Haines motioned for me to go in first, and forcing a smile, I shook my head.

  “I don’t like booths. Being stuck inside makes me anxious,” I lied.

  I could feel Esther’s gaze on me, and I knew she was looking at me like I’d gone crazy. Not once in our life had I said anything about getting in a booth first. But if I was on the outside, I could leave without having to wait for him to move, and I could keep some distance between us.

  He nodded, giving me an odd look, and I shrugged, still smiling. Haines slid into the booth, and I followed, only to stay near the end. I refused to make eye contact with Esther. She’d made me do this, but she couldn’t make me like it.

  “So,” Esther said, drawing out the word, “we all four finally got together. With Capri working all the time, it’s been a struggle.”

  “You’re riding for the Shephards in the Belmont Derby Invitational,” Jaiden said, sounding almost excited about it.

  I knew he kept up with horse racing some. He was the reason that Esther had even watched some of the races I’d ridden in.

  Since this entire lunch wasn’t his fault, I turned to him and nodded. “Yes. Riding for them is thrilling and nerve-racking.”

  He grinned. “I bet. They’re one of the best. That’s got to be some pressure.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “But riding on one of the best does have its perks. In the past, I rode horses that weren’t considered winners. Their owners had hopes, of course, but they never expected them to actually win.”

  “I’ve heard great things about Bloodline,” Jaiden told me.

  “Okay, let’s talk about something not so boring,” Esther chimed in, and I cut my eyes at her. She was looking at Haines though, not me. “How’s the dentist life?” she asked.

  I might throw my fork at her. Why would she ask him that? She knew that man loved to talk about himself and teeth.

  Without hesitation, he began to prattle off about his office and some new slide they had put into the waiting area for kids and how he might as well become a pediatric dentist because he had so many children now. I listened as Esther laughed and said it was the hot dentist that was bringing in all the mommas. Haines chuckled, and I wanted to roll my eyes. Not that it wasn’t true because, well, he was nice to look at, but because he was vain enough to agree with her.

  He began telling some story of a mom who had dressed up in a miniskirt and heels last week to bring her kid in for a checkup. I zoned out and let my gaze scan the rest of the place. I recognized two of my mother’s friends, and they were looking this way, smiling as if they had the best gossip in town. Fantastic. Not only did I have to eat with this man, but the whole town would know about it and think there was a future here.

  If my momma didn’t show up on my doorstep later this afternoon, demanding details, I would be shocked. I needed to go to the gym anyway; perhaps I should go on a long run too. That should keep me away from the house long enough. Her calls I could avoid.

  “Capri,” Esther said with a hint of frustration.

  Had she been trying to get my attention? Oops.

  “Yeah?” I asked, looking back at her.

  “What day do you leave again, and when do you get back?” she asked in that tone that said she was repeating herself and annoyed.

  “Wednesday and back Sunday,” I told her.

  “What time on Sunday?” she pressed.

  What had I missed? Was there something happening she was trying to get me to go to with the three of them? I should have paid more attention.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  She gave me a pointed look that reminded me of my mother. “What time is your flight?”

  “Whenever they want it to be. They have their own plane. I’m not flying commercial,” I told her.

  Jaiden let out a low whistle. “Damn, you are getting there on the Shephards’ jet? I want to be you when I grow up.”

  I rolled my eyes but did smile as I picked up the water the server had brought and took a sip. I was kind of excited about that too. I’d never flown on anything but commercial, and that came to a total of two different events.

  “Speak of the devil … that’s King Salazar, isn’t it?” Jaiden said in a low voice, not wanting anyone other than us to hear him.

  I glanced back over my shoulder to see King speaking to some man I didn’t know. He turned his head then, and his gaze locked on me. A small lift at the corner of his lips was followed by a nod. He started to look away when his eyes shifted to Haines. His body tensed. It was slight, and I was sure no one else noticed it. He turned back to the man in front of him and said something.

  I looked back at Jaiden. “Yes, that’s King.”

  “Do you work with him too?” Jaiden asked.

  “The Shephard Ranch horses are owned by the Salazars, Shephards, Kingstons, and Jones. It’s like most things they own; it’s in their corporation or something.”

  I wasn’t exactly sure how all this worked. I just knew that those four families were in business together.

  “The Mafia,” Esther said under her breath.

  I cut my eyes to her and scowled. “Don’t start with that.”

  She pursed her lips and flipped her hair back over her shoulder. “You’ve been warned. Everyone knows it. What else would they be doing, owning everything? They even own this restaurant.”

  “Everyone doesn’t know it,” Jaiden said, correcting her. “It’s gossip. It’s not fact.”

  “They do own most of the buildings in this town,” she argued, not happy her fiancé wasn’t siding with her on this.

  “They do?” Haines asked.

  I glanced at him. He’d lived here his entire life. How did he not know this?

  “Dude, who do you think owns the building your dental practice is in?” Jaiden asked him.

  He looked confused. “It’s owned by SKSJ Enterprises. An older lady—sweet grandmother sort with a strange name—she’s the real estate agent who showed me the building, and I had my lease and payments all set up by her.”

