Protecting The Colton Bride. Elle James

to the breeding barn. It was small but enough for a bachelor and away from his stepmother.

      “There she is,” Jack called out, pulling Daniel back to the task at hand.

      Halo stood in the middle of the pasture, pawing at the ground.

      As they neared, she reared and whinnied.

      Rider answered, sidestepping nervously.

      “She’s all wound up,” Brett muttered. “Did she get hold of some bad feed?”

      “No telling. But whatever is bothering her isn’t normal.” Daniel nudged Rider forward.

      “Let’s go get her.” Jack lifted his lasso and urged his mount forward.

      Daniel rode up to the mare. With only twenty yards between them, the mare bolted and ran. Rider quickly caught up to her on one side. Jack’s horse swung to the opposite side as he tossed the lasso, his aim true. The rope circled the mare’s neck.

      Jack tied off on the saddle horn and slowed his horse by pulling on the reins.

      Halo pulled against the rope around her neck, tossing her head, dancing sideways to avoid Jack. Daniel was on the other side. He reached over and grabbed her reins.

      Between Jack and Daniel, they slowed the mare to a halt. Her chest heaved, her sleek cream-colored coat was slick with sweat and her eyes rolled, showing the crazed whites.

      “Need a hand there?” Brett called out, riding nearby in case the horse broke free.

      “We have her.”

      The two Coltons led the horse back toward the barn, Daniel speaking to her softly, trying to soothe her.

      Brett was first off his horse. He took over for the other two and held the horse’s reins.

      When Jack loosened his hold on the lasso, Halo tried to rear, but Brett held tight, pulling her head down.

      “You’re right,” Brett said, straining to hold on to the horse. “Something isn’t right with her.”

      “Let’s get her into the squeeze chute. I want to take a blood sample.” Daniel dismounted and led Rider into the barn, tying him off to a post before helping Brett get Halo into the chute.

      Jack backed away. “If you two can handle this, I’ll take care of the other horses.”

      “We have it,” Daniel assured him. “All I need is a syringe—”

      Megan appeared, carrying a syringe and a couple of cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol.

      Daniel breathed a sigh, happy that she hadn’t decided to quit because of his indiscretion.

      “Daniel keeps telling us how efficient you are,” Brett teased. “Now you’re a mind reader?”

      Megan shook her head. “It’s logic. Halo wasn’t acting herself. There has to be a reason.”

      Brett and Daniel held Halo’s head while Megan swabbed the horse’s neck, felt for the jugular and slid in the needle.

      Halo jerked, but the men held her steady while Megan pulled the plunger, filling the syringe. She removed the needle, swabbed the injection site and massaged it for a moment. “I’ll put this in a tube and drop it off at the vet pathology lab in Tulsa on my way home.”

      “Better leave now if you want to catch them before they close for the day.”

      “Will do.” Megan hurried back into the barn with the syringe without making eye contact with Daniel. She’d always been open and smiling around him.

      Daniel could have kicked himself for ruining everything. He wouldn’t have been surprised in the least if she came in the next day with her resignation. “Can you take over with Halo?”

      “Sure.” Brett gripped the mare’s bridle and backed her out of the chute.

      Daniel ran into the barn, where Jack had tied off his and Brett’s mounts beside Rider. He was in the process of removing the last saddle.

      Megan was nowhere in sight.

      Jack shook his head. “She’s in the office.”

      Without a word, Daniel entered the office.

      Megan was at the desk they shared in the cramped space, transferring the blood from the syringe into a tube. “Is there anything else you need dropped at the lab?” Megan reached for a padded envelope and dropped the tube inside.

      “No. Just that.” Daniel rubbed his sweaty palms down the front of his jeans. “Megan, I want to apologize.”

      Megan’s cheeks reddened. “Don’t.”

      “I’m afraid my actions might have given you the wrong idea.”

      Her head jerked up and she stared straight into his eyes. “Are you going to tell me that you kissed me by accident? Or that it was a huge mistake?”

      “No. I mean, yes.” He bit down on his tongue to keep from saying something stupid.

      “Save your breath, Daniel.” She crossed the room with the package in her hand. Her jaw was set, lips pressed into a thin line. “I agree. The kiss was a big mistake.”

      He let go of the breath he’d been holding, but the tightness in his chest didn’t loosen. Though he thought the kiss was a mistake, he hadn’t known how he’d feel to hear her echo his thoughts. Had the kiss meant nothing to her?

      “Good, then.” Daniel straightened, determined not to let any of his chaotic thoughts show in his expression. “I just didn’t want things to change between us. You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had.”

      Megan rolled her eyes. “Daniel, I’m the only assistant you’ve ever had. But if you want to pretend nothing happened and everything between is just like it was this morning, I can play that game, too.” She stopped in front of him and poked a finger into his chest. “But it would be a lie. You might wish you could, but you can’t take back that kiss or the way it made you feel. Because I sure can’t. It wasn’t entirely one-sided, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

      * * *

      Megan left the office and ran out of the barn. She hopped into her Jeep Wrangler and sped down the road leading to the gate to the Lucky C Ranch. Soon she was on the highway into Tulsa, where she had a depressingly small apartment in an inexpensive but not too sketchy neighborhood.

      Determined to make it on her own without her parents’ vast wealth, she’d managed to put down a deposit on the apartment and pay rent and her utilities with the money she made working for the Lucky C Ranch.

      The drive into Tulsa didn’t take long, and soon she was on the bypass circling the city to get to the veterinary laboratory before it closed. She hadn’t factored in the evening rush-hour congestion. Swerving in and out of traffic, she finally pulled into the parking lot with two minutes to spare.

      She ran the blood sample inside, wrote out her request and left the package with the receptionist.

      Then she drove to her apartment complex and parked, her hands shaking as she sat behind the steering wheel, letting the events of the afternoon wash over her in a tidal wave of emotions. One thought stood out over all others.

      Daniel Colton had kissed her.

      The incessant buzzing of her cell phone pierced her hazy cloud of schoolgirl giddiness, and she dug in her purse.

      Perhaps it was Daniel calling to tell her that the kiss hadn’t been a mistake and he was deeply, madly, completely in love with her. Megan found the phone, stared at the caller ID and groaned before punching the talk button.

      “Hi, Mother. What do you want?” she asked, the irritation in her voice more pronounced than usual.

      “Ferrence Small is back home from New York City.”

      “That’s nice.”