Free Kicks for a Sinner S3 by Lynn Shurr Page B

age, but you can do squats on your own.”
    He stood up, clear of the apparatus, to show Tommy a squat. They did a few together. Howdy didn’t appear to be trying to impress her as he stretched out his arms, folded his knees, and rose fluidly up and down, but he did.
    “Whoa now, pardner. Easy does it. You don’t want to rush the exercises. Usually I do these with weights. You can use a couple of soup cans if you want, but I’d just rely on your leg muscles until you build up some.”
    Whoa, pardner? Had he been raised by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans? She snorted at his quaintness.
    “You getting a cold, Mama Cassie?” Tommy asked.
    “No. Maybe a fever.” Had he actually flushed when she said that? “Look, let the man exercise. Stop bothering him.”
    “He’s no trouble, ma’am. I always wanted a little brother. Let me shower, then we do can some kicking.”
    Cassie knew Joe’s shower off the weight room. She used it sometimes after working out on the treadmill to strengthen her legs for riding. His soap had a stronger, more exotic and less innocent scent than whatever Howdy used. The shower stall itself could fit two and had multiple nozzles easily aimed at sore spots or elsewhere. The things she’d done with Joe’s soap and a strong stream of water while imaging herself with the quarterback made her color a little now. Howdy presented her with that stupid grin of his, probably believing she thought of sharing the bath with him. No chance of that. The man was so squeaky clean already he probably didn’t even beat off like normal guys.
    “We’ll see you later.” She got the hell out of there.
    Her eyes adjusted to the low light filtering through the barn. No sign of Howdy, but Joe stood by the large box stall at the end feeding carrots to his stud quarter horse, Lazy Boy.
    “Glad to see me, big fellow?” he asked the huge red animal with the flashy blaze and four white socks. Lazy Boy never stopped chomping the carrots to give even a nicker of appreciation as Joe scratched the horse between the ears. What she would give to have Joe’s hands on her, right here, right now. She’d been holding in her feelings so long.
    “I’m glad to see you, Joe.” Cassie advanced toward him in what she hoped was a slow and sexy gait.
    “Always good to see you, too, Cassie. Thanks for helping out with my brood while Nell and me were away. You know she’s expecting again. I think all three babies took, but we won’t know for sure for a while.”
    “I realize how you felt about using all the embryos since I’m Catholic, too.” She placed a tentative hand on his bicep.
    Joe took a step back and let his eyes wander anywhere but on her. “Howdy sure did a great job of keeping this barn clean. You can’t even smell the manure.”
    “Knox Polk helped him and me and all the kids. He didn’t do it single-handedly.”
    “Well, he didn’t have to do it at all. He has his own ranch inherited from his grandfather in Oklahoma to take care of and stayed here as a favor to me.”
    “So now he can go there. Joe, you know Nell didn’t want to get pregnant again.”
    “She did it for me.”
    “Reluctantly. I’m used to big families. I want one of my own.”
    She moved closer again. The tension in the air upset Lazy Boy who tossed his big head up and down, sending his unshorn chestnut mane and forelock flying. Usually docile if headstrong, still the stallion could be unpredictable, especially around mares in heat. Only Joe rode him, and he hadn’t gotten much exercise while his master made babies in Arizona. Howdy had permission to take the animal out, but he’d said “no” to riding a valuable stud and instead displaced a resentful Dean on Drummer Boy and relegated the boy back to a pony. The cowboy kicker hadn’t made any friends there. Why did Howdy have come to mind now, now when she finally had a chance alone with Joe—no Nell, no kids, no Nadine?
    “Joe, you must know how I feel about you. I’d lie in the hay