Free Come On Over by Debbi Rawlins Page B

with his mom. He wasn’t sure why since she might be able to put his fears to rest. His fear that Shelby had a legitimate claim. That he would have to buy her out or divvy up the place with her. Yeah, he still had some money, but he wanted it to go toward horses and training expenses. He couldn’t afford to start over again.
    The more he thought about the situation, the weirder it seemed. Violet loved a good argument and she liked poking at him but she’d never been outright mean. If she knew something that would settle the dispute with Shelby, he figured she’d speak up.
    Maybe she was keeping quiet to protect him.
    The thought made his stomach turn.
    He glanced at the double-wide. Violet, who sat on her porch every afternoon, rain or shine, was nowhere to be seen. Beyond the trailer clouds were gathering over the foothills. In another hour or so it would be dark. He decided to finish cleaning his saddle tomorrow and tossed aside the rag and went inside.
    Shelby’s door was closed and he could hear her moving around in her room. After finding out how deep the Kimball roots went, maybe she was packing. The thought cheered him. He held nothing against the woman, but the sooner he got her and her tempting backside out of here the better.
    He’d skipped lunch and still wasn’t hungry. But with his improved mood he figured he’d heat the leftover beans and cornbread, maybe broil the T-bone after he took a shower. The steak was big enough to share with Shelby. After all, he wouldn’t want to send her off hungry.
    Thirty minutes later he’d finished showering and was checking the food in the oven when Shelby entered the kitchen. She was wearing old faded jeans and a snug white T-shirt that came to just above her waist and exposed a narrow strip of skin. They didn’t seem like traveling clothes.
    Not that he was capable of being all that logical. It wasn’t only the unexpected peek that had his heart accelerating. Wearing this getup she was giving him a real good look at her shape. Small waist, nice curvy hips, not too thin. To his mind, the perfect woman’s body. What he couldn’t figure out was how his mouth could water and go dry at the same time.
    â€œBe careful,” she said, just as his thumb made contact with the blistering hot casserole dish.
    â€œSon of a—” He jerked his hand away and burned the back of his knuckle on the oven rack.
    Trent managed to bite off a pithy four-letter word. His damn thumb felt like it was on fire.
    Slowly shaking her head, Shelby stared at his hand. “Ever heard of an oven mitt?”
    â€œYour concern is touching.”
    â€œI’d have a look,” she said, glancing at the blue tape on the linoleum. “But you’re too far over. I’d have to cross into enemy territory.”
    â€œVery funny.” He couldn’t remember if he was supposed to use cold water or not. “For your information, I was heating this up for the two of us. And I was even gonna throw in the T-bone.”
    Shelby’s gaze slid to the steak on the counter. “You’re going to let a minor burn stop you?”
    Sighing, Trent used the toe of his boot to kick the oven door shut. His thumb was pretty red, so were his knuckles. It wouldn’t be fun wearing work gloves tomorrow.
    â€œSeriously, you should run cold water over that hand then apply some Neosporin. If you don’t have any, I’ve got a first-aid kit in my car.”
    â€œWorried you won’t get dinner?”
    â€œI am,” she said with a smile, but he could see that she was genuinely concerned.
    Maybe he needed to take it more seriously. While she frowned at his thumb, he studied her face. She had a cute nose. A weird thing for him to notice. Crazy long lashes. Could be fake but he didn’t think so since she wore minimal makeup.
    She did that thing with her bottom lip again. “You might want to wrap some gauze around it