Fortune's Secret Baby

After checking on once-again-sleeping Anthony, Cooper went into the bathroom in his room, stripped down and stood under the hot spray of the shower.

His mind wandered back to the horse and rider. Had he been hallucinating—who was that beautiful angel?

Tired of the bar scene and rarely in one place longer than a month or so over the last year, it’d been a while since Cooper had been in the company of an unattached lady. Not that his body had forgotten how to respond to the sight of incredible legs and curves to match.

But riding bareback across his cousin’s ranch?

He still wasn’t sure he hadn’t fallen asleep in those few surreal moments, and decided to discover if that vision on horseback had been a figment of his imagination.

Finishing up with a blast of cold water to chase away the final cobwebs, Cooper got out of the shower, dried off and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He walked back into the living room and found Isabella engrossed in his parenting book. He thought about asking her about the mysterious woman, but what if she had only been a vision brought on by his exhaustion?

“Interesting stuff, huh?” he asked instead.

She smiled up at him. “Typical reading for a new dad?”

“Especially for one who’s only been at it a few weeks.” He paused for a moment and then asked, “Do you mind staying just a bit longer? It’s been over a week since I’ve visited Solo. I know JR has had one of the crew members exercising him, but I’d love to take him out for a quick run.”

“Sure, go ahead. I’m here as long as you need me.”

After making sure she had his cell phone number, Cooper pulled on his boots, grabbed his beat-up straw cowboy hat and headed toward the main barn. He stopped to look at the fresh tracks left in the soft earth by this morning’s rider.

So the lady did exist.

Once inside the barn, he took a deep breath, relishing the familiar smells of horses, leather and hay. It was a scent ingrained in his soul from the first time he’d visited Red Rock as a kid with his brothers and sister. Their mother had shipped them off to stay with her cousin, Ryan Fortune, and his wife, Lily, at the Fortune family homestead so she could travel across Europe with her latest boyfriend. Of all the places at the Double Crown Ranch, Cooper had loved the horse stables the best.

He greeted Solo with a fresh carrot, but his friend seemed more excited about the prospect of taking his owner for a ride than the treat. He quivered with anticipation as Cooper saddled him. When they cleared the fenced corral, the buckskin stallion took off from the gentle trot to a high-speed gallop.

Moments later, they left the buildings behind and it was only a man, his horse and the wild open Texas countryside. Cooper slowed the animal and found himself searching the rolling hills and flatlands for any sign of the beauty in white he’d seen just over an hour ago.

Nothing.

Disappointed, he turned back. He needed time to give Solo a proper rubdown before returning to Anthony. Maybe later he would bring his son out to the barn to meet the horse. He liked the idea of someday teaching the boy how to ride.

He walked the horse back to the barn to allow him to cool down. Once inside, he gave his buddy a full brushing and started to put the supplies back when he heard—

Singing?

Light, feminine and slightly off-key. He followed the lyrical voice, until finally in the first stall, he found her.

His angel.

Only now her curves were covered by jeans and a simple white T-shirt with the name of the ranch, and well-used, low-heeled boots on her feet. She was a beauty, the natural kind, her long dark hair now pulled back in a high ponytail with loose strands brushing her forehead. An inner glow seemed to radiate from her as she sang softly to the chestnut horse—the same one he’d seen her riding this morning.

He opened his mouth, but his mind blanked on the usual flirting he’d perfected to an art form. Confused by the sudden loss of words, he leaned against the stall door and enjoyed the view.

She moved with purpose and a sureness of someone who’d been around horses all her life. Her touch was gentle, her focus completely on the animal she tended. Moving to the horse’s head, she met the animal’s broad flat forehead with her own and finished her tune with a gentle kiss.

And damn if a small part of Cooper’s heart didn’t fall head over boot heels for her. The feeling was so foreign, he couldn’t name it and refused to even try.

He gave his head a quick shake to dispel the crazy notion and crossed his arms over his chest. Thankful when his brain finally engaged, he said the first thing that came to his mind. “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

Kelsey Hunt froze at the masculine voice. From where she stood she couldn’t see a face, only a pair of well-worn jeans and cowboy boots that looked as broken in as her own.

Had JR hired another stable hand? In the last year, her boss had turned Molly’s Pride into a bustling ranch with new help starting every week. Having come home to Red Rock and this job eight months ago, she was already considered an old hand.

Might as well set this Romeo straight.

“Sorry, cowboy, but the stall is freshly cleaned of manure. I won’t allow you to drop any more in here with pick-up lines like that.”

She offered a wink to her horse, Harley, and she could’ve sworn the mare winked right back. Having her heart broken not once, not twice, but three times in the last decade was enough to convince her that the no-strings-attached approach was the best. Her life was about the four-legged creatures she understood with a spooky clarity.

Men? Forget it.

“That bad, huh?”

His raspy chuckle caused a ripple through her insides so intense it actually made her knees weaken for a moment. She chalked up the reaction to her inability to get enough sleep the night before, a rarity for her as she worked hard and slept harder. For some reason, she’d spent hours tossing and turning, leading her to impulsively take a ride at dawn. In her nightgown, no less.

She walked to the end of her horse, smoothing her hand down the glossy coat as she went. Might as well look this guy in the eye and let him know they were coworkers and nothing more. “Believe it or not, I’ve heard … w-worse.”

She cleared her throat, blaming the catch in her voice on the dryness of fresh hay she’d just put out for Harley. That had to be it. It couldn’t be because of the intensity in the cowboy’s chocolate-brown eyes as he stared at her.

He wasn’t overly tall, just shy of six feet and he filled out his T-shirt nicely with wide shoulders and muscular arms that came from hard work. The straw Stetson had seen better days, but he wore it as naturally as if he’d been born in it. His faded jeans fit him like a second skin.

His gaze slowly traveled the length of her, too, but she didn’t feel annoyed as she often did by a man’s stare. Maybe because there wasn’t any unseemly suggestion in his eyes, just warm appreciation with a hint of—

Wariness? Now, that was odd for a flirty cowboy.

She swallowed hard before she spoke. “It’s best if I make it clear right now. I don’t play where I sleep.”

That brought his attention back to her face. “Excuse me?”

“What I mean is, I don’t get involved with the people I work with. In my experience, mixing business with pleasure can be toxic, so it’s best to nip things in the bud right up front.”

“I’ll keep that in mind considering I don’t work here.” He pushed himself away from the stall door. “Cooper Fortune.”

Another Fortune? The town of Red Rock was crawling with them. He wasn’t one of JR’s brothers—those she knew by sight—so he must be a cousin. Is that why the name sounded so familiar?

“Wait, you belong to Solo.”

He grinned, his smile rising into one dimple. “That’s an interesting way of putting it. I prefer to think of him and me as buds, belonging to each other.”

She blushed. “I’m sorry. I just naturally pair up the human with their animal instead of the other way around. Professional habit.”

“And what profession is that?”

“Horse trainer. I’m in charge of the equine program here at Molly’s Pride. I’m Kelsey Hunt.”

He took a step forward but stopped short of entering the stall. One hand stretched outward. “It’s good to meet you, Kelsey.”