Bound by Blood (Cauld Ane Series) by Tracey Jane Jackson Page B

cool. We’ll have to introduce them, but we won’t tell Pepper about the Thoroughbreds. She’s an Arabian fanatic all the way.” Sam chuckled. “She drilled that into me from a very young age.”
    “Do you ride?”
    “I do. Well, I used to.” Sam shifted in her seat. “I haven’t for a while. As kids, we used to ride all the time, but then we grew up and high school kept us busy and then I went off to college. I rode mainly because Pepper did, and I enjoyed it, but it’s her passion. I think she’d die if she couldn’t ride. She also wants to be a vet one day. As well as ride for the Olympics and attend drama school.”
    “Really?”
    Sam giggled. “Yes. She’s the eternal six-year-old. I’m half expecting her to say she wants to win a pageant and be a pretty-pretty princess with a tiara. Her ability to dream while working her fingers to the bone is one of the things I love the most about her. It’s virtually impossible to discourage her.”
    Kade smiled. “Tell me about the rest of the pictures.”
    Sam picked up a frame and pointed out her family, appearing a little contemplative as she settled it back on the table.
    “What are you thinking?” he asked.
    She smiled at him over the rim of her glass. “I’m thinking that you’re different than many of the people I meet.”
    “How so?” he asked.
    She shrugged, her face a lovely shade of pink. “I’m going to confess something that I may regret as soon as I’ve done it.”
    “You’re safe with me, Samantha. Confess away.”
    “I feel totally comfortable with you.”
    Kade chuckled. “And that worries you?”
    “A little, I suppose. You’re the third person I’ve met since I arrived here that I don’t feel nervous around, and that makes me suspicious.” She cocked her head. “That’s weird, isn’t it?”
    “That depends.”
    “On?”
    “Who the other two are.”
    “What if you don’t know them?”
    “Hmm, then it’s probably weird.”
    Samantha laughed. “Thanks.”
    He smiled. “I hope the other two are my employees. I want you to feel welcome.”
    “Oh, I do,” she said. “And, yes, Payton is one of them. She’s wonderful.”
    “She is invaluable to our company. I often threaten I’m going to steal her away from Duncan.”
    Sam pursed her lips. “What does he say?”
    “It can’t be repeated in a lady’s presence.”
    “He has good taste.” Sam sipped her wine.
    “Who’s the other one?” Kade asked, nervous that it might be someone he’d need to pull rank on.
    “Oh, he’s no one you know. His name’s Cole. I met him on the plane.”
    Kade pulled his hand away. He didn’t want her to feel the full effect of the jealousy rising in him.
    “Are you okay?” Sam set her wine on the coffee table.
    Damn it. He needed to get control of himself.
    “Of course. Why?”
    “I just got an unsettled feeling. It’s strange.”
    “Strange?”
    “Yes, I’ve had these little flutters of panic over the past few days, and I thought it was because I’m in a new place, but…” Sam rose to her feet and rubbed her forehead.
    “Samantha? What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing. Everything. I’m sorry.”
    He stood and took her hand. “Tell me.”
    “I’m telling you entirely too much as it is. This isn’t me.”
    He waited until he felt her heart calm and then he smiled. “When did you first have the panicky feelings?”
    “When I arrived at the hotel on Friday night and this morning when I got to the office.”
    Friday night he’d argued with his sister and this morning, he’d had the heated discussion with Angus.
    “Then there was right before I called you about the samples,” she continued.
    The news stunned him. Holding Samantha’s hand and doing what only he could as her mate, calming her, he realized he’d underestimated his sister’s connection to Angus.
    She took a few deep breaths and he squeezed her hand. “Better?”
    “A lot better.” She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know how you just did that, but