Leaping Hearts by J.R. Ward Read Free Book Online Page A

stepbrother on when she remembered writing out all those zeros. What had started out as yet another impulsive move had just proved to be a stroke of genius.
    When she faced them again, she was smiling. “You’re looking at his new owner.”
    “Don’t be flippant,” Peter said, turning away. “Just leave him here in the trailer—”
    “
I
own him, not the stables. So you can take your fancy new corporate title and stick it up your—”
    “You’re lying.”
    She pulled out the receipt. “Got the paperwork right here.”
    Peter took the documents from her hand, lips tightening as he reviewed them: “Well, good for you. But you can’t board him here.”
    “What do you mean?” A.J. looked over to her father for help.
    “Now, Peter,” Garrett hedged, “we can’t just—”
    “I’m in charge here and we’ve just run out of free stalls.”
    A.J. snatched the papers back. “Fine, then get out of this trailer and I’ll move right along.”
    The two men stared at her like she was crazy.
    “What? You’ve made it perfectly clear that my horse and I aren’t welcome so we’re going elsewhere. I’ll pay the stable the going rate for use of the trailer and return it in the morning when I come back for my things.”
    “Now, wait a minute—,” her father began.
    “Where are you going to go?” Peter asked.
    “None of your business.”
    Besides, A.J. thought, I’m not sure myself.
    “Darling, we’re a family,” Garrett said. “These stables are here for you.”
    “But you didn’t make me an equal participant in their future, did you?”
    “Come home and let’s talk about this some more,” her father begged.
    “I’m not going home.”
    “Don’t you think you’re being a little rash?”
    “Rash? Shouldn’t you be talking to your new president? He just tossed me out of my own stables. If you’ve got a problem with the way things are working out, make an appointment and speak with him.”
    Peter shook his head. “This is exactly why you could never have made it in business. You’re too emotional.”
    A.J. didn’t respond to the dig. She was through arguing and on to planning her next move. She had an animal the size of a bus with no place to put him, it was getting late and she now had nowhere to stay herself. She needed to think of a plan and fast. To do that, she had to get rid ofPeter and her father and find somewhere to gather her thoughts.
    She could tell the two of them weren’t going to leave the trailer unless she did, so she went over to the door and leapt onto the ground. The men followed close behind. Before they could stop her, she shut the door and jumped into the cab. She was putting the engine into first gear when her father leapt in front.
    “Where are you going?” Her father’s voice was panicked as he splayed his hands out wide, as if he were prepared to block and tackle the trailer. He looked absurd, wearing his tailored tweed suit and club tie, standing like that.
    Peter was shaking his head, trying to drag her father out of the way. “Garrett, let her go. Better that she cool off somewhere else. She’ll be back in the morning.”
    A.J. stuck her head out of the open window. “A change of scenery isn’t going to calm me down.”
    With that, she put her foot on the gas and the mammoth trailer lurched forward. She didn’t know what she was going to do if her father didn’t move.
    Peter yanked Garrett out of the way.
    “You’ll be back!” her stepbrother yelled after her as she left.
    Peter was wrong about that but, after driving around aimlessly for some time, A.J. was growing desperate. Feeling overwhelmed, she downshifted and brought the trailer to a rumbling halt in the parking lot of an all-night diner located at the side of a country road. Most of its customers were local farmers and A.J. was well-known as one of the regulars but she didn’t want to go inside, no matter how merry it looked. It would be hard to explain why she was out on her own with the