  When he was done with his explanation, he was looking from me to Jaiden as if we were clueless.

  “SKSJ,” Jaiden said slowly. “Shephard, Kingston, Salazar, and Jones.”

  Haines’s brows drew together as if that hadn’t occurred to him.

  “Are you sure that’s what it stands for?” Haines asked.

  “Positive.”

  The single word hadn’t come from Jaiden. I recognized the deep voice instantly.

  I noticed Jaiden’s complexion instantly pale before turning my gaze to King, who was standing at the end of our booth. He was wearing his typical jeans, T-shirt, and boots. His eyes scanned the others in a bored fashion before meeting mine.

  “King,” I said, staring up at him. I hoped he didn’t think I was the one talking about them. It would be unprofessional of me.

  “Hello, Capri,” he replied.

  Feeling as if I should explain but not sure how to do it, I shifted nervously in my seat. “Did Bloodline head north already?”

  He nodded. “They left at about six this morning.”

  Great. Okay. Well, what did I say now? Oh, introduce everyone. That would be the polite thing to do.

  “King, this is my best friend, Esther,” I said, pointing in her direction. “And her fiancé, Jaiden.” Then, waving a hand to my side, I forced my smile. “This is Haines. He leases one of your buildings for his dental practice. He just wasn’t aware that SKSJ stood for, well, your last names.” I was now rambling and sounding like an idiot.

  King looked at Haines, and I could see a flash of concern in his eyes. I wasn’t sure what that was about or if I was just reading it wrong. His gaze lifted, and this time, when he tensed, it was obvious. Even his jawline was more pronounced.

  I turned back to see what he was looking at when my eyes collided with Thatcher’s dark ones. Several things happened that I wished did not. Starting with my heart rate picking up speed and my stomach feeling all fluttery.

  He excited me. Thatcher kept my emotions spinning. I was either terrified, anxious, or giddy. Sometimes all three. I never knew if he was going to acknowledge me or not. When he did, it felt amazing. When he didn’t, my mood sank.

  “We just stopped by to grab some lunch,” King said to me, reminding me he was standing beside me. “It was nice to meet all of you.”

  I tore my gaze from Thatcher’s to look back at King. I was going to say something, but he was already walking away. In Thatcher’s direction.

  “Okay, wow. I’ve never seen that man up close or heard his voice,” Esther said with clear fascination in her tone.

  “He’s married and has a baby girl,” I told her.

  “And you’re engaged,” Jaiden added, sounding pissed.

  Esther rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean I was going to go jump him. Chill. But he’s kind of gorgeous. You can’t deny that.”

  King Salazar was rather attractive. He had the kind of face that could be on billboards. But it had never been him who caught my attention. I preferred the mystery that was Thatcher Shephard, apparently. Leave it to me to be intrigued by the supposedly dangerous one. It was a good thing that this was a one-sided attraction. The thought of him even seeing me as anything other than a jockey was comical.

  “I don’t understand the fascination everyone has with him or the others. They’re not special. So, they have money. I’m a dentist.” Haines sounded defensive, as if he needed to remind us that he was here and we should be paying attention to him.

  “Years ago,” Jaiden whispered, looking at Haines, “that dude who walked in with the black cowboy hat had killed a guy. In the parking lot of the pizza place. Snapped his neck, then lit a cigarette and leaned up against the car beside the guy, waiting on the cops to show up. It was crazy. And he didn’t go to prison. Now, explain that if they’re not some kind of crime lords. They have important folks at their disposal.”

  I’d never actually heard the details of the supposed killing Thatcher had done. We had been kids, and I hadn’t paid attention. I had my own problems back then. I seriously doubted that Thatcher had actually broken a guy’s neck, then smoked a cigarette beside the body, waiting on the cops. That was someone making stuff up. This town was good at that.

  “Don’t talk about it with them here,” Esther hissed. “I don’t want to die today.”

  Jaiden nodded as if that made sense.

  “Y’all, seriously,” I sighed. “Can we talk about something that isn’t made-up tales that have become more elaborate over time by the town gossips?”

  “I agree,” Haines said, smiling at me.

  Perfect. Now, he was going to start regaling us with more stories from his dental practice again.

  • Eleven •

  Why did I love how fucking awkward she could be?

  Thatcher

  His record was clean. So fucking squeaky that it was nauseating. I’d already had him checked out when I saw her talking to him in town a month ago. He’d been looking at her like he wanted in her pants. It hadn’t taken him long to get her on a goddamn date.

  I picked up a fry and tossed it into my mouth. He’d probably be good to her. No cheating or sluts in hotel rooms on the side. He’d show up for dates. I should be fine with it.

  “I swear to God, if you do something I gotta clean up,” King warned as he sat across from me. “We got a race this week.”

  As if I needed reminding. Capri was leaving for New York on Wednesday. I had chosen not to go. Sebastian had left with Bloodline today. One of us always travels with the horse and crew. The urge to go had been there, bugging the fuck out of me. It was best for her if I stayed away. Well, at least from her actual life. I didn’t think I could stop watching her. That was an obsession I couldn’t seem to let go of.

