“It’s because I’m poor.”
“And uneducated,” he added tauntingly.
Her face colored. “I have a diploma for the work I do,” she stammered.
“You’re a glorified groomer, Keely,” he said flatly. “You hold dogs and cats while the vet treats them.”
Her whole body tautened. “That isn’t true. I give anesthesia and shots…”
He held up a hand. “Spare me the minute details,” he said, sounding bored.
“We can’t all go to Harvard, you know,” she muttered.
“And some of us can’t even face community college,” he shot back. “You had a scholarship and you threw it away.”
She felt sick. “A scholarship that paid just for textbooks,” she corrected. “And only half of that. How in the world do you think I could afford to pay tuition and go to classes and hold down a full-time job, all at once?”
“You could give up the job.”
She laughed hollowly. “My mother would love that. Then she wouldn’t even have groceries.”
His dark eyes narrowed. “Do you pay rent?”
Her big, soft green eyes met his. “I do all the housework and all the cooking and cleaning and shopping. That’s my rent.”
“Who buys her liquor?” he asked with a cold smile. “And her see-through negligees?”
Keely’s face went scarlet. He was insinuating something. Her stare asked the question without words.
He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, pulling the thick fabric taut over the hard, powerful muscles of his legs. “I dropped by your house to thank you, belatedly, for getting Bailey to the vet in time to save him,” he said curtly. “You weren’t home, but she was. She answered the door in a see-through negligee and invited me inside.”
The shame was overpowering. She averted her face.
“Embarrassed?” he scoffed. “Why? Like mother, like daughter. I’m sure you wear similar things for Bentley,” he added with honey-dripping sarcasm.
She couldn’t manage a reply. His opinion of her was painful. She’d loved him secretly for years, and he could treat her like this. He wouldn’t even give her the benefit of the doubt.
Her lack of response made him angry. Why it should also make him feel guilty was a question he couldn’t answer. “You keep away from Clark,” he said shortly. “I don’t want you going out with him. Do you hear me, Keely?”
“It’s just for a ride….”
“I don’t give a damn what it’s for!” he snapped, watching her body tense, her eyes grow frightened. That made him even angrier. He stepped toward her and was infuriated when she backed up. “Get out of Clark’s life. Today!” he told her in a goaded undertone.
She felt her knees go weak. He was intimidating. She couldn’t even force her eyes back up to his. She was so tired of being afraid of everybody; especially of Boone.
Before he could say anything else, Clark came up with a blanket. He was grinning. “Billy’s got the horses saddled. He’s bringing them right up!”
Boone glared down at Keely. “I think Keely wants to go home,” he said.
“You do?” Clark exclaimed, surprised.
Keely drew in a quick breath and stepped close to Clark. “I’d like to go riding,” she replied.
Clark glanced at Boone, whose eyes were black as jet. “What’s going on?” he asked his brother. He frowned. “Do you really mind if I just take Keely riding?”
Boone glared at Keely as if he’d like to roast her on a spit. He glared at his brother, too. His lips made a thin line. “Oh, hell!” Boone bit off. “Do what you damned well please!”
He turned and strode out of the barn, apparently oblivious to the blanket Clark was holding out and the saddle he’d left sitting at the stall gate. His long, quick strides were audible on the paved floor, echoing down the aisle.
Clark ground his teeth together as he watched Boone’s departure. “I hope he doesn’t run into any of his men on the way to wherever he’s going,” he said with visible misgivings.
“Why?” Keely asked, relieved that Boone hadn’t said anything more.
Suddenly there was a distant voice, a sharp curse and the sound of water being splashed.
“Oh, boy,” Clark said heavily.
Keely stared down the aisle. A tall, dripping wet cowboy came into the barn, sloshing water as he walked. He was wringing out his felt hat, muttering. He looked up and saw Keely and Clark and grimaced.
“What happened to you, Riley?” Clark exclaimed.
The cowboy glowered at him. “I just made a comment about how good you and Miss Keely looked together,” he said defensively. “Boone picked me up and tossed me into the watering trough!”
Clark exchanged a glance with