Molly rustled against the door behind her and broke the spell. She silently thanked the little filly. She dragged in a deep breath and fought for lucidity.
What did she say? She didn’t want to burden him with her drama when he seemed like a decent enough guy. He reminded of her of men like her father or her cousin, Joe, steady men who worked for everything they had and took care of it because it meant something to them.
“The crowd and noise gave me a headache, and Stephen knows how much I like horses so he told me about Molly. I just wanted a few minutes of quiet.”
“Are you used to being around horses then?”
“Yes. We had horses when I was little and I spent as much time as I could with them and my dad. Right now, I have an orphaned foal that’s stolen my heart.”
“Orphans can be tricky. Do you have help?”
“I do. The local vet has agreed to help. We’ll get by all right.”
“Would you like me to walk you back to the party? I was headed that way for a bite to eat. Carol will have a fit if I leave without at least taking a plate with me.” A rueful smile stretched his face and softened the masculine angles.
“What time is it? Yes, I really need to get back.” She couldn’t be late. She’d already caused enough trouble.
He pulled a cell phone from his back pocket and checked. “It’s five ‘til eight.”
“Shoot, I really need to hurry, I’m sorry.” She’d be late to the auction.
“There’s no need to apologize.” Great, she’d met a seemingly nice man who didn’t have money or social status on the brain and now he looked at her as if she’d grown a second head. “I’ll get you there, Cinderella. My truck is right outside the barn. How about I drive you up?”
“Yes, please. I need to be there by eight. I shouldn’t have come down here, but I just wanted a few minutes of peace and…it was stupid of me.”
“Stop. There’s nothing wrong with seeking a few minutes of quiet with the horses. If you know Stephen and Carol any at all, you’ll know they don’t give two shits about you spending an extra few minutes at the barn.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him why she had to be back at eight. There was no harm in what she was doing, but she hated to think that his opinion of her would change. She knew it was ridiculous, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.
He walked her to an enormous charcoal dually with a small horse trailer attached to the back. He opened the door wide, grabbed her low on her waist and plucked her up as if she weighed no more than a bale of hay.
Dizzied, she held on to his shoulders. She told herself the odd feeling had everything to do with not having been carried since she’d been a small girl and nothing to do with the feel of cut muscle beneath her hands.
He set her in, shut the door and, as good as his word, he had her up to the main house in no time at all. The clock’s glow on the dash read two minutes after eight.
Shit.
The truck barely came to a stop before she opened the door and hopped out. She shouted a rushed thank you over her shoulder and ran for the mudroom. She changed shoes, hurried to the bathroom where she’d left her purse, brushed her hair, swiped on a fresh layer of lip gloss and all but sprinted to the back patio where everyone had gathered.
She stopped at the closed doors, took a deep breath and plastered on her best pageant smile. She’d rather muck stalls than stand up on the auction block, but she’d be damned if she’d hurt Carol’s feelings or leave her friend in a lurch.
She opened the doors and braced herself.
“There she is. Come on up here, Kate.” Stephen motioned for her to join him and Daniel up on the small stage they’d erected on the enormous patio. “Perfect timing. Carol just auctioned off a date with Daniel to Mrs. Bentley for five thousand dollars.”
Good. Mrs. Bentley was in her seventies and a delightful woman who loved animals nearly as much as Carol. It would be a win-win for her friend. Her son would most likely spend the evening shouting into the older woman’s ear and having his cheeks pinched. A nice, uneventful date combined with the generous donation would make everyone happy.
“Sorry, I’m late. I got swept away by that sweet little horse of yours. I couldn’t tear myself away from those big brown eyes.”
“No worries, dear. You’re right on time. Next up for bidding is an evening with the lovely Kate MacDonald. I’ll trust the winner to be a perfect gentleman. Kate is like a daughter to me, and I won’t hesitate to break out some old-fashioned whoop-ass on her behalf.” Stephen winked, turned on his bright trademark smile and worked the crowd like he’d been born to it. She’d always loved that it was a genuine charisma and not plastic acting.
