Page 22 of Riding High

Grumpy Guts had a glorious six-pack Eden was trying not to look at.Swallowing, she held out her hand for the men to shake, taking in their easy looks and rangy bodies.Kit was tall, blond and Australian, while Mateo was from Argentina, all dark hair and dark eyes with a dimple that flashed when he smiled.They were classically, undeniably attractive.But when they shook hands, she didn’t feel a spark of attraction.What she did do was sneeze.And sneeze again.

Mick pulled her behind her and scowled at the polo players.‘Did you swing past the stables before you got here?’she asked.

Kit and Mateo exchanged WTF looks and shrugged.‘Since we’re polo players and we have a fondness for the ponies we ride, that’s our normal routine,’ Kit told her, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes.‘I didn’t realise we had to get permission from you, princess.’

‘That’s Dr Princess to you,’ Mick snapped back, hands on her hips.‘And Eden is allergic to horses, that’s why I asked?—’

‘Demanded.In a snotty tone,’ Kit countered.

Jed gripped the bridge of his nose.‘Enough, for the love of Christ,’ he snapped.‘Can you two stop griping at each other for one second?’

Mick raised dark eyebrows and her shoulders.‘No.’

‘Probably not,’ Kit added at the same time.

Jed muttered a ‘for fuck’s sake’ under his breath.

Troyden, shaking his head, stepped in.‘Eden, meet Daisy, she’s our head groom?—’

‘No, don’t shake her hand!’Mick slapped her outstretched hand away.‘You’ve got to keep your distance from anyone who has been in contact with horses.’

Right, she didn’t seem to be able to remember that.But surely shaking hands couldn’t affect her that badly?Then she sneezed and sneezed again.Mick threw her hands up in the air.‘I’m researching how to desensitise you,’ she told Eden.

‘Um… why?’

‘Because you are my patient and my friend!And I look after both.’

Wow, okay.Judging by Mick’s ferocious expression, she apparently had a friend, whether she wanted one or not.And it felt good.

‘Well, I haven’t been anywhere near a horse,’ Justin stated.‘I met you the other day at breakfast, but you won’t remember me.I’m Justin, married to Alistair, Troyden’s eldest.’

Eden smiled, liking his thin, intellectual face and the hint of mischief she saw in his eyes.‘I remember.Hi, again.’

Jed who seemed to, finally, remember he was shirtless, walked over to a mat in the middle of the others and scooped up a black t-shirt.He pulled it over his head.

Sadness.

But his actions allowed Eden to take in her first full breath since she poked her head into the garden.Breathing was rather nice.It was ridiculous that two-day-old stubble on a masculine jaw, cat’s eyes, and a muscular torso could affect her speech, vision, breathing and make her synapses misfire.Maybe she was allergic to him, rather than horses.

Mick threaded her arm through hers and Eden had to stop herself from flinching in surprise.She wasn’t used to physical affection and wondered if it would be rude to pull away.Unsure, she simply stood there, as stiff as a rake.

‘Guess there’s no point in carrying on with yoga now,’ Jed said, bending down to pick up his mat.

Mick jerked Jed’s towel from his loose grip, then wiped her face while he rolled his eyes.‘Why do you have to do that?You’re a smart woman, so why can’t you remember to bring a towel?’

Mick shrugged, unrepentant.‘Because it’s far more fun to annoy you by using yours,’ she retorted tossing it back to him.She bunched her mat under her arm, and Eden took it from her and rolled it up.

Troyden patted his face with his towel.Diana simply lifted her t-shirt, flashed her ample stomach and wiped the sheen of sweat from her forehead with its hem.‘I made cinnamon rolls last night,’ she announced.‘If anyone wants coffee and rolls, come up in fifteen minutes.’She pointed at Kit and Mateo.‘You too, and shower before you come up.’

‘Working around her horse allergies is going to be a pain in the arse,’ Jed muttered, loud enough for her to hear.

His words were the equivalent of a knife grazing her stomach.It shouldn’t sting, but it did.‘Jed,’ Troyden said, his warning unmistakable.

‘We’re a horsey family, Troyden.It’s what wedo,’ Jed countered.

‘Well, for as long as Eden is here, or until she gets a handle on her allergies, we are going to be horse people who wash before entering the main house,’ Troyden told him.‘I don’t think that’s a lot to ask, is it, Jedson?’

Eden noticed Jed’s quick grimace at the use of his full name, then he met his stepfather’s eyes.‘If that’s what you want,’ he said, shrugging.