Secret Confessions: Down & Dusty — Skye Read Free Page B

fenced paddocks, following the tiny dirt track worn by thousands of footsteps.
    At the corral she climbed the smooth, almost slippery, hardwood log rails. Perched up high, she stared unseeing at the brown expanse and indulged herself by thinking about Bret in the shower. Did he ever … touch himself in there? Probably, but she had no clue who he thought about when he did so. Though she could still make a whole documentary on the subject of him in the shower despite lacking those details. She gave a start when she checked her watch and saw ten minutes had passed.
    She’d spent a whole ten minutes contemplating all the things Bret might like to do in the shower.
    Jesus.
    Don’t think about him like that, it’s creepy, you’re friends. She narrowed her eyes. ‘Only dickheads fail to grow out of teen crushes, Skye. Don’t be a dickhead.’
    ‘Are you talking to me?’
    She blinked. Just like that he was suddenly behind her. He had to be the most silent cowboy she knew. Ninja cowboy. ‘Nope, just giving myself a motivational speech.’ It took her a moment to change gears, and to adjust to the sight of him just walking around like an ordinary person, as if he weren’t tall, built and hot.
    ‘Do all your motivational speeches end with the word “dickhead”?’ He gave her a look from beneath the brim of his hat.
    ‘Most of them,’ she murmured, rubbing her ear, checking for a fleck of cow poop that couldn’t possibly be there. ‘Where’s my patient?’
    ‘I tied her in the shade around the other side of the feed shed.’
    ‘Well, bring her in here, I could use the light.’
    ‘Yes, ma’m.’
    She looked away from his retreating form. Checking out the view would just be torturing herself.
    He reappeared from behind the feed shed leading a sorrel beauty queen. Despite a fine powder of dust, the mare’s coat gleamed where the sun touched her short, refined head and strong, well-muscled body.
    Holding the gate open for them, Skye pursed her lips and whistled. ‘And where did you find this looker?’
    ‘Sydney.’ Bret brought the mare to a halt by one side of the corral and ran a slow, loving hand down the mare’s neck to her broad chest.
    Oh, to be a horse.
    ‘Is she purely for breeding?’ She doubted it as she eyed the mare’s powerful, rounded hindquarters built for performance.
    The mare inspected Skye in turn, liquid eyes brimming with well-bred curiosity.
    ‘Nope, she’s a working girl, understands cows and wants to make them her minions. Fancies herself queen of the campdraft. If the lump turns out to be nothing serious I’ll put her through her paces at the rodeo.’
    ‘Let me know when you’re competing and I’ll come along and help out.’ It’d be like old times. She held out the back of her hand to let Abilene sniff her. ‘And where’s this lump that’s putting a cramp in her style?’
    ‘I found it here yesterday when I was brushing her down.’ His hand slid to the mare’s flank. ‘See the way she stiffened? It doesn’t feel hot to the touch, but it could be an abscess if it’s that tender.’
    ‘Could be. Move over.’ She shouldered him gently out of her way to focus on the mare’s flank. Her fingers found a firm lump no wider than a pea. ‘Yeah, feels like an abscess. She probably picked up a splinter or something and bacteria got in. Clip or trim the area, clean it with some gauze and saline solution and let it dry. Be careful with any pus.’ She glanced at his grazed knuckles. ‘This bacteria is infectious to humans if it’s exposed to an open wound, so use some gloves.’
    He nodded. ‘Got it.’
    ‘I’ll keep checking on it, and if a topical skin protectant doesn’t work I can drain it.’ Stroking the mare’s back she felt the weight of Bret’s gaze on her and looked up, caught him studying her, his multi-coloured eyes intent.
    ‘What?’
    ‘How does it feel? Achieving your life’s ambition? Helping animals?’
    He’d always treated her interest in healing