“Since she’s no less dear to our hearts than our own boys are, we’ll start the bidding at five hundred dollars.”
“Five hundred!” Shouted Mrs. Bentley and the crowd laughed when Daniel made a show of complaining.
“Aw. Mrs. B! Are you two-timing me?” Everyone laughed when Mrs. Bentley made a show of blowing him a kiss from the crowd.
“Six hundred!” Carol put in her bid so Kate turned, smiled and curtsied to her friend.
“Eight hundred!” A smiling, bald man in the back of the crowd put in his bid.
“One thousand dollars.” The oily smooth voice of Phillip Bailey placed a bid that made her blood chill. She didn’t know the man. She’d never heard a single bad word associated with his name but the knowledge that he was associated with Preston made her nauseous.
“Fifteen hundred.” She recognized Harlan Walker, an old friend of the Mitchell’s, and his deep, booming voice. She turned her head to see his lovely and feisty wife, slap him on the shoulder in pretended indignation.
“One thousand eight hundred!” Kate laughed when the slender Sandy Walker outbid her husband.
“Two thousand.” The senator bid again and she made a mistake that would keep her awake for the rest of the night. Every time she closed her eyes she’d see the cold, calculating gaze focused on her as she’d attempted to make a quick survey of the crowd. She’d failed. When his dark stare trapped hers, the voices in the crowd faded. He’d caught her in a sinister web and though she wanted nothing more than to break free and rejoin the world around her, she couldn’t.
Daniel, standing at her side, took her hand and squeezed it. He leaned in close to her ear and spoke. “You are kicking auction ass!”
She shook her head and followed the sound of a familiar voice and saw that Thomas Price, owner of a neighboring farm had his hand in the air.
“Four thousand dollars from Thomas Price. Going once.” The tight ball of nausea eased a fraction. A tightness in her chest that she hadn’t even known was there lightened with cautious relief as the widower beamed at her from across the crowd. He was sweet, in a bland, characterless way. She’d be bored out of her mind, but she’d tolerated much worse over the years on Preston’s arm.
“Five thousand.” Nausea struck, boiling and acidic, when Senator Bailey bid again.
There was no escaping him. Her fingernails dug into her palms.
“Six thousand!” Carol bid again, but her kindness wouldn’t do Kate any good.
“Seven thousand.” Harlan and Sandy Walker shouted at the same time, she heard the laughing smiles in their voices. Physically, they couldn’t be more different. Harlan stood tall and broad with a full head of salt and pepper hair. He dwarfed his slender, auburn-haired wife. Yet, as always, the two were united and ridiculously happy in their love for each other. At one time in her life, Kate thought she’d had that kind of relationship herself, but it had been a lie.
“Eight thousand dollars.” Bailey bid again and she wished Stephen would just call an end to the auction and her misery. Bailey wanted her. Why? She had no idea, but it couldn’t be anything good. Nothing associated with Preston was, and he stood not more than three feet away from the senator with a knowing grin.
The crowd went quiet.
“Eight thousand dollars.” Stephen paused. “Going once.” He paused again as if waiting for someone, anyone to bid again. “Going twice.” The crowd’s silence weighed heavy, suffocating.
She smiled until her cheeks hurt.
“Ten thousand dollars.” Her heart jumped to her throat and the crowd gasped. She knew that voice. The stable hand who’d driven her up to the house had just bid ten thousand dollars. He stepped out of the shadows from the back of the crowd.
“Ten thousand dollars. Going once, going twice, and she’s sold. One dinner date with former Miss Kentucky, Kate MacDonald, goes to Trent Dawson for ten thousand dollars!” She’d never heard Stephen speak so fast the entire time she’d known him.
She swayed on her feet. Daniel stepped closer and cupped her elbow. He leaned in to whisper again. “Don’t make me pinch you, pretty Kate. You look like you’re about to faint. Dad will kick my ass if I pinch you, but he’ll skin me alive if you fall.”
