Lauren said nothing, but her gaze never left him. It was as if she sensed right off that she wasn’t going to like his reason for being there.
“I’m fine,” he told Karen. “Did you all have a good night?”
“We always do,” Lauren retorted with a hint of defiance. It was not a good sign.
“How was Gina’s pasta?” he asked, hoping that neutral turf would ease the tension.
Lauren wasn’t buying it for a second. “Gina’s food was fabulous, as always, but somehow I don’t think that’s what’s on your mind.”
“No,” he agreed.
“Well, I assume you’re not waiting out here for me,” Karen said cheerfully. “I’ll leave you two and go see what my man is up to. Come on in when you’re through, though. I have some news I’d like to share.”
“Fine,” Lauren said distractedly, her gaze still locked on Wade.
When they were alone, Wade said to Lauren, “Well, are you just going to stand there all night?”
“That depends,” she said.
“On?”
“What you’re doing here.”
“We need to talk,” he said.
“I got that much. About?”
“Midnight.”
“There’s nothing to discuss. I’m just doing my job.”
“Not anymore,” he said curtly, annoyed that she had voiced what his own sentiments would have been had the shoe been on the other foot.
Her furious gaze cut straight through him. “I beg your pardon. Are you firing me?”
“Nope,” he said quietly. “I’m selling Midnight.”
“Over my dead body,” she snapped right back.
“It’s a done deal. Grady has agreed.”
“Do you have a buyer?”
“Not yet.”
“Then I’ll buy him. Name your price.”
“You can’t afford it,” he retorted.
Her mouth opened, but she snapped it closed again as the apparent reality set in. She was visibly trembling with outrage as she stalked up the steps and faced him.
“Then I’ll have Grady buy out your share,” she said. “If I can’t talk him into it, I’m sure Karen can.”
Wade honestly hadn’t anticipated that response. He hadn’t discussed it with Grady, either, but his gut told him she was right. She could pull it off. Grady would go along with whatever Karen wanted. Family would rate over a mere employee or even business partner. It was hard to argue with that kind of loyalty.
“Don’t do this,” he begged. “That horse almost killed you today.”
“But he didn’t, and it wasn’t his fault. He’s getting better every day. Your instincts were exactly right when you and Grady bought him. He’s magnificent.”
“He’s dangerous,” Wade said flatly.
“Only because he was so badly mistreated in the past. He’s scared, Wade, the same way you are right now. You’re acting without thinking.”
“I’ve thought of nothing else all day long,” he countered. “You have no idea what went through my mind when I saw you within a fraction of an inch of being trampled.” Even now the memory was enough to send a shudder through him.
Lauren finally walked over to stand in front of him. “I won’t beg you not to do this, Wade,” she said quietly. “But if you do, I will never forgive you. Moreover, I don’t think you’ll ever be able to forgive yourself.”
“I will,” he said defiantly, even though her solemn expression shook him to his core. “All I’ll have to do is remember what I saw.”
“Then it doesn’t matter to you how I feel?”
“Of course, but—”
She cut him off. “Don’t do this, Wade. It’s wrong.”
“Dammit, Lauren,” he muttered, thoroughly frustrated by her refusal to listen to reason.
“You know it is,” she persisted. When he didn’t immediately argue, she came closer, though she was still careful not to touch him. “Tell me this, if you had been the one working with him today, would you want to sell him?”
There it was, he thought with a sigh. The cool logic he had feared. She had pegged it and put him squarely between a rock and a hard place. If he said yes, she would never believe him. If he said no, she would blame it on his lack of faith in her skill. Desolation washed through him.
“I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you,” he said finally, his voice raw.
“Nor I, if it happened to you, but we can’t take our fears out on Midnight. He’s so close, Wade. Please give him this chance. Give me this chance.”
The urgency in her voice got to him. “Why is this so important to you?”
“I need to prove to myself that this is something I can do,” she said. “I need to know I can make a career out of it. If I give up on Midnight, who would ever trust me to work with a horse again?”
It was the same argument Grady had tried to use to persuade him. Rationally, he understood their reasoning, but that couldn’t cut through the fear.
“I would trust you,” he said readily. “You know how good you are, Lauren. We both do.”
“Then let me finish this job.”
Wade struggled with himself, with his fears, but it was the expression in her eyes that won him over. She was ready to fight for this chance, perhaps even ready to walk away from him if he didn’t give it to her. In the end, he couldn’t take the chance that she would make good on that threat.
“You’ll work with him only if I’m around,” he said slowly.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Yes.”
“And if I say it’s over for the day, you won’t argue with me,” he added.
“Whatever you say,” she agreed eagerly.
Wade wondered wryly how long that would last, but for now it was a concession. “Okay, then. I’ll tell Grady we’re keeping Midnight.”
She launched herself into his arms, then smothered his face with kisses. For a moment, Wade allowed himself to bask in the pure pleasure of the sensation, but then worry crowded out pleasure. He was going to be on his knees every single night from here on out praying that he hadn’t just made the worst mistake of his life.
Lauren was triumphant, but she was careful not to gloat when she reminded Wade of their promise
