StudinTexas by Calista Fox Read Free Book Online Page A

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one here would use it to hurt you. Someday I’d like to put it on you and just
walk you around. Let you get some fresh air and a change of scenery.”
    The horse backed up and returned to the far corner of his
large stall. Sky sighed, her shoulders slumping.
    “Now, darlin’,” Sam said in a sympathetic tone. “Don’t take
it personal or get discouraged.”
    “Sam’s right,” Dalton told her. “Midnight suffers from
post-traumatic stress. It takes time to work through his distrust and his
fears. It’s a survival tactic for him. When he goes into that corner, he knows
we’ll leave him be. Not push anything on him. Let him relax and regain his
composure.”
    “Right,” she said, disappointment in her voice. She turned
back to the men. “I understand that. I just hoped he’d sniff it or something.
Show some interest.” She gave the hackamore back to the vet.
    Sam said, “I’ll walk you up to the inn.”
    They left the stable. Sam strolled casually alongside her,
his hands shoved in the front pockets of his jeans.
    Sky stole glances at him, finally saying, “In the back of
your mind, you were worried Midnight might accidentally hurt me in order to
protect himself. But in reality, you knew that wouldn’t happen. You suspected
he’d snub me and you wanted to spare my feelings.”
    One corner of his mouth lifted in a sexy grin. His eyes
sparkled in the sunlight. “You made quick progress with him, right off the bat.
I’m pretty sure you’ve got your hopes up that he’ll come around because he
likes you so much. But like Dalton said, he experienced something traumatic—and
Lord only knows how he was treated before that one incident, given the fact he
was malnourished when we brought him here. He needs recovery time. At his own
pace.”
    She nodded. “I realize that. It’d be okay if I kept trying,
though, right?”
    He gave her a full grin that sent a ripple of excitement
down her spine. “More than okay.”
    Sky took in his casual gait and non-assuming disposition as
they headed to the inn. Yet for all of his nonthreatening ways—a result of the
training he’d gone through to work with the spooked horses, yes, but possibly a
reaction to her, because he seemed to sense the wariness surrounding her—Sam
had a commanding presence. A magnetic one she couldn’t help but be drawn to.
    It went well beyond the fact he was gorgeous and had the
most amazing smile. A sexy one that lit her insides and warmed her heart.
    Okay, heat literally flooded her veins. No denying that. It
didn’t exactly make her feel comfortable. But the edginess creeping in on her
wasn’t full-on disturbing. A very odd contradiction to process, because Sky was
in such a peculiar and unsettling place emotionally. A peculiar and unsettling
place in general.
    She’d been on a crazy downward spiral before she’d come to
the ranch, and although she felt a bit more grounded than in past months, she
still didn’t have her feet beneath her. The last thing she needed, in the grand
scheme of things, was to get caught in a maelstrom of sexual tension with the
extremely charismatic Sam Bennett.
    Even when he was doing his quiet, contemplative thing, he
stirred something inside her.
    They reached the inn and she said, “Thanks for the pep talk.
Hopefully I’ll do a better job with tonight’s desserts than I did with
Midnight.” She placed a booted foot on the bottom step that led to the veranda.
Sam gently gripped her forearm.
    “Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s a healing process with
him. Takes time.”
    “I know.” She sighed. “There’s just something about that
horse. Something that makes me want to convince him he’s safe now and no one
will be cruel to him ever again.”
    Maybe it was the reassurance she’d gained since coming to
the inn and being surrounded by such caring and giving people that she wanted
to pass on to Midnight. But how to do it?
    With a shrug, she said, “I guess I have to keep visiting him
and