The Truth About Plain Jane

“Why, you are,” she said, pushing off and starting for the big double barn door.

Trey grabbed her arm before she could take two steps. “Wait a minute. Why me?”

Pulling away from him, she planted her hands on her hips and tipped up her head to look at him. “Because you can’t spare any of the other hands, that’s why. And you know as much about horses and riding as I do.”

She was right, but the last thing he needed was to spend more time around Meg Chastain. When he’d left her at her cabin last night he’d made the decision to put as much distance between himself and the green-eyed woman as possible. Teaching the riding lesson would throw them together again. Exactly what he didn’t need.

“I can’t do it,” he said, dragging his hat from his head and raking a hand through his hair.

“Oh, puh-leeze.”

“No, really,” he argued, jamming his hat back on his head. How was he supposed to tell her that his plans for the day didn’t include being around Meg? For some reason, Meg was worming her way into his mind. There was something about her that he couldn’t explain—especially not to his brother’s wife.

“Look, I’ll go get the paperwork done while you teach the riding lesson,” he said with hope.

“You don’t have a clue where anything is,” Ellie reminded him.

Trey hated to admit she was right. He might do the majority of the business end of the ranch work, but he was about as organized as a drowning man. If it weren’t for their young secretary, the Triple B would be in bad shape. He could handle the simple stuff—keeping stock records, ordering feed and the “dude” part of the ranch. But when it came to the other paperwork, he needed help.

“Okay,” he relented. “But just for today, you got that? When Sherry gets back tomorrow, I’m off the hook and you’re back with the lessons.”

Patting his shoulder, Ellie smiled. “She said she had some personal business to take care of today. Things should be back to normal tomorrow.”

“Nothing will be normal,” he grumbled as she walked away. He didn’t bother to return the grin she gave him over her shoulder.

A sigh of frustration ended his self-pity. He had a choice. Go with the flow and deal with the catastrophes that seemed to be plaguing him this week, or give up. And he wasn’t about to give up. There was too much at stake. The Triple B wasn’t only his livelihood. It was Ellie’s and Chace’s, too. Trey knew his brother was eager to start a family to carry on the Brannigan name, but neither Chace nor Ellie wanted to put a strain on things until they were certain the dude ranch was going to be profitable. Until they could regularly draw in larger groups, like the one this week, that wouldn’t happen.

With a kick at a dirt clod, Trey headed for the large, modern horse barn. He had a vague idea who would be riding and what horse each guest would use, but he needed to make sure all was in order before the group descended on him.

Once inside, he stopped at the first stall to check on the gentle pinto mare he’d chosen for Carrie. Satisfied with his choice, he moved on to check the other horses. Everything had to be perfect. The welfare of his guests was top priority. He couldn’t risk having one of them land on his or her butt and go screaming “lawsuit” all the way back to whatever city they’d come from. The Triple B couldn’t afford anything like that.

A whinny from a stall farther down caught his attention. Turning, Trey saw the bay gelding shaking its head as if in answer to a disturbing question. Concerned there might be a varmint in the enclosed area with the horse, Trey moved down the walkway and silently peeked into the stall. He expected to see anything from a small mouse to a polecat, but what he saw made him freeze.

Meg Chastain knelt in the corner, her back to him, whispering comfort to something. Trey hoped to hell it wasn’t something that could hurt her. An armadillo wasn’t a pretty sight, nor was a possum, but there was no accounting for some people’s soft spots.

When he saw the silver-gray of the mother cat rubbing against Meg’s leg, he relaxed. Crossing his arms on the gate in front of him, he watched her. The gelding moved closer to Trey, who absentmindedly scratched between the horse’s ears. He knew that if either he or the horse made any sudden moves, they’d scare the daylights out of the woman. He sure didn’t want that to happen. Besides, he didn’t want to lose this opportunity to take a close look at her while her attention was somewhere else. Maybe he could figure out what it was about her that had his curiosity and his pulse at a high.

He couldn’t see much of her. Like she had the day before, she was wearing a big, tent-like top that hid whatever she had under it. The way she was kneeling made the bottom of it hang around her, shrouding her and covering whatever she had on from the waist down. He couldn’t tell what that was, but a hint of denim winked at the tops of her hot pink tennis shoes.

Taking his time, his gaze wandered up her back and stopped at the slender column of her neck. With her head tipped forward, the creamy ivory of her revealed skin beckoned to him, silently begging for his lips to press against it. He warmed to the idea, almost ready to move in her direction to do the deed. Reaching out for the gate latch, he froze and shook his head. What the hell was he doing?

Meg twisted to look over her shoulder, ruining the view he’d had of her bared neck. Trey swallowed as his gaze slid to hers. Behind her round lenses, her eyes were wide with surprise, pulling him deeper into their cool, green depths.

