Free Stick in the Mud Meets Spontaneity (Meet Your Match, book 3) by Rachael Anderson

the wild mustang nuzzling Kajsa’s cheek and allowing her to stroke its jaw, he knew he was witnessing something extraordinary.
    Kajsa ducked under the mustang’s neck to rub its shoulder then giggled when the horse’s nose tickled her back. If Colton didn’t know any better, he would think the beautiful black horse was tame and gentle—the kind of animal he’d let a toddler ride. But it hadn’t been tamed or gentled. It had just charged Samantha and Nutmeg, and only yesterday it had tried to tear apart the trailer and take down the corral fence.
    Colton tensed, half expecting the mustang to rear back and do the whole Jekyll/Hyde thing again, but she only nuzzled, sniffed, and stood there. He would have spurred Nutmeg on anyway if he wasn’t worried about upsetting the mustang again.
    “Look at them,” whispered Sam. “You can’t take that horse back tomorrow.”
    Colton didn’t know what to think. Would the horse continue to run down some people then turn around and play Mr. Docile to Kajsa? It was crazy.
    Eventually, Kajsa grabbed hold of the halter and led the mustang through the wide open gate and into the corral, which made Colton wonder how the animal had gotten out in the first place.
    As Kajsa locked the gate, the horse lifted its head, looking in the direction of Samantha and Colton then turned and began trotting around the corral as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
    “At least she didn’t charge you again,” Colton said under his breath.
    “We had words,” said Samantha. “I told her in no uncertain terms to leave me alone.”
    Colton’s lips lifted into a partial smile. If only he’d been privy to that conversation. A purple-haired, boot-stomping, name-calling image came to mind, and his smile widened.
    Kajsa spied them as she jogged toward the barn.
    “I was just taking a quick break,” she said, as though worried she’d get in trouble for not working.
    “Quick?” Colton questioned, lifting an eyebrow.
    Kajsa bit her lower lip. “I wanted to try out her name to see if she’d come, and when she did, I took her back to the corral.”
    A clang sounded, and Colton looked up to see the mustang lift the lever on the gate with her nose and push it open.
    “Why you little…” Colton let his words trail off, not wanting to say out loud the word he was thinking.
    “Smartypants?” Samantha filled in the blank, making all of them laugh.
    “I think I might need your help to catch her again in a bit, Kajsa,” said Colton. “You seem to have a knack with her.”
    “Just call her Your Majesty, and she’ll come,” answered Kajsa in a matter-of-fact way, as though certain the horse would come when called.
    Colton wasn’t nearly as certain. He slipped from Nutmeg’s back and helped Samantha down as well. “Your Majesty, huh?” he said. The name didn’t exactly roll off the tongue. “How did you come up with that?”
    “I was working in the barn and it hit me. Before Adi left, she read me a story about a girl who wanted to be a queen so she pretended she was. She had to be in charge and made all of her friends call her ‘Your Majesty.’”
    Colton didn’t make the connection. He’d expected her to come up with a name like Storm or Mad Hatter. Not Your Majesty. What kind of name was that anyway? His brothers would never let him hear the end of it.
    “Don’t you get it?” Kajsa said.
    “Afraid not.”
    “Your Majesty is just like the girl in that story,” she explained. “She wants to be the center of attention and boss people around. So we need to call her Your Majesty. Now do you get it?”
    Like fitting the right key to a lock, something clicked in Colton’s mind—something he’d been trying to figure out since he’d brought the mustang home. Kajsa could be right. The mustang did seem to crave attention. Maybe she’d been the leader of her herd and was used to commanding a crowd. Maybe that’s why she’d charged Samantha—because she’d never really