The Last Second Chance by Lucy Score

8

Joey didn’t wait for an answer. She kicked Romeo into a run and grinned when she heard the thunder of hooves behind her. Cyrano was fast. But Romeo was a sprinter. The wind stung her face as pine trees and fence posts whizzed by in a blur. With any luck, Colby and the rest of the stable help would think she was windburnt, not flushed from a scorching kiss.

She leaned low over the horse’s neck and let him have his head.

They beat Jax by two full lengths, pulling up to a dignified walk on the slope behind the stable. Joey was still laughing when they came around the corner and she spotted the trailer in the drive.

A wisp of a man buried under a thick outer layer of Carhartts swaggered over to her. His red hair poked out in tufts under the thick wool cap, his cheeks pink from the air.

“You Joey Greer?” he asked, consulting a clipboard. She was a little disappointed that his accent was more Kentucky than Irish, taking away from his leprechaun-like appearance.

She dismounted and looped the reins over Romeo’s head. “I might be. Depends on what you’ve got in the trailer.

The man’s eyes sparkled. “Trust me. You’re gonna want to be Joey Greer.”

A shrill whinny erupted from the trailer followed by an impatient stamp.

Jax whistled and Carter and Colby ambled out of the barn.

Joey shot Jax a look. “Just what the hell did you do?”

He slid down off Cyrano’s back and took Joey’s reins. “Colby, you mind taking care of these two?”

Colby took the reins with a grin. “No problem. We made some room inside,” he said with a wink.

“Why are we making room, and why the hell didn’t someone consult me?” Joey snapped. These were her stables. This was her program. Horseflesh did not magically appear on the farm. She carefully researched, weighed options, and then negotiated the purchase with an iron spine and a meticulous plan.

No one was paying her any mind, and she was about to start yelling when the driver released the butterfly latches on the trailer ramp.

“Now, hold on here,” she said following him. Without thinking, she helped him lower the ramp while she continued to argue. “There’s been some kind of misunderstanding. I didn’t buy a horse.”

“Horses,” Jax corrected behind her.

He and Carter were enjoying her irritation. Standing shoulder to shoulder, there was no mistaking the family resemblance, right down to their matching shit-eating grins. “You’re both in a lot of trouble, so you might as well wipe those asshole smiles off your faces,” she said, setting her jaw.

The southern-drawling leprechaun ignored the bickering and hustled into the back of the trailer.

“Mind your mouth!” The command came affectionately from Phoebe as she huffed and puffed her way across the drive. “Whew! I was worried I was going to miss this,” she chirped, skimming a kiss on each son’s cheek before doing the same to Joey.

“You’re in on this mess too?” Joey felt ganged up on.

Phoebe shoved a red-mittened hand through Joey’s arm. “Sweetie, I know you’re not big on surprises, but trust me.”

“This here is Calypso’s Secret,” the driver announced as a stunning mare picked her way daintily down the ramp.

“Calypso’s Secret as in second place in last year’s Breeder’s Cup?”

“That’s the one,” the man bobbed his redhead as he walked. “She’s retired now and looking forward to the good life.”

“Oh, holy fuck,” Joey muttered to herself.

The chestnut mare swung her head around and nuzzled at her pocket. Joey fished out a carrot from her stash and let the mare delicately nip it out of her gloved palm.

Jax approached to get a closer look.

“Jax?”

“Yeah?”

“What is Calypso’s Secret doing in my yard?”

“I heard a rumor that you wanted to start a breeding program,” he said, running a calloused hand down the mare’s neck.

“You didn’t.”

“You said I owed you an apology.”

“Jax.” Joey’s voice had the sharp bite of warning in it.

Damn right she wanted a breeding program. But she’d wanted it on her own terms. Terms that involved budgeting and starting with a broodmare less spectacular than Calypso. The horse in front of her—with the perfect white star on her nose and glossy coat—was levels above where she’d planned to start.

“If y’all want to move her out of the way, I’ll get the big bastard out.”

Joey shot Jax a murderous look. “Two horses? Two friggin’ horses, Jax?”

He took Calypso’s reins and passed them over to Carter. “You can’t have a broodmare like this and a middle-of-the-road stallion.”

“Y’all might want to move back. He’s a handful,” the driver warned.

Jax dragged her back a few steps. “What did you do?” Joey hissed at him.

The stamping and snorting escalated from the front stall in the trailer. Joey heard a well-placed kick strike the wall and wondered if there was anything left of the little driver.

But a moment later, she saw spectacular smoky black flank grudgingly emerge at the top of the ramp. A silky black tail swished in irritation.

He was huge. And pissed.

