Free The Black Sheep and the Hidden Beauty by Donna Kauffman

meant she wasn’t going to make this easy on him. Although, to be fair, the horse she picked was clearly not a handful, so she wasn’t trying to get him maimed or killed, either. Or scare him into thinking he might be. In fact, he couldn’t quite figure her out. But it was only their first session. He had time.
    She went through a quick rundown of how to move around a horse, where not to go, where not to stand—which mostly had to do with the rear feet—as well as being careful of horses who can swing their heads around and try and nip at you. He’d looked at Petunia when Elena had made that comment, and he swore the horse gave him an innocent “who, me?” blink.
    After a quick demo of her instructions, he stepped into the stall beside her. Despite the fact that the interior of the stall was roomy, they all seemed crowded into the front corner by the stall door, which, despite Petunia’s relaxed manner at the moment, did little to smooth over his reservations about this whole thing.
    He lifted the halter, but Elena blocked the move with her hand. “You’re not through making friends yet.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou just invaded her personal space. Never do this unless invited or instructed to do so by me or one of the stable hands, okay?”
    â€œWhy is it I think this isn’t standard procedure?”
    â€œYou don’t feel comfortable around big animals. I’m adjusting your lessons accordingly.”
    â€œWhat makes you think that? About the large animals?” It was completely true, mostly because he’d simply never been around any. The neighborhood he’d grown up in was big on rats, the occasional stray dog, but that was about it. Still, he hadn’t thought he’d telegraphed that in any real way. Well, other than his overt lack of enthusiasm for being up close and personal with Petunia. But that was just being smart. She was a whole lot of horse.
    â€œBody language,” Elena replied. “You’re doing fine, actually, but you’re not entirely comfortable, which is understandable. The more you’re around horses and get used to the spatial differences between you two, and become comfortable with—while not losing respect for—her power and size, the more swiftly you’ll progress. Remember, I said it was about trust. And that goes both ways. If you’re tentative, in manner or movement, she’ll sense it and react to it.”
    Elena beckoned him closer, but Petunia chose that moment to shift her feet a little, so he stayed just inside the closed stall door. “Seems to me we’d all be more comfortable out in the aisle. Shouldn’t I earn her trust a bit more before we get this…intimate?”
    Elena smiled and he thought he caught a flicker of…something else before she quickly looked back at the horse. And that something else, if he wasn’t mistaken, had been a purely female reaction. He hadn’t intended the double entendre and he almost wished he hadn’t noticed her reaction. She might not be his type, but she did rather command a person’s attention. Clearly she’d gotten his. He’d told himself he was only thinking about her night and day because he’d been doing research. He’d also told himself that he’d made the ultimate sacrifice of getting on horseback because that had been the only way to earn her trust enough to get her to talk freely. Strictly doing his job. Going above and beyond, even.
    Standing here now, listening to her voice, which managed to be both soothing and no-nonsense, and looking into eyes that were quick to crinkle at the corners, yet easily held his own when challenged…yeah, he was finding his rationale a little harder to hang on to.
    His body was finding it even more difficult. But he was a man, after all, so he could hardly be faulted for noticing things like how her braided hair swung halfway down to her ass, or