Free Untamed by Hope Tarr Page B

talk, yet they seem to understand fair near every word I say.”
    He grinned at her, and Kate felt her lips twitching. She’d rather die than admit it, but his brash charm was winning her over. Seen in the broad light of day, he was better looking than she recalled, almost handsome, in fact.
    “Oh, very well, but I can only come out for a minute.” She grabbed her coat off the hall tree and shrugged it on, not giving him the opportunity to do the gentlemanly thing and aid her, and then followed him out. A wrought-iron fence bordered the frost-parched patch of front lawn. He held open the gate for her, and she walked up to the post where the two horses were tethered.
    Drawn to the mare because she had a look of Princess, she held out her palm. Soft nickering and then nuzzling confirmed the horse was ready to be friends. Kate pulled off her glove and reached out to stroke the white blaze marking the space between the animal’s dark, intelligent eyes.
    “Well, hullo, sweetheart, and what is your name?”
    Rourke let the gate swing closed. He stepped out onto the sidewalk, drawing up close to Kate. “Her name’s Buttercup, at least for now. I’m considering buying her. Her present owner said I might borrow her for the day. We’re trying each other out, Buttercup and I. What do you think of her?”
    Kate couldn’t imagine why he should care for her opinion one way or the other. As far as he knew, she might be wholly ignorant of horses. She wasn’t, of course, but that was beside the point. Nonetheless, she stepped back to run her gaze over the animal.
    “She appears to be healthy and well cared for,” she said at length. “Her eyes are clear, she seems calm and of good disposition, and her coat lies flat and appears smooth and shiny. I don’t see any markings to indicate parasites or bruising.”
    Healthy skin was elastic. To test, she reached up and gently lifted a fold of skin from the horse’s neck and then let go. The fold disappeared immediately, a good sign.
    She turned back to Rourke, wondering if he might be gulling her. She supposed he was more than capable of telling a good horse from a bad one. Given his wealth, the purchase of one mare wouldn’t count as a major setback.
    She found his gaze riveted upon her face. His thickly lashed emerald eyes had little flecks of gold bordering the irises. She’d never before seen such extraordinary eyes on a man, but then again she’d never before found herself standing dumbstruck on a sidewalk staring up at one, either.
    Kate was accustomed to being chased by packs of men, but not to being the object of any one man’s single-minded regard. The former was akin to how a fox must feel when the hounds closed in, whereas the latter felt … well, very different. For once, she wasn’t eager to get away. In point, there was nowhere else she’d rather be. The bracing air aside, she would have been happy to stare back at him for hours on end.
    But, of course, that would be folly. Her object was to marry off Bea, not embroil herself in that dubious state. With her ill luck, she’d likely land a scapegrace like her father. The men with whom she was acquainted had done little to raise her estimation of their sex. Beyond that, she wasn’t convinced Mr. O’Rourke was the marrying sort. That she even found herself thinking of him in those terms sounded an inner hue and cry.
    “I think Buttercup here is a sound investment. Of course, to render a complete opinion, I would have to observe her move.” Cursing the quaver in her voice, she averted her gaze to safer territory, Buttercup. She caressed the animal’s coat for a lingering moment, crooning endearments as once she had to Princess. “Yes, you’re a beauty, a fine lady, aren’t you?”
    The mare nuzzled her, searching for treats, and she laughed at the wonderfully cold, sloppy press of that seeking nose. She’d all but forgotten how much she missed having a horse.
    Mr. O’Rourke laughed with her. “In that case,