“Better be, or we might have a hard time selling all the roping horses Jason insists on training. This is only our tiny local competition, though. Good for business, but better for fun.” She raised her eyebrows. “If you’re nice, I might even lend you a horse. You rope much?”

LJ smirked. “I’m not going to get much roping done from the back of a stick horse, and something tells me that’s all my behavior’s going to win me.”

“You might be right about that.” She smiled and nudged her gelding with her heels, moving into a smooth sitting trot. “Think about it. You’ve got a week and a half.”

“Hey, you busy this afternoon?”

She stopped and took a second to school her horse on turning on his haunches.

When she was finished, she looked up. LJ was still waiting, apparently too much of a trainer himself to get offended at being prioritized behind a learning moment for a horse. “Am I busy? Always. But I could probably juggle some things. Do you need help with one of the foals?”

“Nah.” He took off his hat and swiped a sleeve across his sweaty forehead. “I’m headed into town to get some groceries. You ought to come along.”

Shadows chased across the ground between them as the breeze pushed thin clouds in front of the sun. The scent of toasted almonds drifted toward her, and she inhaled, wondering if it was LJ. He always seemed to smell like something delicious.

“Have I been eating too much of your food during our cooking lessons this week?” She shifted in her saddle. “I could give you some money to cover it.”

He rested a wrist over his saddle horn, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a crooked smile. “You? Eating too much? Even on the pitiful salary you pay me, I think I can afford two extra bites and a dinner roll per day.”

“Your salary is twelve percent above industry standard!”

“Sure, but I’m thirty percent better than industry standard.” He grinned. Mary Kay shied at a bee flying by. He turned her in a circle, her hooves kicking up dust.

Andra rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses, though she couldn’t help a smile. LJ was rarely serious for longer than two minutes at a stretch, but she liked that he wasn’t all kid gloves and dark, pitying looks when she was around.

“Anyway, I don’t need you to come to the grocery store to bankroll your cooking lessons. I need you to come because I’m still weeping inside over the state of the avocado you tried to feed me the other day. Somebody’s got to teach you to properly choose produce.”

“Maybe I was trying to get rid of a bad avocado.” She lifted a brow. “Ever think of that, Mr. Thirty Percent Better Than Everyone Else?”