The Wrangler by Jillian Hart Page B

deeper, hidden softness somewhere within. "You owe me. The least you can do is hire me."
    "What about your arm?" Fine, she was concerned about him. She couldn’t help it.
    "It's nothing."
    "It didn't feel that way last night when you were bleeding."
    "It looked worse than it was." He was tough. It radiated from him like heat from the sun. "I'm already on the mend. I can do a lot around here. Look after the mare. Help with the fencing. Keep an eye on that hill over there."
    Where the tracks had been. "I have a feeling it was Tannen."
    "I have the same feeling." He squinted into the sun-swept prairie. He looked hard and tough, like a man who made his living by his gun.
    Was it smart to let a man like that stay around? But he'd shown her another side, too. The horses responded to him with trust. He radiated a strong, calm gentleness that threatened to rope her right in.
    She set her chin. Not if she could help it. She folded the document and stuffed it into her pocket. "Why exactly aren't you lying down?"
    "Likely I lack the common sense to."
    "Exactly. Thank you." She bit the inside of her cheek to keep the smile from her lips. "You're the first man I've come across who can admit to that flaw."
    "Well, it's easy with me because I have too many to try and hide."
    "I noticed that right off."
    "It was that obvious?"
    "More than you realize. All those rock-solid muscles can't hide a thing." She headed toward the sod stable and the nearby shadows where the palomino mare lay.
    The animal's head came off the ground in fright, but her vulnerable gaze found Dakota's, and she calmed.
    "Now I know why horses take to you." She eased down beside the mare.
    "They can't see the flaws?" His tone softened. The granite-hewn outlaw had decided to show his softer side.
    "Exactly." She stroked the light golden neck and platinum mane. "Don't be taken in by him, girl. He's a man. You can't depend on them when you really need them."
    "Some men," he agreed amiably, took a look in the tin of medical supplies on the edge of the blanket and chose a clean cloth and a small jar of honey.
    The mare snorted as soon as he touched her raw wound and struggled to stand.
    "Whoa there, easy now." His soothing drawl could stop the wind from blowing, such a comforting sound even the mare seemed reassured.
    And she felt lulled.
    Lulled. Not exactly the reaction she wanted to have to the man. She sat back on the blanket, trying to break the spell Dakota had put on her. She spotted Fred peeking around the corner of the soddy. Perfect timing.
    "Come on over," she waved to him. "But come slow."
    "Mindy said to give ya this." He thrust out the pail full of clean cloths. "She looks hurt real bad. Did a bear try to eat her, too?"
    "No, a mountain lion." Dakota took the pail, calm and slow. "Do you want to sit and watch?"
    "Yeah." Fred gazed at the mare with wonder. "We see herds run through here all the time. There's this little band of ones we thought we otta try to get first. Plus, the black stallion's herd waters up at the spring near here. Kit, do you reckon she was one of the black stallion's palominos we've spotted racin' by?"
    "It's likely."
    "Sometimes we sit up on the rise at night and wait for 'em," Fred explained as he hunkered down a safe distance away from the mare. She watched him warily, her skin flicking, her eyes white-rimmed. "Don't we, Kit? We count shooting stars until we spot 'em. Sometimes they're runnin', sometimes they're grazin'. A couple times they even come up close and drink at our part of the creek."
    "Is that right?" Dakota asked. The mare relaxed as he stroked her with his big, well-shaped hands. She let her head rest on the grass. Only her heaving sides spoke of her fears and her pain. "Must be more than one herd in the area."
    "Yep, but the black stallion and his herd are almost always here. Every night we watch for 'em, we see 'em. Kit said I can have one of the mustangs for my very own since I'm old enough to help build the ranch."
    "You'll