“I’m sorry. I haven’t eaten much today. I’ve been so busy. I know better.” Daniel stayed silent, but his expression held a wealth of doubt.
She attempted to shake off the shock-induced fog and smiled weakly at Trent. He gave her a gentlemanly nod, reminding her of an old west cowboy, then he stepped back and disappeared into the shadows.
Daniel escorted her off the small stage. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think someone was staring holes into her back the entire way to the kitchen.
Was it Preston or Bailey? But it didn’t really matter, did it?
Chapter Three
Shit. What had he gotten himself into? How could one woman make him break not one, but two of the rules he lived by in less than an hour?
First, he’d turned his back to a possible threat. Yes, the two suits in the stable hadn’t been much of a risk. He could’ve taken them both down without breaking a sweat, but there were reasons that a man never, ever left himself vulnerable.
Second lapse of judgment? He’d let himself be drawn in by a pretty face and a voice that had seeped into his bones with a sweet warmth that had apparently made him a complete dumbass.
After she’d run from his truck as if her heels were on fire, he’d finished parking and made his way to the house. On his way to the kitchen’s back door, he’d encountered the large crowd. Preferring to avoid the party he’d planned to walk around the edges and detour around to the mudroom door. Then he caught a glimpse of Kate from the side. The night’s shadows and the party’s bright lights had shined in the dark chocolate and caramel of her hair. What had Carol called them? Fairy lights? The trees, patio, everywhere he looked the place twinkled and there she stood, straight and tall in the spotlight as if she were royalty.
Then he’d heard Harlan’s booming voice call out a bid of fifteen hundred dollars. It was a voice he knew well and so was the next bidder, Sandy. When Kate laughed at the Walkers’ antics, her face lit up and sucker punched him. She was simply the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
And absolutely not for the likes of him.
The Walkers’ bids answered a couple of questions at once. One, why she’d had to be at the house by eight o’clock and, two, it must be some sort of charity event. Generous to a fault, the Walkers enjoyed sharing their wealth.
He’d taken another step in the shadows around the back when he’d been doomed.
An unknown male placed the next bid for Kate and, though she continued to wear that perfect smile, she somehow did the impossible and stood even straighter. If he knew one thing after years of raising horses, he knew body language. Her spine was so brittle, a stiff breeze might snap it.
He surveyed the crowd and immediately understood. In the middle of the crowd Senator Bailey stood with his hand up. Not more than a couple of feet away hovered the other man, the ex-husband who’d been in the barn with Kate.
Shit.
It didn’t take rocket science to see she wanted nothing to do with her ex-husband and the senator who seemed to be using her ex to get to her.
What a mess.
After another bid, her tension appeared to ease until the senator bid again and her stiffness returned. Stephen’s oldest son seemed to sense something was wrong as he glanced at Kate and, though he kept a closer eye on her, there’d be no help coming from that front. He loved the Mitchells, but politics were in their blood. They more than likely wouldn’t do anything to cause a scene.
Bidding commenced and the lead switched through the crowd but, judging by her posture, Kate had come to the same conclusion as he had.
The senator wanted Kate badly and the warning in Trent’s gut screamed that he shouldn’t let that happen at any cost.
Bailey held the highest bid at eight thousand dollars, and it seemed no one in the crowd would be willing to top him.
Stephen had looked mildly uncomfortable as he’d readied to close the bidding.
“Eight thousand dollars. Going once. Going twice.”
“Ten thousand dollars.” He’d stepped out of the dark and hoped Stephen got the hint and took care of things.
“Ten thousand dollars. Going once, going twice and she’s sold. One dinner date with former Miss Kentucky, Kate MacDonald, goes to Trent Dawson for ten thousand dollars!”
Former Miss Kentucky? She looked the part, but what the hell was he going to do with a ten thousand dollar pageant queen?
He decided against facing the crowd. The last thing he wanted to face was the curious looks of politicians who wondered what a poor stable hand was doing bidding on a beauty queen.
He’d headed back to his truck to pass the time, going through his email and attending to business matters on his phone.
