Sometimes even I forgot how much I looked like her.

A wing of black hair dropped over my face to shield me from his stare as I leaned down to rummage through my bag. I decided the best way to approach the situation was to continue the fantasy. Act like Kori. Flirt like Kori. I channeled some of her cocky confidence and smirked. “Take a picture.”

“Huh?”

Okay, that was lame.

I covered by shaking my head playfully at him and laughing to myself. “You’re like a total stalker, aren’t you?”

“Me?”

“I saw you at the Mini Mart, you know.” Guys loved it when Kori turned the tables on them.

“So I’m the stalker now, huh?” I glanced up at the playful expression on his face. There it was—the knowing grin. It was already working.

“Yeah. Are you following me? Should I get a restraining order? I’m awfully friendly with Kismet’s finest this week.”

He swallowed and shifted his stance, looking pretty guilty and like he was coming up with a plausible scenario. Which was kind of cute, but all he came up with was: “Yeah. I was there.”

“Then the cops came and you ran.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t really get along with the law this week.”

I regarded him with a laugh. “A sense of humor is good, a healthy distrust of the law is even better. I’ll let you off this time, but if you start getting creepy, I’ll have to hurt you.”

The muscles in his stomach clutched as if bracing for impact. My eyes lighted on them. With a shrug of a smile, he stroked the trail of hairs on the hardened flesh, but his eyes didn’t leave mine. In fact, he appeared utterly delighted in my distraction.

I twisted my lips into a devilish grin. “Wow, a six-pack. You must work out a lot.”

“I try,” he said tightly.

“Impressive.”

“So, you still think you can hurt me?”

I dismissed him and all previous flattery with an arched eyebrow and a half-cocked shoulder. “Oh, I’m sure I can find a pair of body parts you can’t protect with weight lifting.”

He moved the rake in front of him, as if it might offer some protection.

I laughed and started digging through my bag, producing two apples, a peach, and several carrots. As I set them in the grass, the horses put their chests into the wire fence, stretching it as they tried to nab the treats.

Shay rested his weight against a wood fence post and watched me dole out equal shares.

“You’re sure this is okay, right? I’d hate to get you in trouble with your long-lost uncle.”

My tone was so obviously mocking that he laughed.

I finished feeding the horses and didn’t have to turn around to know he watched me the entire time. “So, Shay Miller, do you ever get to ride?”