Free The Heart of a Stranger by Sheri Whitefeather

you?”
    â€œI enjoy wine with dinner.” But she hadn’t started this conversation to discuss her habits. “So you’re not the type to hit the party scene? To get drunk in public?” The way Gunther used to do, she thought.
    He made a troubled face. “I’ve probably gottenwasted and acted like an ass when I was feeling ornery or blue.” He paused, blew a breath. “Most guys have done that.”
    â€œIt’s so hard not knowing details about you.” Not knowing who he really was.
    â€œAll I can tell you is what I sense about myself.” His voice turned scratchy, rough-edged and emotional. “I like it here, Lourdes. I like being with you and your family.” He toyed with the lid on the melon container. “But if you want me to go, I will. Just say the word and I’m gone.”
    Suddenly her heart ached for him, for the loneliness she saw in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Juan. I didn’t mean to make you feel unwelcome.”
    A light breeze ruffled his hair. “You have every right to be concerned about my past. Hell, you don’t know me from Adam.”
    â€œYou seem like a good man.”
    â€œYou think so?” He smiled a little. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
    They sat quietly for the next few minutes, eating their lunch. He polished off his sandwich, and she nibbled on vanilla wafers. Both drank iced tea and watched the pastured horses.
    Finally, Juan shifted to straddle the seat on the bench, turning toward Lourdes.
    â€œI have a confession to make,” he said.
    Curious, she swung her leg over the seat too, facing him the way he faced her. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was going to say.
    â€œI sort of faked something, Lourdes.”
    Her pulse leaped like a frog. “Faked something?”
    â€œAbout the horses. I’m…um…” He pulled a hand through his medium-length hair, dragging restless fingers to the ends curling at his nape. “I already knew all of that mating stuff you told me.”
    Stunned, she could only stare. “But you asked me to explain how it’s done.” She paused to catch her breath. “You let me describe it.” And he’d made naughty little comments while she’d struggled to remain focused and professional. “I can’t believe you did that.”
    â€œI know. I’m sorry.”
    Lourdes considered punching him, jabbing him right in the gut. Then she glanced at the yellowing bruises on his stomach and relaxed her fist. “You made a fool out of me, Juan.”
    â€œThat wasn’t my intention.”
    â€œOh, really? Then maybe you better tell me exactly what your intention was.”
    He winced like a kid, like an overgrown boy who’d been caught with dirty pictures under his mattress. And suddenly she knew. He’d done it to get turned on, to hear her talk about sex.
    Horse sex.
    Now she really wanted to smack him.
    â€œSorry,” he said again.
    â€œAre you that depraved?”
    â€œYou mean deprived.”
    â€œNo, I mean depraved. ”
    â€œHey, come on, that’s not fair.” He dragged a hand through his hair again. “First I lose my memory, then I end up on a breeding farm with a beautiful woman. It’s only natural that I would start thinking about guy stuff.”
    She crossed her arms. “A stallion covering a mare is not guy stuff.”
    â€œIt is to a man who can’t remember the last time he made love.”
    When a warm, tingly shiver crept up her spine, she wanted to kick herself. She wouldn’t let him win. Not this time. “I suppose you already know how semen is collected, too?”
    â€œYes, I know how it’s done. Now, we can drop this conversation.”
    Forgive and forget? Was he kidding? She wasn’t about to let him off the hook. “Maybe I should test your knowledge. Maybe you should describe the collection procedure to me. Every