Last Second Chance by Caisey Quinn Read Free Book Online

slipped on some socks and her riding boots. She knew she should probably change clothes, but she didn’t feel like it. No one would be at the barn this late in the evening anyways.
    After unbuttoning the pink shirt she’d worn to work, she slipped off the pearls her parents had given her for her sweet sixteen. Well, her mom had passed them down to her. Her daddy had barely managed to grunt out a happy birthday. The memory weighed on her already heavy mood. Clad in a cami, a pencil skirt, and perfectly worn in riding boots she hadn’t worn in years, she flung open her front door with the intention of putting any thoughts about Van Ransom straight out of her head.
    She might’ve been able to follow through with this plan had he not been standing on her doorstep.
    “Stella,” he said softly, eyes flashing as he took in her unusual getup.
    She turned away so he wouldn’t see any residual jealousy on her face. “I need to feed the horses, Mr. Walker . Excuse me.” She cut around him, but he followed her to the barn.
    “Since when does a client care coordinator’s job include feeding horses?” he asked as he followed her to the stables.
    She kept walking and answered without looking at him. “Since they need the extra help and I volunteered . ” What business of his was it anyway? And how did he know her official title? Oh yeah—ID badge. Right.
    “Listen. Stella, about earlier—”
    Whirling around and stopping him in his tracks, she glared with all her might. “Look, you don’t owe me an explanation. And for the record, I’m not going to tell anyone what I saw.”
    Van huffed out a breath. “Okay. For the record , what is it you think you saw?”
    Yeah, right. Like she was going there. She turned and resumed her brisk walk to the barn. Did he think she was so naïve she didn’t know what a blowjob was?
    For the next few minutes, she focused all of her attention on the horses. Dipping the large canisters into the feed barrels and emptying them into each animal’s feeding trough helped to clear her head. Warm gratitude in the eyes of the horses in the stables soothed her. Somewhat.
    She stroked a few of their faces and murmured softly, the sting of what had happened with Van swirling with the ache of missing home inside of her. No, she didn’t miss home, exactly. She missed riding. Missed the fearless girl she used to be.
    When she was finished, she turned and saw Van leaning in the doorway with his thick tattooed arms folded over his chest.
    Taking a deep breath and wiping her dusty feed hands on her skirt, she planted her feet where she stood. “You probably shouldn’t be down here.”
    The man watching her with far more interest than she was comfortable with raised a brow but said nothing.
    She straightened a saddle resting sideways on a wooden beam. A riding crop had been discarded on the wooden floor and she bent to pick it up. Dr. Ramirez had said that funds for animal care had been low since the renovations and new stables had taken most of the money that had been given by the recent investors. The trainers were mostly volunteers who did what they could. After hanging the riding crop where it belonged, she turned back toward the exit Van was blocking.
    She barely resisted the impulse to stamp her foot. “You saw me crying yesterday, you stepped in on an awkward situation today, and I came to thank you, and…” And dammit, this was not a conversation she wanted to have. Her eyes were tricking her into noticing things she didn’t want to. Like the way the thick knot moved in his muscular neck when he swallowed. The way ink-covered veins throbbed in his strained forearms. The way he held his jaw, clenching it, forcing his full lips together. The man had a mighty fine mouth. She could just imagine what it would feel like on hers. In fact, she’d spent more time imagining it than she’d ever admit.
    “You came to thank me and what?” he pressed, uncrossing his arms and walking toward her.
    For