Modern Romance January Books 1-4. Кейт Хьюит

had begged, pleaded, as her horses had been led away from the property by members of Matías’s staff for them to let her go, too. If she was going to lose the rancho, as long as she could be with the horses, as long as she could be with Fuego, she could survive it.

      She had told them she would do anything, any job.

      But the stone-faced man guiding her favorite black stallion into the trailer had simply shaken his head and told her that Matías Navarro did not hire women.

      And indeed, the evidence had been all around her that it was the truth. There was not a single woman among Matías’s staff present at the rancho.

      Her father was gone. Her horses were gone. Soon, she would be evicted from the rancho, with nowhere to go. There were no provisions made for her. She had nothing. Nothing and no one. She had never been able to count on her mother during good times, she had no illusions that she would be able to count on the woman now that things were difficult.

      Camilla knew one thing. She knew horses.

      She knew those horses. She loved those horses.

      Fuego was going to be the next champion on the European racing circuit, she was confident in that. But no one else could handle him. No one else could ride him, and he had some way to go before he was ready for anyone else to try.

      Matías Navarro would find out soon enough that his new acquisition was essentially useless to him. If the horse could not be broken, then he was worthless.

      And without the horses... Her life felt worthless.

      She looked back in the mirror, examining her face. She was not classically beautiful. Her mother had always despaired of her heavy bone structure, the angular nature of her jaw and chin. Not feminine, her rather spindly mother had declared.

      For the first time, though, Camilla was completely pleased with this assessment of her looks. Because it was going to be an asset to her now.

      She opened up the drawer in the vanity and pulled out a pair of scissors. Then she touched a lock of glossy, black hair, and ruthlessly stretched it tight, cutting it close to her ears.

      Yes, she had found her solution.

      Matías Navarro did not hire women. But perhaps he would hire a new stable boy.

       CHAPTER ONE

      CAMILLA STRAIGHTENED AND wiped her brow, looking out over the now familiar fields of the Navarro rancho. In the two months since she had come into Matías’s employ, the place had become close to home. Of course, it couldn’t compare to the Alvarez rancho. She had lived there for twenty-two years, and she couldn’t imagine anywhere feeling like home the way that it had.

      Sometimes she ached with the desire to walk through that familiar front door, to feel the red stone floor beneath her feet, the places where it was imperfect. Where it bowed and cracked from years of wear. It was like a familiar friend, and it was gone. She could never have it again.

      But at least she had the horses.

      It was a tricky thing, though, getting access to Fuego. Matías had refused to allow anyone but his most trusted handler and himself to get anywhere near him. Of course, he was proving to be difficult. Camilla had known he would be. Because he was a difficult animal.

      But she had opted to keep herself mostly out of Matías’s vision. She had not seen the point in drawing attention to herself, but it was becoming clear that if she wanted to have anything to do with Fuego she was going to have to assert herself.

      A difficult thing, since the assumption was that she was a fourteen-year-old boy, simply doing work in exchange for board on the property.

      Very few questions had been asked, and for that she was grateful. She had done a bit more digging about Matías and had discovered that he was generous with his employees. That he had a soft spot for troubled youth and made putting them to work something of a mission.

      In spite of his family’s difficult reputation, Matías himself seemed to be a good man. When she ignored that little doesn’t hire women thing.

      But she had found a workaround. She had decided to play the part of a troubled youth, fallen through the cracks and likely to end up sleeping on the streets if not for the kindness of the Navarro estate.

      It was true enough. She had very few options available to her at the moment. She had no money.

      And she was, in fact, qualified for the job she had been hired to do.

      All in all, her solution was a reasonable one. So, perhaps concealing her gender might be considered less than reasonable.

      But with her hair cut short, and baggy clothes over her rather straight up and down figure, no one questioned it.

      In part, she imagined, because very few people looked directly at her. Much less Matías Navarro.

      Or his beautiful, birdlike fiancée, who had come to live at the estate just last month. She was a lovely creature and reminded Camilla very much of her mother. She had cascading waves of curling blond hair, pale blue eyes and alabaster skin. Anytime she went out onto the rancho she took extensive breaks to stand in the shade and slather her body with sunscreen.

      Matías seemed solicitous of her, often putting his hand on her lower back, or taking hold of her arm, as if the woman would fall onto her face on the uneven terrain if he did not hold on to her in some fashion.

      Camilla wondered what it might be like to have someone treat her like that. No one had ever been gentle with her. Her father had treated her as though she were the son he didn’t have. Had allowed her freedom, had encouraged hard labor. Her mother had treated her like an irritation. She had preferred the former.

      But no one had ever made her feel precious. No one had ever made her feel fragile.

      She sniffed and shrugged her shoulders upward, going back to the task of shoveling manure.

      She would rather have this than be cloistered away in that giant manor house. Would rather be out in the sun, out where it smelled like hay and horse and grass.

      She looked up and squinted. Judging by the position of the sun, it was about time for Matías to make his rounds. That meant he would be coming out to the stables, likely attempting to take Fuego into the arena to be lunged.

      Historically, that had not gone well.

      Camilla had watched through a crack in the door of the stable, whenever she had the opportunity. Whenever she wouldn’t get caught by the foreman and scolded for being idle. She wouldn’t do well at all to get fired.

      She scampered over to the end of the stable and took her typical position. And then her breath caught.

      There was Matías, walking into the arena with Fuego on a lead. Fuego was as beautiful as ever, his coat glossy beneath the late-afternoon sun. He tossed his head, already telegraphing his irritation with the situation, his ears listing backward.

      Then her eyes slid to Matías. And everything inside her seemed to freeze.

      He was stunning in his own right and reminded her in many ways of the animal he was attempting to tame. His black hair was pushed back off his forehead, his skin bronzed and gleaming. His chest was broad, his white shirt unbuttoned down to the center of his chest, the sleeves pushed up past powerful forearms. He was wearing tan breeches that molded to lean hips and powerful thighs, to say nothing of...other parts of him.

      Camilla had been around jockeys her entire life. Typically, they were slightly built, all the better to ride quickly. And she knew that Matías did not race for that very reason. It wasn’t practical. A man well over six feet tall with such a heavy build could never compete with other racers.

      No, Matías was not a jockey. Therefore, the sight of him in those breeches was...a different