He’d sorted through three fourths of his emails by the time the crowd dwindled down to just a few stragglers, ones probably hoping for a few minutes with the former governor’s ear. By now he should be able to get in and out of the kitchen, grab a plate of leftovers and give Carol a check for her charity without too much fuss.
What had he been thinking?
Had he really bid ten grand on a beauty queen? He wouldn’t consider the money a waste, because Carol knew her charities and it would be put to good use, but he’d never done anything so reckless.
He opened the door and instantly remembered why.
“Carol, I’ll get the money somehow. The charity needs it, and it’s not fair that they’ll be shortchanged. I have some savings. I can— ”
“You absolutely will not. Trent’s word is worth its weight in gold. I’m just glad he stepped up and saved the day. I hated the thought that anyone associated with Preston might have the winning bid.”
“Me too,” Kate said.
That silky voice that was equal parts cool satin sheets and teasing siren lured him from the mudroom into the kitchen. “Ladies.”
Sitting at the bar, each with a half-eaten piece of cake in front of her, they turned their heads toward him but their expressions couldn’t be more different.
Carol wore a bright, welcoming smile and Kate looked like she’d seen a ghost. Unfortunately, the expression didn’t make her look any less appealing. She’d changed out of the dress she’d worn during the auction. The casual sundress she’d exchanged for the gown only made her look more accessible and down-to-earth. Touchable and way too tempting.
Time to finish up business and run as fast and as far as he could.
“Molly’s set and she looks comfortable with Charley next door.” He walked over and handed Carol the check he’d written out in the truck. “I’ll get out of your hair and leave her to you.” When she pointed to her cheek, he obligingly leaned down to give her the kiss she always required.
When she pointed to a mountainous covered plate sitting on the counter, he picked it up. No doubt there was enough food for three grown men beneath the foil.
“Ladies.” He felt like a boy dodging a face washing before dinner as he nodded and turned to leave.
Carol knew him too well. “So, Trent… About your winning bid? I was
thinking for your date—”
“Ah, that’s okay. I’m happy to make the donation and let Kate off the hook. She’s been such a good sport, so there’s no need—”
Carol interrupted before he could dole out a lame excuse. “Oh, no you don’t. When was the last time you did something fun?”
Here comes the lecture. There were only two women on this planet he’d allow to mother him—Sandy Walker and Carol Mitchell. He was screwed. “I’ve been busy and you know I like working with the horses. It’s not work to me.”
Carol kept right on going as if he hadn’t spoken. “How about the art gallery? They’re having a show next Saturday.”
“I can’t do Saturday, Carol. It’s my best day for sales this time of year,” Kate said. He looked over in time to see her take one last bite of cake before she pushed the plate away. The beauty queen held a job? Had she fallen on hard times since the divorce?
“Well, I have tickets to the symphony next Friday evening that Stephen and I won’t be using. I’d hate to see them go to waste. You can take Kate.”
He hadn’t wanted to tuck his tail and run this badly since he and Justin had trampled Sandy’s flowerbeds looking for their lost football when they’d been ten. “That’s not necessary, Carol. I appreciate it but I’m sure Kate would”—
“Kate, do you still have that lovely black and white sheath that you wore last year? You’ll wear that. Trent will pick you up at six. I’ll text him your address and expect a full report.”
Shit.
“Don’t you move.” Carol left the room leaving the kitchen in a heavy silence as if the room itself waited with bated breath to hear what he’d say to Kate.
His tongue tied itself in knots. What did a man say in a situation like this?
“So, you trained Molly?” Kate’s quiet question settled him.
“I did, if you want to call it that. She’s such a good tempered filly, she practically trained herself.”
“She is a sweetie. How long have you worked with”—
The door opened and Carol came through in a whirlwind of energy. “Here we go. I’ll give them to you now so you don’t have to make another trip out.” She kissed him on the cheek and all but shoved him out the door before he could argue.
Protecting Kate: Dark Horse, Inc: Book 1 Page 4
