To Love and Protect Page 20
She didn’t remember him.
Reyes knew the moment Raine Diamond gave him that warm, interested smile up at the main house, she didn’t remember treating him like a smear of manure on the heels of her polished English riding boots during a summer visit ten years ago. His sixteen year old ego had taken a hit, but the memory of two fifteen year old girls drooling over his older brother wasn’t what rekindled his resentment after all this time.
It was the fact she hadn’t even seen him back then. Dev had been twenty at the time, home on military leave, enjoying his R&R at the pool while hanging out with Loyal and Asher. Reyes had been invisible down in the stables, mucking stalls, sweeping aisles, stacking hay. Fine, he had a job to do. But when he’d finished his shift and joined the rest of ‘em, the pretty, brunette Diamond cousin hadn’t given him the time of day as she pranced around in her little red bikini.
To her, he’d just been a stable boy. The hired help who’d been shoveling manure while she and Bells went for a joy ride earlier that morning. Of all the years he’d grown up hanging with the Diamond kids, even knowing the gulf of privilege that separated their families, he’d never once felt less than any one of them—until that day.
That feeling came roaring back again today. Didn’t matter that he’d caught a flare of interest in the now twenty-five year old’s hazel eyes, it was the knowing she didn’t recall snubbing him that hit the hardest. To her, he hadn’t even been worth remembering.
The irony of that pissing him off was a real kick in the ass. These days, he wanted to fade into the background. Since getting out of the Army almost a year ago and coming home, he made sure his usual happy-go-lucky smile and carefree attitude kept everyone from seeing all the shit he kept bottled up inside.
The only one who suspected was Dev, but ninety-nine percent of the time he was training or on a mission, so other than the occasional email or text, he left him alone. The horses were his mental therapy, and with the stables relatively quiet now that the senator and Janine spent a lot of time in Washington, he’d been virtually invisible and glad for it.
One look at Raine up at the main house had set his nerve endings buzzing with energy. His grip tightened on the windowsill of his above-the-stables apartment window as he watched her out in the arena astride Stimpy. Her slim form moved as one with the horse, her long hair streaming out behind her as she cantered him in figure eights with a firm hold on the reins.
The chestnut Arabian could be a headstrong sonofabitch, but right now, he moved willingly under her guidance, his lead switches smooth as butter. Reyes couldn’t help but be impressed by her skill and grace in the saddle, though it wasn’t surprising given he’d heard Shelby bragging she was in the running for a spot on the US Equestrian Team.
When she exited the arena for the riding trails surrounding the estate, he headed down to the stables. His gut clenched as his mind screamed to turn around and go back. It reminded him of being on patrol. Trouble was brewing, and he was heading right for it. But he could no more have kept himself from descending the stairs than he could’ve disobeyed an order from his commanding officer.
The certainty of that left him itchy and restless, and he needed to do something with his hands. In Afghanistan, he used to clean his rifle, and then clean it again. Now, he’d have to make do with saddles. It was almost as good.
In the tack room, he grabbed a cloth and some leather cleaner.
His dad walked by, then back-tracked. Reyes looked up when he stopped in the doorway. “You headed out?”
“Not quite. I’m waiting for Janine’s niece to get back from her ride.”
“Is Mom done with everything up at the house?” They always rode together when his mom worked on Sundays.
His dad shrugged. “She’ll keep herself busy until I can leave.”
“You can go if you want. I’ll take care of things here.”
“Got nothing better to do on your day off?”
Reyes lifted a shoulder as he avoided his dad’s direct gaze. “I’m heading out later, so just killing some time for now.”
“Hmm.” He watched him quietly for a moment.
His pulse thudded hard as he waited for his dad to call him out on the lie.
Instead he gave a shrug. “All right then, suit yourself. Thanks.”
It didn’t suit him one damn bit, yet there he sat, scrubbing the already shining leather until the light sound of boot heels beat out a rapid rhythm on the cement twenty minutes later. He went on full alert as the steps came to an abrupt halt outside the tack room door.
“Oh. Um…is Estefan here?”
Reyes took his time looking up, partly to make her wait, partly to get his pulse to settle down. But one look at Raine’s windblown hair and those bright hazel eyes, and there was no reprieve in sight. “He went home. Why?”
“I was hoping to get some jumps set up.”
“Sure.” He gestured to the left with the oil cloth in his hand. “Out the main doors, you’ll find a large storage room on the left. Jumps are in there. Help yourself.”
She blinked at him, her expression astonished. “Help myself?”
“Just make sure you keep them under half a meter. Stimpy doesn’t have nearly the same level of training as your jumpers.”
One hand propped on her hip, and her brow arched imperiously as her cheeks flushed with color. “You do work here, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Her gaze narrowed, and he deliberately returned to polishing.
“And you aren’t going to at least come help me?”
“I’m busy.”
After a long moment, she pivoted on her heel and disappeared toward the storage room. Reyes rested his fist on the saddle with a heavy sigh, waiting for the sound of the wooden rails as she dragged them out to the arena. When all he heard was silence, he conceded maybe he didn’t have to be such an asshole because his pansy-ass ego was still bruised from ten years ago. Maybe he should go help—
The clip-clop of horseshoes rang out on the cement.
His brow dipped as he rose and walked to the doorway in time to see Raine leading Stimpy to the cross ties by his assigned stall. She didn’t deign to look in his direction as they passed the tack room.
Leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb, he asked, “Change your mind about the jumping?”
“Shelby texted me to meet her at the pool.”
