Free Friday's Child by Kylie Brant Page A

mine, isn’t he, Daddy? You got him for my sa-prise, didn’t you, Daddy? For my birthday.”
    â€œSlow down, honey.” Michael laughed, reaching down to ruffle her hair. He still hadn’t relinquished Kate’s hand, and if he noticed her subtle attempts to free herself, he was pretending not to. “It’s a she, not a he. And yes, she’s your birthday present.”
    â€œAll right! Just what I wanted! I’ll bet she goes really, really fast, doesn’t she, Daddy? As fast as Diablo, right?”
    â€œShe goes plenty fast, kiddo. Just fast enough for a big seven-year-old girl like you.”
    â€œHave you seen her, Trask?” When the big man nodded, Chloe turned her attention to her teacher. “Come pet her, Miss Rose. She won’t hurt you.”
    Kate’s hand was released, and she moved toward the stall with Chloe. The animal pushed its soft muzzle into her hand and looked at them with soft, good-natured eyes.
    â€œWell, I’ll be darned, Trask. I think I see a couple of sa-prises in here that the Clo-worm hasn’t even discovered yet.”
    â€œWhere?” Attention momentarily diverted, Chloe darted back to her father. “Oh, I see it. Oh, Daddy, it’s awesome!” She ran over to the child-size saddle and ran her hand over it reverently.
    â€œThought you might be needing this, as well.” Trask held up a shiny leather bridle that matched the saddle.
    â€œThank you, Trask, thank you.” Chloe threw her arms around his legs and hugged him.
    Kate found herself being drawn away and looked at Michael quizzically. He gave her a crooked grin. “Now I get to show you my horse,” he said. They went to the end of the stable. This stall was bigger than any of the others, and there were bars on the stanchions too narrow for the horse to get his head between.
    â€œGood Lord,” she said faintly. “He’s huge.”
    The stallion was jet-black with white markings on his face. He was powerfully muscled and so high-strung she imagined she could see him quiver at their scent.
    â€œHe’s a beauty, there’s no doubt about it. Just got him this year, and we still don’t have him completely broken. Hankworks with him every day, and I exercise him every chance I get. He loves to run, don’t you, boy?”
    The horse fidgeted suddenly, and Kate backed away, coming up abruptly against Michael’s chest. His hands grasped her shoulders, and he held her in place. “Do you like horses?”
    They were close enough for him to speak the words in her ear, a low, husky rumble. She shivered, a totally involuntary response to his nearness. She could feel the solid width of his chest pressed against her, and his fingers kneaded her shoulders lightly. It didn’t take much imagination to envision being wrapped in those arms, pressed tightly against his solid strength, his heat enveloping her. Deliberately, she stepped away and turned to face him. “I haven’t been around horses much. I’m fascinated by their power, though. I’ve often thought it must be a wonderfully liberating feeling to race along on top of a horse.”
    â€œIt is. We’ll have to get you on one someday so you can see for yourself. But first,” he said, looking at his watch, “I have a daughter who’s going to miss her bedtime if we can’t drag her away from her sa-prises.”
    It was the temptation of ice cream and cake that finally proved strong enough to entice Chloe back to the house. She kept up a steady stream of chatter throughout dessert. “Someday my horse will be as big as Diablo, right, Daddy?”
    â€œâ€™Fraid not, shortstuff. She’s a Shetland pony. She won’t get any bigger than she is right now.”
    â€œI’ll feed her really good,” Chloe said earnestly over her ice cream. “She’ll grow, you’ll see. She’ll get lots bigger.”
    Michael caught