LJ leaned a shoulder against the barn doorframe and watched. It was how people were meant to ride. Not battling for dominance or jerking at the reins. Flowing, all the potential of two beings focused on one goal.

He forgot all about brass nameplates and just soaked it in.

Eventually, the woman dismounted and walked her stallion toward the barn. LJ shook off his daydreaming and stepped back out of sight, trying to buy time. When people met him, their brows usually rose right along with their eyes as they looked up, then up some more. Six and a half feet was too much for most, so he liked to have a smile and a quip at the ready to put them at ease. Except watching her ride had wiped his mind clean of jokes.

She had to be Andra Lawler, the name at the bottom of the emails that had invited him to drive to Lawler Ranch for the “extensive, in-person interview process.” Anybody who rode that well must be in charge of hiring the other trainers.

Even off the horse, she drew his eyes. Her walk was all grace and confidence, the stallion following along meekly at her heels. As she got closer, the pale skin and delicate features under the shadow of her hat became clearer. She hadn’t seen him yet, but even in relaxation the lines of her face teased at his imagination like a story only half told.

LJ approached the doorway, taking a breath to introduce himself and raising his hand to shake hers.

She crossed the line of shadow cast by the barn and walked straight into his outstretched hand, his fingertips bumping her ribs. Her chin jerked up and a scream ripped out of her, so unexpected and loud that LJ startled, too. The stallion reared, his hooves flashing as the woman flinched away from LJ and into the far greater danger behind her.

LJ grabbed her and yanked her out of the way. The scream cut off into eerie silence, and her muscles tensed under his hands. Goose bumps broke out on the back of his neck, his instincts shrilling all the alarms at how fast this whole situation had gone wrong. Before he could try to diffuse whatever the hell this was, she jerked away from him and fell. Her sunglasses jumped off her nose with the impact of ass on concrete, but instead of reaching for them, she gasped for air and her wide green eyes unfocused. She didn’t even seem to register the stallion, who reared again. His hooves pawed the air inches from her unprotected head. Close. Way too damned close.

LJ jumped in front of her and caught the reins, swinging his body in between the frightened horse and the woman on the ground.

“Andra!” a male voice sounded from behind him.