Sixteen hands at least and all lean muscle and attitude. He picked his way down the ramp with a delicacy that belied his twelve hundred pounds. The second all four feet were on the ground, he tried to rear up. The driver kept his head and his grip on the bridle, expertly wrangling the beast.

The stallion tossed his head and pawed at the ground.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a big deal. We know,” he said, swatting at the horse’s nose when he tried to take a bite out of his shoulder.

He certainly was a big bastard. A big, beautiful bastard. Joey was already in love.

But damn it. There was a budget. A plan. Maybe a decade down the road they’d be able to invest in a horse like this. Not now. Not with Jax’s bank account.

“Meet your stud. This is Apollo,” Jax said, stepping in to take the lead from the driver. Testing, the horse started to rear, but Jax stood his ground and had the stallion chomping apple slices out of his hand in thirty seconds flat.

“Apollo, huh?” Joey said approaching the horse. Brown eyes followed her, and he tossed his head when she reached up to stroke his neck.

“As in ‘Apologies,’” Jax said with a wink.

“I’m going to murder you, Ace,” she told him succinctly.

Phoebe was too busy cooing over Calypso to hear Joey threaten her son’s life.

It was cruel, taking over her dream, shoving it along. Seven figures of horseflesh stood before her and he called it an apology. That was a hell of an investment to make for an ‘I’m sorry.’

She took the lead rope from Jax, let Apollo smell her. He stamped once and then nudged her with his nose, nibbling at the sleeve of her jacket.

God, he was spectacular.

She wouldn’t accept. Couldn’t accept. No matter how much she wanted them. And, oh, did she want them. But it was too much, too outrageous. And it put her in too vulnerable a position. She wasn’t going to have Jax fund her dreams.

The horse nudged her again, this time in the pocket with carrots. She fished out a carrot and held it, palm flat. Apollo nosed her palm delicately. But rather than take the treat, he swung his head up aiming instead to take a chunk out of her shoulder. She blocked him easily.

“You are a bastard, aren’t you?” she whispered to him.

His big, black head lifted as if in agreement before swooping in to take the carrot.

She shook her head. “Put them back on the trailer.”

“Don’t be stubborn,” Jax warned.

“You think I’d actually accept a huge chunk of your bank account in the form of horseflesh?”

“If you don’t, you’re a stubborn idiot,” he said mildly.

“Starting to piss me off.”

“Back at ya, baby. Would you really turn these two away just to spite me?”

This wasn’t the plan. She was going to start this on her own. From scratch. Small, selective. Build slowly to establish a reputation for quality. The program would be her baby.

And now Jax had his fingerprints all over it. She didn’t need him or his flashy gifts. She felt her temper kick into a rolling boil.

“I’m not accepting them,” she snapped.

Jax handed over Apollo’s lead to Carter. “Get them bedded down,” he told his brother. “I’ll handle her.”

“The hell you will!” Joey thought she caught the glimpse of Phoebe beaming at them like an idiot as Jax dragged her inside the stable and into her cramped office. He kicked the door closed behind him and crossed his arms, ready for the fight.

“Let’s have it.”

Happy to oblige, Joey launched into the argument. “You can’t just come in here and run things,” she said stalking back and forth keeping the shabby metal desk between them.

“Who says I’m trying to run things?”

But she was too wound up to converse. “You’re either trying to manipulate me into sleeping with you, or you’re trying to weasel control away from me.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say, Joey. And I’ve known you since you were a kid.” He was fired up now. “You forget that I know you. That means I know there is nothing under the sun that a man could buy you to make you feel obligated to fall into bed with him.”

He had her there.

“So you bought them to run things and just generally drive me crazy?”

“They’re in your name, Joey. You own them.”

She slammed a hand down on her desk. “Bullshit. I didn’t pay for them.”

He shrugged. “It’s your name on the bill of sale.”

Joey yanked off her wool cap and threw it against the wall. No. No. No. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.

“You were pissed because you thought they were mine. Now you’re pissed because they’re yours. Who was going to buy them in your plan?”

Carter. Well, the farm. The farm of which Jax was one-third owner.

She didn’t answer him.

“This gives you more control, Joey. Take it.”

She watched through the glass as Carter led Apollo to an empty stall. The stallion put up quite the fuss as he pranced past. Why wasn’t anyone listening to her?

“I can’t accept them,” she said firmly.

“Why the hell not?”

Because her dreams of independence, of success, would be funded by the man who abandoned her. Her success would be his. Just another string binding them together.

“Because, Jax, normal businesswomen don’t go around accepting gifts like this!” She shoved her hands into her hair just to give them something to do besides strangling him.

“Yes. They do. It’s called an investment, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m investing in you.” He snagged her hand and dragged her out from behind the desk. “I believe in you. I believe in your plans. I believe in your ability to get shit done.”

