Tempestuous/Restless Heart by Tami Hoag Read Free Book Online Page B

around the barn, “she’s a mighty fine mare. And her rider’s not too damn shabby, either.” Haskell shot her a wink and clamped the cigar between his teeth.
    Alex swallowed down the instantaneous rush of revulsion and told herself her employer meant nothing by the remark—he was merely complimenting her on her riding.
    The hell he was, she fumed, anger bubbling up inside her. He was flirting with her the way he always flirted with her. She never responded in kind, but that hadn’t deterred him yet.
    “Thank you, Mr. Haskell,” she said coolly, staring down at the toes of her boots. How long was it going to take this cretin to get the message?
    “Tully,” he scolded in a too-familiar voice. “You just call me Tully, sweetheart, and we’ll get on like peas in a pod.”
    The idea of being a pea in a pod with Tully Haskell was hardly an appealing one. Although he made no move to come closer to her, Alex couldn’t quite quell the urge to bolt away from him. Where the hell was Heather—either one of them—she wondered crossly as she unlatched Terminator’s door and slipped into the stall, preferring the company of the horse to that of his owner.
    Keeping a watchful eye on the chestnut she picked up a brush and applied it briskly to his coat.
    “Here’s that soda you asked for, Mr. Haskell.”
    “Thanks, Heather, honey, ’preciate it.”
    The brush stilled on Terminator’s back as Alex looked out of the stall, her straight, dark brows drawing together in suspicion. Haskell accepted the can of soda, looking neither contrite nor annoyed. Heather C. set about her work cleaning tack without giving the man another glance.
    You’ve got to stop being so paranoid, Alex told herself. It was ridiculous to think Haskell had sent the girl on an errand for the sole purpose of getting her alone. Besides, there was virtually no chance of being alone in the barn, what with competitors going in and out continually. She was just wasting energy being nervous, and in view of the amount of work she had to do, energy was the last thing she could afford to waste.
    Terminator took advantage of his trainer’s lapse in attention, taking a swipe at her arm. Alex jumped out of her trance and scolded herself for being so careless. If the cross ties had been any looser, people could have started calling her Lefty. Where would she and Isabella have been then?
    “He’s got a lot of fire,” Tully observed, perversely pleased by the gelding’s nasty attitude.
    Alex bit back her opinion as she let herself out of the stall and began packing her equipment in her tack trunk. Terminator would have better served the world as a bag of kibble and a bottle of glue, but owners didn’t like to hear that kind of thing from trainers.
    “Let me help you with that, honey,” Haskell said, reaching for the saddle on the rack at the same time Alex did.
    His arms brushed her sides as he reached around her. His paunch bumped against her back. Alex grabbed the saddle and twisted out of his embrace, making sure he got a good poke in the ribs with a stirrup iron as she did so.
    “I can get it, Mr. Haskell,” she said, struggling to curb her reaction and form a polite smile. “Thank you anyway.”
    Rubbing his side absently, he gave her a brief scowl, then shrugged as if to say it was her loss. “Well, I’ve got to be taking off. I’ll stop by the farm one day next week.”
    Choking back the urge to tell him not to bother, Alex managed a nod, then breathed a sigh of relief as Tully swaggered off. She went about her work cursing herself under her breath in Italian all the while and throwing in a couple of colorful words for the odious Mr. Haskell. She had overreacted. She was a ninny. She was a coward. She was a fool.
    Tully Haskell was a man. That seemed enough of a curse to heap on his balding head. He didn’t mean anything by his flirtation. He was just testing the waters, seeing what kind of reception he would get. Any man would have done the