Free No One Needs to Know by Debbi Rawlins

push. When it came, there was a beautiful soaking mess of a foal, and everything from that moment on went like clockwork.
    Tucker never interfered at all, but he was right there when Annie took care of the umbilical stump and handed her towels to rub the foal.
    She had no idea what time it was when Glory set about bonding with her baby, except that humans were no longer welcome in the stable.
    After a quick look at the other two mares and getting cleaned up at the deep, old-fashioned sink, Annie led the way out. She expected that everyone had eaten, or at least to find the picnic basket and cooler waiting for them, sans company. But that was clearly too much to hope for.
    Matt opened the cooler and pulled out two beers. “Cause to celebrate?”
    Tucker took them both and handed one to Annie. “Textbook,” he said.
    “Great. Let’s eat.” Shea headed to the parking lot, where Annie saw they’d set up the food tailgate-style, complete with folding chairs.
    Annie had to admit she was hungry. It had been an utterly nerve-racking day, and while her adrenaline was flowing now, she knew a crash was inevitable. Thankfully, it wasn’t that late. Tucker could go home right after a quick bite, and she could at least try to get some sleep.
    She had the feeling that no matter her degree of exhaustion, turning off thoughts of Tucker wouldn’t be easy. So many things to process, not the least of which was the fact that every time he came within spitting distance, the flutters started up with a vengeance.
    There were enough chairs for everyone, and whoever had set them up did her a favor by putting them in a large circle. The cooler was brought to the open tailgate of the pickup, alongside the basket.
    “We’ve got sandwiches,” Rachel said. “Roast beef, tuna and veggie on sub roles. There’s chips and carrot sticks—”
    “And cupcakes,” Jessie added. Annie doubted he meant to sound quite so excited.
    “Cupcakes and beer?” Tucker shook his head. “You Montana folks are culinary daredevils.”
    Rachel snorted, but somehow made it ladylike. “We had a whole ten minutes to pull everything together because someone who should have reached out earlier didn’t,” she said, pinning Annie with a mock glare. “Oh, and there are cold sodas and bottles of water in the cooler.”
    Annie really liked Kathy, but she was going to strangle her. “Just how many meals were you planning on serving?” she asked. “It’s late. You guys all have to go home so I can get some sleep.”
    “We didn’t know that the horse was going to foal so early,” Matt said. “And I heard there was more than one ready to go.”
    “We only have one other mare in the stalls, but there’s no reason to think she’s going into labor tonight.”
    Shea looked at her. “Would you prefer that we left?”
    Annie knew Shea wasn’t being sarcastic or touchy. “No, really. I just hate keeping you all out like this. Tucker flew in from Dallas this afternoon, remember?”
    “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I’ll be fine. I confess, I could eat.”
    Annie touched his arm with her hand before walking over to the basket. “Thank you for your help today. It was unexpected.”
    He stared at where her hand had been, then met and held her gaze in the weird light cast by two lanterns. “It’s been my pleasure. A very memorable day.”
    She had no idea what to say to that, and honestly couldn’t tell if he was simply being polite or flirting. The flirting part was probably wishful thinking, which was nuts because what in the world was that going to get her? The two of them would never happen. No way in hell.
    She swallowed hard. What she hated the most? The need was back, the desire to touch and be touched. And if anyone could satisfy that itch, it was a man like Tucker Brennan. She stepped back, away from temptation, and did everything in her power to not turn and run.
    * * *
    T UCKER GRABBED A RANDOM sandwich and bag of chips, way too aware of the