  “You got that crazy gleam in your eye,” King muttered, picking up his beer.

  I flicked my gaze to him and tossed another fry into my mouth. Not looking in her direction might be helpful. Didn’t seem to matter that the boring-ass dentist was no threat to her. I didn’t like him. My annoyance spiked every time he leaned close to her or spoke to her.

  “Do we need to get this to go?” King asked me.

  Unable to help myself, I shifted my gaze to the booth Capri was sitting in. She was so close to the edge of the fucking booth that it almost made me smile. It didn’t seem like she wanted to be there. Sitting beside the prick. It was possible that was the only reason I had been able to keep from going to her. There was no threat. I might not need to dig too deep to figure out what that meant exactly.

  “Thatch,” King said, and I shifted my gaze back to him.

  “No,” I replied, knowing he’d been waiting for a response. “I’m not going to do anything.”

  His shoulders relaxed slightly.

  “It’d be more work to cover up why the dentist had been beaten to shit and tortured than it was JB,” he pointed out.

  I sneered. I hadn’t planned on doing anything to the fucking dentist. Well, as long as he behaved, didn’t hurt Capri in any way, he was safe. JB had asked for it.

  “I don’t care if she’s dating the dentist,” I replied, then picked up my burger and took a bite.

  “I find that hard to believe, considering how I found JB,” he shot back at me.

  My eyes went back to Capri. She’d liked that fucker, and he’d led her on. I’d just made sure he didn’t get a chance to do any real damage. If he had, then I’d have killed him. It was a reaction I couldn’t seem to control.

  “He was lying to her. Stringing her along,” I said.

  “Yeah, well, you beat him within an inch of his life because he was fucking some woman he’d picked up in a bar. That still makes no fucking sense.”

  I watched as she stood up, and so did the guy her friend was engaged to. The others moved from the booth following them. They were leaving. She’d driven her car. I’d seen it outside when we arrived. If the asshole was gonna bring her on a date, then he should have driven her. Strike one. Maybe he wasn’t good enough for her.

  She turned, and her eyes met mine. I liked how her body tensed up and those pretty eyes of hers widened.

  Yes, little doll, I was watching you.

  Knowing I made her nervous gave me pleasure. I lifted my hand and beckoned her to me with the curl of my finger. She blinked and stared for a moment, then turned and said something to the others. I could feel their gazes as, one by one, they turned to me. I picked up a fry, ignoring their existence, and watched as Capri sent them on their way, then walked toward me, alone.

  Good girl.

  “What are you doing?” King asked.

  I smirked. “Just bringing our jockey over here for a chat.”

  “She’s on a date,” he said.

  “Don’t care.”

  “Jesus, Thatch,” he grumbled.

  Not needing his commentary, I ate my fry while watching her approach our booth.

  “Hello,” she said with a slight tremor to her voice.

  “Capri,” King replied. “I hope you enjoyed your lunch.”

  I watched her shift her attention to King. He didn’t make her nervous. That was good. I was sure it would piss me off if he did.

  “I did. Thank you,” she replied, and then her eyes moved back to mine.

  She was waiting on me to say something. Explain my reason for bringing her over here. As much fun as it was to watch her squirm, I didn’t trust King not to send her on her way. He was stepping into shit he didn’t need to be involved in. One little cleanup with the stablehand, and he was now on some mission to save me or them. I wasn’t sure who.

  “Come to the ranch tomorrow,” I told her. “I want you to take Zephyr out for a run. Not full speed, but a run.”

  I ignored the look I was getting from King and watched her reaction instead. The flush on her face gave away the excitement she was trying to contain. I liked it when she was flushed. Especially the other night, when I’d watched her finger-fuck herself.

  “Okay, yes. Um, what time?” she stammered, barely glancing at King, who was remaining silent.

  “Seven,” I replied.

  She nodded her head, and there was that smile. “I’ll be there.”

  I picked up another fry and ate it while she seemed unsure of what to do next.

  Why did I love how fucking awkward she could be? What was it that made me want to just sit and watch her?

  “You don’t have to keep your friends waiting,” King told her.

  Fucker.

  She glanced at him, then back at me. I nodded my head once, and she seemed to relax.

  “Okay, uh, well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “You will.” I smirked.

  I kept my eyes on her ass while she walked toward the exit.

  “What are you doing?” King asked.

  “Eating.”

  “That’s not what I meant, and you fucking know it.”

  Yeah, he was butting in where he wasn’t needed. That was what I knew.

  “Why don’t you stop worrying about me and focus on you?” I suggested.

  “I’m not worried about you,” he ground out. “I am worried about Capri.”

  I stilled, not liking that he thought of her at all. “She’s not yours to worry about. You got a wife and kid.”

  He sighed. “You know that’s not what I am saying. She’s too fucking innocent for you to mess with.”

  “Never said I was gonna fuck her.”

  King just stared at me as if he could figure me out. We both knew he couldn’t. Most of the time, I couldn’t figure myself out. Good fucking luck.

  • Twelve •

  “It’s fairly safe, little doll.”