watch out!” she shouted as he almost drove off the road, spraying gravel everywhere.
He swerved back to the pavement and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that.” He couldn’t stand it. He was as hard as the trunk of a cedar tree. He knew this area, and he knew this area well, and he pulled off onto a logging road, driving a mile or so down it and deep into the forest. This time of year, no one should be out and about.
He put the car in Park and turned to Kate. “How about a fuck for good luck,” he quipped.
She squinted at him and rolled her eyes, but those eyes also smoldered with the same aching need he felt. She wouldn’t resist, not for a moment.
And she didn’t.
Twenty minutes later, a little more relaxed, they were back on the road. Hunter reached for her hand. She did light up his life, and he couldn’t deny the sexual attraction between them.
In another ten minutes, they turned into the entrance of the reservation’s housing development.
Kate looked around, surprise evident in those beautiful eyes of hers.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I, uh, didn’t expect it to be so—”
“So what?” He frowned and glanced at her. “Clean? No old cars or garbage?”
She nodded guiltily.
“The tribal council is very strict about that.” He spoke with more force than he’d intended. All the good feelings from their tryst in the woods were dampened by her assumption.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.” He shrugged, but he hadn’t completely forgiven her. He pointed out a sign a few feet from the entrance: Zero tolerance for drugs.
Game Changer: Seattle Steelheads Football (Game On in Seattle Book 7) Page 18
