“Slow down, cowgirl. Right now, I honestly don’t give a single solitary fuck who you have lunch with.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, trying her best to remain calm despite his harsh words and his livid tone. “I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. What can I do for you?”
His clenched fists sent his muscles twitching and flexing up his arms. He was even more lethal when he was angry. The heat of his anger pulled at that dormant beast inside her that longed for his attention. For his touch.
Van met her eyes, confidence shining brightly in his own. Clearly she hadn’t done such a great job of not checking him out. “My manager made a mistake. He gave someone here contact information for a woman named Vanessa Reeves. She might be on the list to contact about coming to a family session. It’s vital that she is removed and that no one contacts her or tells her that I’m here.”
Stella nodded. “Got it. Vanessa Reeves. Consider her removed from your contacts.”
Relief smoothed his features visibly. “Thank you.”
“Anything else I can do for you?” Making him feel better filled her with a sense of accomplishment and the offer tumbled from her lips without her even thinking the words.
One side of his mouth lifted and the wicked gleam retuned to his eyes. “That’s a list for another day. Enjoy your lunch.”
With that, he walked away, leaving her gaping at his retreating figure. Frustration boiled to the surface as she made her way back to where Nash was sitting and waiting for her.
“Was that who I think it was?”
Stella didn’t answer. She was still silenced by the shame of having the nerve to think he’d be jealous. He’d stepped in that day with Dr. Tyler because the man had been inappropriate with her. Just because he’d admitted he wanted to sleep with her didn’t mean he cared what she did with anyone else. And she’d jumped to a humiliating and false conclusion just now. But the fact that Van had risked his anonymity to enter the part of the Atrium that wasn’t private, and on visiting day when anyone could see him and announce to the world that he was here, told her that at the very least, he wanted that woman removed from his list more than he valued his privacy. And here she’d thought that urgency had to do with her. Shame heated her face.
“I’m an idiot,” she said absently—unintentionally out loud.
“Huh?” Nash looked at her like she’d completely lost her mind. “No you’re not. Why would you say that?”
She shook her head. “Never mind. Ignore me. I’m… I’m a little off today.”
A low chuckle from across the table surprised her. “Nah, you look okay to me. In fact, I feel like I just caught a glimpse at a side of you I wasn’t supposed to see. The human side.”
“What are you talking about?” Her mouth went instantly dry as she searched her brain for anything that had just happened with Van that might’ve sent the wrong message to bystanders.
Nash paused, smiled knowingly at her, and tilted his head toward the direction Van had gone in. “I used to try to make you mad. Just to get a reaction out of you. Something. Anything. I never could.”
She felt her eyes go wide. “You what?”
“It was dumb. And pointless. I see that now.” A small smile tugged at his lips. “Apparently the lead singer from Hostage for Ransom has much more of an effect on you than I ever could.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Nash. I need to get back to work. But please, do me a favor and don’t mention to anyone that you saw him here.”
Placing her hands on the table, she pushed herself backward and away from the accusations that had hit way too close to home.
“Stella, wait. Hear me out. Please.”
She froze, intrigued by Nash’s powers of observation and also terrified by them. If he’d figured her out in five seconds, how long would it be until everyone else did?
“I didn’t mean to upset you. Well, not just now anyway. The truth is, while it doesn’t do much for my ego, it’s kind of nice to see that someone has finally gotten to you. Frankly, I’m a little jealous.”
Stella shook her head. “I-it’s not like that. He’s a patient, um, a client here. I’d get fired,” she said barely above a whisper.
“Can I be honest with you?”
She nodded.
“I hated that I wasn’t the guy for you and that when I found the girl for me, it hurt you—or it would’ve hurt you if you would’ve let it. What I’m trying to say is, I wish things had happened differently. But what I have with Tess…” For a few seconds, his gaze drifted. Then he shrugged again and met her stare. “Some sins are worth it.”
“I bathed them today. Mother Maybelle rolled in the dirt immediately after.” Jesse Ramirez let out an exasperated sigh. “Shadowdancer told me to keep my soapy sponge to my damn self unless I wanted his hoof prints branded across my face.”
Stella Jo laughed for the first time in what felt like an excruciatingly long day. She raised a hand to her eyes and squinted toward where Jesse stood in front of the setting Texas sun. “I’ll see what I can do. Maybe he’ll at least let me rinse him off.”
“Good luck with that.”
After they said their goodbyes, Stella headed into her little bungalow and switched her work clothes for cut-offs and an old, faded oxford shirt. She pulled her riding boots on and tied her hair into a messy bun before heading to the stables. Washing Shadowdancer was going to be quite the event.
Her patience for difficult men was already at its limit for the day as it was.
She had a plan for Shadowdancer, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like it. It involved tying him to his stall so he couldn’t stomp around or rear back on her while she was washing him down.
Now if only she could tie Van Ransom up and make him tell her what went on behind those conflicted stares of his. Sometimes he looked like he wanted to eat her alive, and others he looked like she made him regret being alive. But every now and then, like today when she’d told him she’d take that woman off his contact sheet, he looked at her with gratitude in his eyes. Eyes that darkened in a way that sent images of them tangled up in each other straight to the deep recesses of her wildest imagination.
“He’s not going to like that,” the man from her imagination called out as she looped the rope around a slat of Shadowdancer’s stall.
Stella focused on her breathing, hoping he wouldn’t notice how much just his voice alone had rattled her.
“You’re the expert on what he likes?” She had to admit that the dark horse had backed into the farthest possible corner of his stall. Both of them were looking at her like she’d lost her mind. “Since when do you even like horses?”
“I’m a man. I know we don’t like to be tied.”
Now there was a mental image she’d be recalling later.
“Well that’s too bad. I had such big plans for you.” Stella was aiming for teasing, but her words carried the irritation she felt. She wanted to throw her hands up, kick the bucket of soapy water over, and tell Van to do this his damn self. She was tired. She was frustrated. Nash had made her feel defective. He’d tried to reach her, to affect her, and hadn’t been able to because she was a cold fish. A cold, empty fish.
And now a man who sent her insides into a scorching free fall was telling her how to handle the animals she’d dealt with her entire life.
Just as she prepared to fasten Shadowdancer’s bridle, he flattened his ears and stomped a hoof in her direction. She backed up and knocked the bucket over.
“Fuck,” she bit out.
Before she had time to react, Shadowdancer leapt toward her. He wanted her out of the stall, but her legs wouldn’t move fast enough. She was about to be pinned under him. Closing her eyes, she braced for the impact. But it didn’t come.