CHAPTER TWO

– ROURKE –

"Mornin', ladies," I rumble and keep my eyes on the woman who just dismissed me to whisper something to her sister.

Eastlynne Hazel, in the hot and sexy flesh. Damn. Her pictures and videos on her website don't do her justice. The only contact I've had is with her sister, Cosima. She told me her sister was eccentric, and I shouldn't be insulted if she acted weird, completely ignored me, or walked away mid-discussion.

I have to admit, hearing her warning was fucking intriguing, especially when it involved the stunning woman who has an impressive reputation as a horse trainer. We run a background check on everyone interested in buying a horse from us. Money means shit to us; we want to know if the horses we've bred end up in a good place.

Recently one of our members neglected to mention he bought a horse from us with the main purpose of re-selling him. By doing this he skipped the background check of the new owner and sold one of our horses to a friend of his without our knowledge. When he realized his fuck-up due to witnessing the horse being mistreated, he brought it to the table.

We intervened and retrieved the horse. Thank fuck he did make them sign the contract that allowed us to retrieve the horse, but the poor animal is traumatized so it doesn't help the horse other than making the abuse stop.

The Quarter horses are bred, and trained by us, for a load of different things. We have a long waiting list, and I'm not ashamed to say that I moved Eastlynne up the list just so I could meet her. I was fucking pissed my father took over the first meeting because I was out, retrieving Buckey, the traumatized horse.

"Morning, Rourke. Your father mentioned you were the one swinging by to deliver my sister's horse. I'm Cosima Hazel, we spoke a few times on the phone, and this here is Eastlynne, she'll be the new owner."

I shake the woman's hand and turn to Eastlynne. "I heard you own a horse with the same bloodline. Mind if I have a look?"

Cosima takes the lead of the mare. "Sounds like a perfect idea. Why don't I take this one to her new stable? East will bring you back there once you've seen Fletch."

I turn to East when I hear her mutter a string of curses under her breath before she grunts, "Follow me."

She spins on her heels and completely ignores me as she stomps off, leaving me to quicken my step in an effort to catch up to her. East gives a short whistle and, in the distance, I see a horse that's almost a carbon copy of the mare I just brought whip his head up in the air. Fletch comes running as if his ass was struck by lightning.

"Damn," I mutter in awe.

The horse abruptly stops in front of East and almost bumps into her.

"Not funny," she scolds, and the horse in return pulls up his upper lip as if he is indeed laughing at her.

"Are you laughing at me?" she asks and the horse bobs his head, letting her know he is indeed laughing.

Fuck, their interaction is amazing. I've seen some of their videos but seeing it up close shows how these two share a connection as if they speak the same language. I chuckle and the woman hits me with a glare.

"Hey," I quip and hold my hands palm up. "I'm in complete awe of the way he listens to you and in no way am I laughing at you. Not to mention, this one seems like a carbon copy of Breeze." East frowns and I clarify, "The mare."

"It's why I wanted her," she states and her voice turns sad when she adds, "I know I can never replace Fletch. The connection we share is unique. I guess with him getting older I just don't want to be left without some of his legacy. Which sounds stupid, I know."

The sadness in her eyes feels as if it's tugging at my fucking heartstrings. Without thinking I step closer and am about to pull her into my arms to comfort her when her eyes go wide.

"Too close." She gasps and leaps back. "What do you think you're doing?"

What the fuck am I doing? What about her, overreacting the way she did? In all my life I've never had a woman reject anything I had to give.

"I was being nice," I grit. "You were sad, so I thought I'd give you a hug."

"Well, for future reference, you can be nice and respect someone's personal space," she fires back.

Agitation gets the better of me, especially since I wanted nothing more than to touch the gorgeous woman. "You know what? Keep your personal space all to yourself. This is why we require background checks and personal meetings with potential buyers. I don't care about your reputation with training horses, not when your social skills are lacking from the get-go."

Her hands curl into fists and she grumbles, "You're the one getting in my personal space."

I shake my head. "Whatever. I retrieved one traumatized horse this week because the new owners fucked up. For damn sure I'm not handing over a horse to a person who can't even be fucking nice to the former owner for two damn seconds."

Her jaw drops and I'm about to turn away when Cosima steps up next to me. "East, go and check on the new mare."

"No need, I'm taking the mare back with me," I snap at both women, but keep my gaze locked on East who follows her sister's order and stomps away.

"No, you're not," Cosima states and fills my line of sight. "I apologize for my sister's fierce reaction. I overheard something about getting in her personal space. I hope you didn't try to get handsy or anything."

"What?" I grunt. "Fuck, no. She was fucking sad when she explained why she was searching for the same bloodline of Fletch and I–"

"Let me guess, you tried to comfort her." Cosima sighs. "I warned you about East being eccentric."

My frustration goes down a notch, realizing she's right. I guess meeting the woman made me want to get to know her a bit more and having her reject me the way she did? Something that never happens, especially not to me? Yeah, this fuck-up is all me.

I rub the back of my neck and admit, "She's eccentric all right, and I guess her reaction was mostly my fault."

Cosima looks thoughtful for a heartbeat or two before she says, "She shouldn't have snapped at you. Normally she saves the grumpy for me and simply walks away without a word if she's annoyed or confronted with something that triggers something."