Her snooty tone grated across his nerves while his fingers clenched the cloth in his hand at the memory of that little red bikini all those years ago. A mental head-shake banished the image as she secured the gelding in the cross ties. Then she gave him a rub on the nose and flipped her hair over her shoulder while turning to walk toward the main house.
Reyes couldn’t help but drop his gaze down to the sway of her ass in those tan, skin-tight pants. He swallowed hard against a rising tide of awareness.
“Tell your dad thank you for the ride,” she tossed over her shoulder while bending to fish her phone from the front thigh pocket of her breeches.
Reyes tilted his head slightly to watch the stretch of material—until he suddenly straightened from the wall with a jerk of indignation. “Whoa—hold on. Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“To the pool, of course.”
“Not before you take care of Stimpy.”
“I do believe that’s what you’re paid to do. I’m going to go have a swim.”
It was, and it wasn’t, but he wasn’t about to get into semantics with an uppity little princess like her. “You’re going to get your ass back here and take care of this horse. Now.”
That halted her steps and brought her back around. She lifted her chin, somehow looking down her nose at him from twenty feet away. “You can’t talk to me like that. I’ll have you fired.”
He snorted. “Good luck with that. In the meantime, the rule is, you ride in this stable, you take care of your horse. You may not remember everything about this place, but I know damn well you remember that.”
“What does that mean?”
Annoyed with himself for revealing his resentment, he abruptly turned and went back into the tack room.
“I’ll have you fired.”
The echo of her threat had him clenching his jaw, but he forced himself to take a seat behind the saddle he’d been cleaning and focus on the rhythmic motions of his hand to soothe his pissed-off energy.
While his anger eased, a strange crackle and buzz woke up every cell of his body. The level shot up a notch when, five minutes later, she stomped into the room to deposit Stimpy’s saddle and bridle on an empty rack and hook without so much as a glance in his direction. Then she went straight to the bins on the other side of the room, selected the brushes she needed to rub the horse down, and stomped back out again.
See? He shot a narrow-eyed look at the empty doorway. She hadn’t forgotten where the brushes were located, and after today, he’d bet a hundred bucks she’d remember him the next time they met.
It could be a year, or another ten, but she’d definitely remember him.
Get Don’t Dare a Diamond
HERE
Other Titles By Stacey Joy Netzel
MUST LOVE DIAMONDS
Must Love Frosting
Love Loyal and True
Love You, Baby
To Love and Protect
Don’t Dare a Diamond
* * *
ITALY INTRIGUE SERIES
Kidnapped*
Betrayed
Conned
*2012 Write Touch Readers’ Award Winner as Lost in Italy
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COLORADO TRUST SERIES
Evidence of Trust
Trust by Design
Trust in the Lawe
Shattered Trust
Dare to Trust
Vow of Trust
Illusion of Trust
* * *
WELCOME TO REDEMPTION SERIES
A Fair to Remember, Book 2
Grounds For Change, Book 4
The Heart of the Matter, Book 6
Hold On To Me, Book 8
Say You’ll Marry Me, Book 10
(books 1,3,5,7,9 written by Donna Marie Rogers)
* * *
ROMANCING WISCONSIN SERIES
Mistletoe Mischief
Mistletoe Magic
Mistletoe Match-up
**Mistletoe Rules – short bonus story
Autumn Wish
Autumn Bliss
Autumn Kiss
**Autumn Glimmer – short bonus story
Spring Fling
Spring Serendipity
Spring Dreams
**Spring Spark – short bonus story
Summer Scandal
Summer Bride
Summer Secrets
**Summer Wager – short-ish bonus story
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STAND ALONE ROMANCE TITLES
More Than a Kiss, contemporary romance
Chasin’ Mason, contemporary western romance
Ditched Again, high school reunion novella
Dragonfly Dreams, Christmas novella
Nina, Beach Brides sweet contemporary novella
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PARANORMAL ROMANCE TITLES
If Tombstones Could Talk, paranormal novella
Beneath Still Waters (Part One), paranormal novella
Rising Above (Still Waters Part Two), paranormal novella
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FREE READ
Holding Out For a Hero
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PUZZLE BOOK
Passion & Puzzles
a Word Search and Crossword Puzzle Book of Stacey Joy Netzel Romance books
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Stacey Joy Netzel is an avid reader of heartwarming, sexy, pulse-pounding romance, and she loves all movies with a happily ever after. She lives in Wisconsin with her family, a horse and some barn cats. She enjoys hiking, canning, and visiting her parents in Northeastern Wisconsin (Up North), at the family cabin on the lake. Travelling anywhere to the mountains to do some hiking is a bonus she wishes she could do much more often than every couple years.
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She writes steamy romantic suspense, small town contemporary romances, and paranormal ghost stories with sexy, rugged heroes, and strong, resilient heroines. Colorado, Wisconsin, and Italy are favorite settings, and you can find them in her Must Love Diamonds, Romancing Wisconsin, Italy Intrigue, Welcome to Redemption Series, and Colorado Trust Series.
Here are all the places you can find me online:
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Hearing from readers is a very special thing for any writer, so pop in and say “Hi!” at any of the above locations. And once again, reviews are always appreciated.
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Thank you, and happy reading!
~Stacey~
To Love and Protect
Must Love Diamonds Series, book 4
Copyright © 2020, Stacey Joy Netzel
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Don’t Dare a Diamond – excerpt
Copyright © 2020, Stacey Joy Netzel
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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Editor: Stacy D. Holmes
Cover Art: Cover Couture
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ebook ISBN: 9781939143785
Print ISBN: 9781939143792