“The script is fabulous the way it is,” Lauren assured him. “I’m just not interested. How many times do I have to say that?”
“Until you make a believer out of me,” he retorted, evidently still unconvinced. “Whoops, hold on a sec. Ken just stuck a note under my nose. The studio’s on the other line.”
He sounded so gleeful. Clearly he hadn’t heard one word she’d said. “I am not holding on,” she told him, seizing the excuse to end the frustrating call. “I have to go.”
“Why? What’s more important than this?” Jason demanded.
“I have a date with a horse,” she said, and hung up before he could respond.
Because she knew Jason would call back a half-dozen times or more before he gave up for the day—and then only so she could sleep on the latest offer and he could begin the badgering again fresh in the morning—she left the house at once and headed for the corral. If there was any more communicating to be done, Jason could do it with the answering machine. He obviously didn’t care about much besides the sound of his own voice anyway.
Across the yard, the corral was empty, but as Lauren moved toward the open pasture beyond, she spotted Midnight. She climbed onto the split-rail fence and watched him. His black coat glistening in the sun, he was all alone, far from the other horses who’d been turned out that morning. After a moment, his proud head rose. He sniffed the air and his ears twitched. Slowly he turned in her direction, and it was as if he was studying her with the same intensity she had been directing his way.
Lauren took a piece of apple from her pocket and held it out. Midnight whinnied and shook his head, as if he was declining the tempting offer, but a minute later the powerful stallion with the blaze of white on his face trotted sedately toward her. He stopped a few feet away, still cautious.
“If you want this, you’re going to have to come and get it,” Lauren said quietly, still holding the apple out toward him.
Midnight pranced away.
“Okay, then.” She started to put the fruit back in her pocket, but a whinny of protest made her pause. She bit back a smile. “Think it over. I can wait.”
She sat there patiently, perfectly still, the sweet chunk of apple in plain sight. With something that sounded almost like a sigh, Midnight edged closer until he could take it daintily from her hand. Satisfied with the treat and the lack of danger from the human who’d offered it, he came closer still and nuzzled at her pocket. Only then did Lauren dare to touch him.
She rubbed her hand along his sleek neck. Though he didn’t skittishly dance away, he trembled at her light touch. The reaction was telling. The knowledge that someone had badly mistreated this magnificent animal made Lauren sick to her stomach. But the fact that he was already beginning to trust her humbled her.
“Good morning, handsome,” she murmured.
“You talking to me?” a low-pitched masculine voice inquired lazily.
Lauren’s head snapped around to find Wade standing just inches behind her, close enough to send Midnight dancing away. She watched the horse leave with real regret, then turned back to the man.
How had she missed Wade’s approach or the heat radiating from his body? Once again she was struck by the way he managed to make an ordinary T-shirt and jeans look like designer clothing. No man had a right to look that good, that tempting, at this hour of the morning.
Better yet, he was holding two mugs of steaming coffee. He offered her one.
“I saw you heading over this way and decided this would be a good time to make peace,” he explained.
She accepted the cup with caution. “Then the coffee’s not laced with arsenic?”
“Not by me,” he assured her. “You got any enemies around I don’t know about?”
“Not in Winding River,” she said, leaving out the fact that there were quite a few people in Hollywood who wouldn’t shed any tears if she disappeared forever. She’d discovered that jealousy and greed could turn friend to enemy overnight in the film business. Actresses she’d considered friends had bailed when she won a coveted role. Award nominations stirred envy, but that was almost the least of it. Everything had been a competition, with winners and losers.
Glad to be away from all that, she took an appreciative sip of the coffee. “Thanks. I needed this.” The talk with her agent had used up all Lauren’s reserves of energy.
“Not usually up this early?” Wade asked, the disdain back in his voice.
She sighed. For a minute there she’d almost believed they could make a fresh start. Instead, it had apparently been a lull before a new barrage of insults.
“Always up this early,” she corrected, determined not to escalate the fight. Let Wade do that, if he couldn’t stop himself. “But I’ll never get used to it. I’m a night owl by nature.”
“Hard to be a night owl on a ranch. Too many chores have to be done at daybreak.”
“And I grew up doing most of them,” she said. “I might not like morning, but I follow through on my responsibilities.”
He seemed duly chastised by the rebuke. “Look, Miss…”
“Lauren will do.”
He nodded. “Okay, then, Lauren. We obviously got off on the wrong foot yesterday. And it sounds as if we’re pretty darn close to doing the same thing again. How about if we start fresh with no preconceived notions? I’m Wade, by the way.”
Given the fact that he wasn’t going to go away, Lauren was more than willing to meet him halfway. They were going to have to work together. It made more sense to be friends than enemies. She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Wade.”
He took her outstretched hand in a grasp that was warm and all-too-brief. Even that quick brush of callused fingers across softer skin was enough to send