"Triggers something?" I muse and before I can catch myself, I wonder out loud, "Was she raped or something? Is that why she doesn't like men in her personal space?"

"No, no, nothing like that. She just doesn't like anyone getting in her personal space." Cosima gives me a hint of a smile. "Sorry. I can't explain the why and how. Medical conditions are personal, and I don't feel comfortable sharing details about my sister."

I bob my head. "I understand. Good to know she didn't suffer any bad shit."

"I consider a week-long migraine bad shit. So, I guess bad shit holds different kinds of levels. Come on, let's go find my sister before she escapes. It's something she'd rather do than muddle through something to get what she wants." Cosima winces. "Let's just go before I do share too many details. Sorry. I want her to have this horse, it's something that gives her happiness and she deserves it. We're going to take on some traumatized horses, and also buy some other breeds. For one I'd like a gypsy cob 'cause I've always loved the breed, but East would love to own a diverse herd. Also, something her line of work would benefit from if she has different horses for different jobs."

"The traumatized horses, do you mean rescue, foster, save from the kill pen, or help owners with their horses?" I question.

Cosima shrugs. "Some? All? It's the reason East bought this ranch. She's a sucker when it comes to staring into the eyes of a traumatized horse, wanting to take away their pain."

"I might have to bring the one I just retrieved," I murmur and come to a stop in front of the stables. "Hey, if you're looking for a Gypsy Cob, you might want to check out The Clyden's Ranch. Besides making damn fine whiskey, they also breed Gypsy Cobs. I could reach out to Hixon or Shepherd if you know what you're looking for."

Cosima holds up her phone. "Let me research them real quick and I'll let you know."

When we enter the stable, we see Eastlynne with her back to us as she instantly announces, "She's so freaking perfect, Cosima. I'd buy a stallion of this bloodline if they had one."

"The sire is not for sale, but your sister just mentioned you're gonna take on traumatized horses. Any chance you can help me with a stallion that's about a year older than this one?"

East pops her head out of the stable and stares at me with her curious blue eyes. "Same sire and dam?"

"Yes, ma'am," I affirm. "Though, it might not be a good plan to move him just yet. Maybe you could come out to my place and see if it's something you can work with."

She visibly winces as if I offered her to swallow nails or something.

"I recently picked him up and I could tell returning to the stable he grew up in settled him down some. He still needs a lot of TLC, but you can imagine I'm a bit hesitant to pull him out of his safe environment so soon."

East glances at her sister and releases a deep breath. "Fine. I'll come by your place tomorrow afternoon."

I check my watch and see that I have another hour to spare. "We could go now."

"No. Tomorrow at two," East insists.

Cosima leans in and whispers, "Surprises or a change in plans is a no-go."

"I'll see you tomorrow at two," I concede. "Shall we get the paperwork in order for Breeze?"

We all head in the direction of the house. Once inside we take a seat at the kitchen table and I pull the paperwork from the inside of my cut. East accepts the contract and starts to glance it over.

Cosima draws my attention when she says, "Thanks for the tip. The Clyden's Ranch looks very promising. Bone, beautiful head, feather, their Cobs tick every box. Would you mind reaching out to ask if they have any yearling fillies for sale?"

"Will do," I tell her.

Normally I'd drink a cup of coffee and chat some more with clients, but nothing is offered and I'm out the door ten minutes later. Even if East and I got off on the wrong foot, I didn't let it taint my impression of her. If anything, I'm intrigued and captivated by this unique woman.

Instead of riding back to the ranch, I decide to go for a long ride to feel the wind in my face and get my thoughts straight. Three hours later I park my bike in front of the clubhouse and still haven't gotten her out of my mind.

"Hey," Parker, my VP, quips. "I expected you back a few hours ago. How did it go with Breeze?"

"Fine," I rumble as we wander over to the large pasture. Leaning my forearms on the top rung of the fence I add, "I asked her to help out with Buckey."

"Really?" Parker leans against a pole. "I thought you wouldn't let anyone near that stallion."

I stare at the herd of Quarter horses grazing in the distance. "A broken soul needs something, and it'll become clear what exactly that entails when opportunity strikes."

"That makes perfect sense." Parker snorts. "Not. But whatever. Hey, talking about Buckey, did you read my text?"

"Nope. I needed to clear my head and I just got off my bike. What's up?"

"Winfield asked me if he could buy back Buckey, for himself this time. He offered double the money to make up for his fuck-up and make sure the stallion can live a happy life by himself in the pasture behind his house." Parker doesn't sound convinced, and I know why.

"Not a chance in hell. Buckey will live a miserable life on that small piece of land that fucker has behind his house. Besides, letting a traumatized horse stay alone is fucking torture. Not happening. Buckey is mine and he won't be sold ever again," I growl.

Parker turns to stare at the horses in front of us. "Agreed. Now, tell me about Eastlynne Hazel. She as fine as she looks online?"

I narrow my eyes at my VP and growl, "She's off-limits to you and everyone else."

"Woah there, Prez. No need to get your leathers in a knot. I was just making conversation, but it does make me curious, though. I guess I'll meet her soon enough if you asked her to help with Buckey."

Motherfucker.

It's going to be a pain to keep my brothers away from East, and for me to get close to her. Good thing I never back down from a challenge and deep down I know a woman like East will be the ultimate challenge, and definitely worth it in the long run.