1001 Dark Nights by Lorelei James Read Free Book Online Page B

your muscles.”
    London tipped her head back and squinted at him, raising her hand to block the sun. “You being a nice guy ain’t an act, is it?”
    “You run into guys like that? Where it’s an act?”
    “Guys who are assholes beneath the slicked up public persona? Yep. That’s how most of them are.”
    Sutton started walking toward the house. “I didn’t see the point in maintaining a public and a private face. If it wasn’t for sponsor’s requirements, I wouldn’t have any public presence in the world of rodeo.”
    “So the perfect day at the rodeo for you?”
    “Do my runs. Take my turn as a hazer. Collect my check and visit with the rodeo officials and coordinators. Hop in my truck and haul my horse home. Then have a beer on my back patio and reflect on my performance—whether I win or lose.” He shot London a sideways glance. “Pretty boring, huh?”
    “Not at all.” When she looped her arm through his, he managed to keep his feet moving instead of stumbling over them. “Attitudes of entitlement among the rodeo participants is why I rarely take jobs with them. They want me to fix a horse in a day, when the problem’s usually been years in the making. They’ve watched ‘The Horse Whisperer’ way too many times and they believe that shit is real.”
    “You mean that one session with Dial didn’t cure him?”
    “Not. Even. Close.”
    “Dammit. Way to dash my hopes. You’re fired.”
    London hip-checked him.
    They fell silent on the rest of the short walk, but London didn’t pull away until they reached the patio. “This is such a great space. No neighbors, no traffic noises, no cattle. I could sit out here for hours and just enjoy the solitude.”
    “Hang tight. I’ll grab us a couple of beers.”
    “Sounds good.”
    When Sutton returned, he saw that London had ditched her hat and her boots. With her face aimed toward the sky, her dark hair swaying in the breeze, a slight smile on those full lips and the sexy way she spread her toes out in the patch of sunshine, he was absolutely poleaxed. Not only by lust, but by the premonition this would be the first of many times they’d be together like this.
    You wish.
    When she opened her eyes and smiled at him, lust muscled aside any feelings of destiny. He ached to see her mouth wrapped around his cock. He wanted to see the diamond pattern from the metal table imbedded in her skin after he pinned her to it and fucked her hard.
    “Sutton? You okay?”
    “Yep.” He handed her a Bud Light.
    “This is perfect. Thank you.”
    He sipped and asked the question that’d been weighing on him. “So what’s the deal with Dial?”
    She expelled a long sigh. “He’s got deep-seated anxiety about his ability to perform, not only to the level he’s reached, but on any level at all. He feels he’s being punished for a mistake that clearly wasn’t his fault. And in horse years, that punishment seems like years instead of months. So he’s resentful of you and the only way he can show that resentment is by not doing what you ask or demand of him.”
    Sutton’s jaw dropped. “Are you freakin’ kidding me?”
    London laughed. “Of course I’m bullshitting you, bulldogger. Sheesh. That kinda psychobabble about a horse’s psyche is a bunch of horseshit—pardon the pun. Dial hasn’t been worked with for months. He’s rusty. He’s ornery. Does he miss being a workhorse and doin’ what he was trained to do? No idea. Alls I can do is hope the training we both did over the years kicks in at some point.” She swigged her beer. “It ain’t a one day fix. But hell, maybe he’ll snap back to it and he’ll be ready to hit the dirt in a week.”
    There was his nightmare scenario.
    She leaned forward and pulled a folded piece of paper out of her back pocket and dropped it in front of him. “Take a look at those numbers.”
    “What’s this?”
    “My rates.”
    He unfolded the paper. Stopped himself from whistling when he saw the amount. London