He pulled her closer even as she fought him.

“This gives you total control. You deserve it, and you’ll see that as soon as you get this hissy fit out of your system.”

“Hissy fit?” she gasped.

“I keep expecting you to bite me like Apollo. Two peas in a pod.” Jax smirked.

She prodded him in the chest. “I don’t want you to be tied up in my goals.”

His smile faltered. “I know you don’t, Jojo. And I’m hoping that someday you’re going to let me get tied up with you in every way imaginable. But this isn’t just about you. Ask yourself what these two are going to mean to the farm. We almost lost this place after Dad died.”

Joey’s eyes widened. She’d known there was trouble. Knew there was a rough patch after John’s death, but she hadn’t known how close it was.

“If you do what I know damn well you’re capable of doing, you’ll be putting the lean years behind us for good. You’ll ensure the future of this farm for the next generation, maybe more. Carter and Summer’s kids. Evan and Aurora. But we can only do this with you.”

She ran her tongue around her teeth. He was going for the jugular. Damn it! Was she going soft in the head? He was starting to make sense.

“It’s not just about you. Hell yes, I want to be tied to you in every way I can be, and I want to see every dream of yours come true, but I also want what’s best for this place, for our family—because they’re as much yours as they are mine—and it just so happens that this works out for everyone. But it doesn’t work without you. I need you. We need you.”

She could have pushed him one more time, but his voice had thickened with emotion. With love for this place, for family, for her.

Still she balked. He stepped in on her, crowding her against the desk.

“Uh-uh. No way!” She slapped a hand to his chest. “Do not kiss me right now.”

His slow grin thawed her edges despite her resistance.

“Why not?”

“Because that’s not how you close a business deal.”

He framed her face with his big hands. “Are you closing this deal?”

Grudgingly, Joey shoved her hand between them and held it out. She waited until he let go of her face and took her hand in his.

“I’m paying you back. No matter how long it takes.”

“Whatever,” he said flippantly. “Can I kiss you now?”

“No! Maybe later… shut up.”

Carter saved her from doing something stupid by poking his head in. “My turn?” he asked.

Jax squeezed her hand, his grip strong and firm. “She’s all yours. For now.”

As soon as he released her, Joey swiped her hand over the seat of her jeans to disrupt the tingles firing through her palm.

Jax slapped his brother on the shoulder and headed in the direction of the stable’s new tenants.

“You got a minute?” Carter asked, sinking into the scarred metal chair in front of her desk.

Joey returned to the desk chair and flopped down. “This feels oddly official.”

Carter propped his work boots up on the corner of the desk. “Better?”

Joey kicked back in her chair, her feet joined his on the battered top. “Much.”

“I have a proposition for you,” Carter began.

“I’m not sleeping with you either,” Joey quipped.

Carter looked pained.

“Sorry, couldn’t help it.” Joey smirked and reached for the dredges of her cold coffee.

“Funny. We want to make you a partner.”

The coffee lodged in her throat like a brick before shooting out of her facial orifices.

She was still gasping when Carter handed her a paper towel.

“What did you say?” Joey choked out, pressing the towel to her face.

Carter moved the coffee mug out of her reach. “We’ve decided to make you a partner in the stables.”

“I’m… not sure you’re speaking English. Or if I’m awake. Or having a stroke. This is a family farm, Carter.”

“You’re family. Always have been, always will be. Regardless of who you are or aren’t sleeping with.”

Joey slapped a hand to her forehead. This had Jax’s fingerprints all over it.

“Before you say it, this was my idea,” Carter said, reading her like a billboard.

She closed her mouth with a snap.

“I pitched it. My brothers were on board.”

“Simple as that?” Joey asked.

Carter nodded. “Simple as that. You want it?”

She wanted it more than the box of candied bacon she’d squirreled away in the bottom desk drawer. Joey took a slow breath, let it out. “That depends. You swear on the lives of your twins that Jax didn’t put you up to this? Because if you lie, you’ll be punished with hellion children.”

“It’s me and Summer. We can only create hellion children,” Carter cracked.

“Har har. Swear?”

“Swear. But Jax is obviously in favor of it. He told me it was ‘about fucking time’ and then went horse shopping.”

Her father’s words chose that moment to cycle through her head. You’ll never be anything to them…

But she was. She was a solid, fucking investment, a friend. She was family. She had a bright future. Here, with the Pierces in her corner and she in theirs.

“Okay.”

Carter grinned. In it she saw the likeness of John, of Jax. Men she had loved. She couldn’t predict how this would go, but it was worth the risk.

“Now let’s talk compensation.”