She turned, breaking the spell, and he let out a whoosh of air. Pulling himself together, he silently cursed himself for letting her get to him. By the time she turned around again, he was ready for those killer eyes.

“Kittens,” she said, holding up a tiny ball of slightly damp fur against one flushed cheek. “Carrie will love these.”

He nodded. “Too bad they won’t be big enough for her to take one home.”

Meg answered with a knowing smile and turned back to return the kitten. She slowly got to her feet and faced him, brushing off clinging bits of straw. “I hope the barn isn’t off-limits.”

Jeans, he thought, running his gaze quickly over the bottom half of her legs. But that’s all he could see. The long top covered everything from just above her knees on up. Below that, he could only guess at what was suggested.

“Is it?” she asked.

“What?” He looked into her emerald eyes and felt like a mule had kicked him in the chest. It took him a moment to regain his equilibrium, and he forced himself to look away before he lost what little control he had left. Stepping back from the stall, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, hoping to look unaffected.

“Is the barn off-limits?” she asked. “I’d like to show Carrie the kittens after our riding lesson.”

“No,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I mean, it’s okay. Just make sure she’s careful around Pedro, there.” He inclined his head towards the horse that had moved away to the far corner. “I’m surprised you’re in the stall with him.”

Sudden realization and fear sparkled in her eyes. “Is he dangerous?”

“He’s fairly gentle. I reckon he didn’t sense any fear in you.”

“I-I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t even notice him. I heard the kittens mewing and I—” Her cheeks were pale as she pressed against the side of the stall and eased along it, keeping her attention on the horse. “Maybe I’d better— I guess it’s about time for the lesson to start. I’d better get Carrie so we won’t be late.”

He opened the gate and held it for her. Unfortunately, he got a whiff of her as she passed. Soft, sweet, gentle as a summer evening, her scent drew him in. Managing to keep his feet planted, he could only nod in answer.

“I’ll see you around, I guess,” she said, squaring her shoulders and turning to leave.

Trey suddenly remembered that he would be teaching the class, not Ellie. He cleared his throat and found his voice. “I’ll be teaching the riding today.”

She came to a stop halfway to the wide double doors and looked back at him, her features troubled. “I thought you said somebody named Ellie would be teaching it.”

“Yeah, well…” He shrugged. Hoping she’d change her mind about going ahead with the class, he waited.

Indecision danced around her well-covered body. “Well, I can’t let Carrie down,” she said, more to herself than to him. With a shrug of her own, she hurried from the barn.

Damn. Looked like he didn’t have a choice. He’d be teaching her how to ride. She didn’t seem to have any sense about how to act around horses, but he crossed his fingers and hoped she’d get the hang of riding quickly. He wasn’t sure how much time he dared spend around her. And if he was smart, he’d stop encouraging her. The only way he could do that was not to talk to her unless absolutely necessary. Damn his bad luck.

Trey stood near the doors of the stable, his hat pulled low, blocking the morning sun that bathed his tanned face. “Come on in the barn and I’ll show y’all how to dress out a horse.”

Joining the other four guests as they followed Trey into the barn for their riding lesson, Meg bit her lip to keep her nervous giggle at bay. Would the animals be wearing career clothes? After all, this was their job. Or would they be dressed in casual wear?

Inside the barn, Meg stood, fascinated, as she watched Trey instruct them on the fine art of saddling a horse. His expert and graceful movements held her attention as he slowly went through each and every step of readying a horse for riding. His strong hands were long-fingered, tanned and callused, but gentle in their movements. When Meg realized she was wondering what those hands would feel like caressing her body, she put the brakes on her wayward thoughts. Oh, no, she wasn’t going to let herself be taken in. This cowboy was a ranch hand, and although he might be useful to her, there would be nothing more. Besides, he was probably like all the other men she had met. He might look gentle, but more than likely it was pure deception.

“Okay,” Trey said, bringing Meg out of her reverie. “I’ll assign y’all each a horse, and then I want to see you do it. I’ll give you a hand if you need help.”

Meg shuddered, her nerves giving way to pure terror. If Trey hadn’t found her in the stall earlier with the kittens, she wondered how she would’ve gotten out. Growing up in Gary, Indiana, hadn’t lent itself to riding horses. She barely knew the front end from the back end. Now she was going to have to climb on one.

Meg felt a small hand slip into hers, and she looked down to see Carrie.

“I don’t think I can lift the saddle,” the little girl said, her voice wobbling.

Before Meg could think of something to say to reassure her, Trey joined them and bent down to Carrie’s eye level. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Nobody expects you to. Soon as I help Miss Chastain, I’ll get you all ready to ride.” He straightened and looked directly at Meg.

She hated to admit that the thought of saddling a horse had her scared witless. “Just show me the horse,” she announced, hoping her voice wasn’t as shaky as her knees were.