Seduction, Westmoreland Style - Brenda Jackson [4]
Without any thought of what she was doing or that she was putting her life in danger, Casey raced toward the charging animal trying to get his attention. She frantically waved her hands in the air and whistled. Pretty soon the animal turned huge dark, flaming eyes in her direction and with a tilt of its head, a flare of its nostrils and a turn of its body, she then became his target. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, putting her on full alert, however, instead of running for cover, she stood still.
McKinnon rushed out of the barn at that very moment. He had heard all the commotion and when he saw Prince Charming turned toward Casey, and she just standing there as if frozen in place, his heart slammed in his chest.
“Casey, run, dammit!”
When he saw she didn’t move, he decided to run toward her, knowing that with Prince Charming’s speed there was no way he was going to reach her in time, but he would die trying. Suddenly a rifle was shoved into his hands by one of his men and he knew he had to destroy the animal before it took Casey’s life. At that moment it didn’t matter one iota that the animal he was about to take down had cost Sheikh Jamal Ari Yasir over a million dollars. McKinnon’s only concern was doing whatever it took to protect Casey Westmoreland.
He raised the gun to take aim and fire when one of his men shouted, “Wait! Take a look at that.”
McKinnon blinked, amazed at what he was seeing. Fear hadn’t frozen Casey in place—she had been talking to the blasted animal and somehow she had gotten through to it. Prince Charming had come to a screeching halt within ten feet of Casey and was now trotting over to her with his tail wagging like they were the best of friends. She was holding her hand out to him and the horse cautiously came up to her and began nuzzling her hand.
McKinnon lowered the rifle. He knew that, like him, everyone was holding their breaths watching, waiting, and staring in pure astonishment. Then, once she felt confident that she had gained the animal’s trust, Casey grabbed hold of the reins and begin walking him slowly back toward a hitching post.
“Well, I’ll be. If I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it,” McKinnon heard one of his men whisper behind him.
“Take a look at that,” another man said as if awe struck. “That woman has Prince Charming practically eating out of her hands instead of him eating her hands off. Who the hell is she?”
McKinnon handed the rifle back to his foreman,
Norris Lane
, and shook his head. He’d heard the men’s stunned comments. He would not have believed it without seeing it either. “That’s Corey Westmoreland’s daughter,” he said gruffly.
“Corey’s daughter?”
“Yeah,” McKinnon said as he watched Casey tie the animal to the hitching post and then lean over to whisper something in his ear before turning to walk away.
Whatever conversation, were taking place between his men was lost on McKinnon as he began walking toward Casey. His heart was still pounding wildly in his chest since he wasn’t even close to recovering from the impact of seeing the horse charge toward her. Damn! He felt as if he’d lost a good ten years off his life.
When they reached each other, instead of stopping Casey glanced at him with unconcealed irritation glaring in her eyes and walked right past.
McKinnon stopped and turned in time to see her walk over to her car, open the door and get in. He cursed silently as he watched a furious Casey Westmoreland drive away.
Chapter 2
Early the next morning, McKinnon was sitting at his kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee before the start of his work day when Norris walked in. He took one look at his foreman’s expression and knew that whatever news he came to deliver, McKinnon wasn’t going to like it.
“Good morning, Norris.”
“Morning, McKinnon. Beckman’s quit. He hauled ass sometime during the night and left a note on his bunk stating yesterday was the last straw. I guess that little episode with Prince Charming