Van made a grunting sound under his breath, and she forced herself not to smile. He certainly knew she could handle pain. Just like he knew how much she not only endured but also enjoyed everything he dished out.

“Call me if you need anything,” Jesse said as he left. He held the door open, clearly expecting Van to follow.

Stella cursed in her mind. Van should go. It would look strange if he didn’t. And even though Jesse had probably already put most of the pieces together, it still wasn’t smart to draw him a clear picture just in case.

Van moved hesitantly towards the door, undoubtedly realizing the same thing. He had to go.

Right.

But each step he took away from her brought her pain closer to the surface, intensifying the pulsating ache inside. She wanted him to hold her—or at least to hold the ice pack on her tailbone.

“Stay. Please.”

Van’s shoulders tensed and he looked at Jesse.

Jesse sighed. “I’m assuming you mean him.”

“He’s not a dog, Jesse. Speak to him directly.” She remembered Van revealing that he’d been treated like an unwanted pet as a child before he’d screwed her into oblivion.

“I’d tell you both to be careful, but I’m pretty sure neither of you would listen.” With a shake of his head, Jesse left them alone.

“I’m not fucking you, cowgirl. Even if you beg. You just took a serious spill that, frankly, scared the fuck right out of me.”

Stella laughed and then winced as her tailbone pinched at the reminder. “You can go then. What good are you?”

He made a playfully wounded face as he settled onto the couch beside her, taking over ice pack duty.

“You might be surprised. I can be gentle when I need to be.”

She knew this already. It was one of the many reasons she was falling in love with him. She dozed off against Van’s warm body as he held ice-cold relief against her.

Stella woke to her cell phone ringing loudly beside her. The sun was coming up, judging from the way light slanted across her through the blinds.

She grimaced at the name on her screen when she lifted the phone. Her entire body felt like it had been used as a piñata. But she’d ridden. Van and Shadowdancer both. So the pain was worth it.

“Good morning, Mama,” she said into the phone after she’d accepted the call. Her eyes landed on a piece of paper with black scrawl on it.

Trying to sleep on your couch nearly killed me. I limped out of here. Good work, cowgirl.

The hazy memory of him kissing her goodbye in the middle of the night, his voice husky and soft in her ear telling her he had to go, came back to her.

She smiled as her mother launched into a flurry of words Stella was too sleepy to comprehend.

“Wait. Slow down please. I just woke up.”

“I said,” her mother began in a tone that sounded a great deal like a manufactured brand of calm, “that I got a call last night from a Jesse Ramirez. He said you were riding again but had taken a fall and he wanted me to talk you into seeing your family doctor.”

Normally she would’ve considered planting a stiletto into Jesse’s balls for contacting her mother. But her newfound desire to experience life, to grab it and shake it, bend it and make it do her bidding, changed that.

“I think that’s a great idea. I’ll make an appointment with Dr. Lesley and come home this weekend. How’s that sound?”

Candace Chandler stammered. Clearly she’d been prepared to argue against Stella’s normal impenetrable defense of excuses. “Oh. Well. That’s… Well, that sounds fine, Stella Jo. I’ll, I mean, we’ll be so glad to finally see you.”

Her mother had been right the first time. She might be glad. But she’d be the only one. After they hung up, she dug through her memory.

Her dad had never once been happy to see her. Not a single time, no matter what accomplishment they’d been celebrating or event they’d been attending in her honor.

He wishes I didn’t exist.

The thought—no, the fact—slammed into her with a force that made her want to cry. It was irrefutably true.

Van had given her courage. Shadowdancer had unlocked her strength.

She was going to take her newfound traits home and demand some answers. And unlike last time, she wasn’t leaving without them.

He’d gone to the barn only to find a bunch of horses and no Stella. Jesse Ramirez was walking towards a red GMC truck. Van called out to get his attention.

“Hey, man. You seen Stella?”

The director’s son turned and faced him, a barrage of emotions warring plainly on his face. “She went home. To see her family and a doctor, I think.”

Do not act like a raging fucking lunatic.

“Ah. Okay.” He knew he shouldn’t push any further. Knew, but couldn’t stop himself. “Well, um, any word? I mean, is she okay?”

The younger man’s forehead creased as he removed his hat and scrubbed a hand over his head. “Haven’t heard.”

“Any idea when she’ll be back?”

Jesse sighed and folded his arms over his chest. Van suspected it looked like Stella would soon be needing a restraining order.

“Look, I’m sure you’re a good enough guy. Everybody has problems, issues they need help getting a handle on, and I get that. So please don’t take offense to what I’m about say.”

Van raised his eyebrows. Whatever the man had to say had to be prefaced with a disclaimer, so he figured it would probably induce his knee-jerk punch-a-fucker-in-the-face reflex. He believed he’d grown up a bit since his last brawl, or maybe he’d just learned a little about what was worth fighting for and what wasn’t. He remained out of reaching distance just to be on the safe side.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Van had a strict policy about not making promises he couldn’t keep.

Jesse bravely stepped closer, squared his shoulders, and looked Van directly in the eye. The man was braced for whatever came. Van respected that he felt whatever he was about to say was worth an ass-kicking should that be the direction this conversation took.

“Stella isn’t like other women, like the ones you probably have to deal with on a regular basis. She isn’t just taking what she can get so she can go brag to her friends that she hooked up with you. And she doesn’t strike me as the type that’s into casual sex.”

Van’s nerves pinched at hearing another man say Stella’s name and sex together, but nothing Jesse Ramirez had said so far was untrue. So he just nodded.

“I’m aware of this.”

“Are you?” Dark brows dipped. “In that case, I have to ask. Where do you see this going? I mean, you just going to check out and move on when you’re done here? Because you may not know it, but she’s risking a hell of a lot being with you. My dad likes her. He respects her. But there’s already talk of…rumors, I guess you could say, about the two of you. He asked me to keep an eye out.”

Van struggled to swallow. He had no clue where this was going, no idea how things were going to work with Stella once he was out of rehab. And he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t get her fired. She loved it here. He could still hear her begging, pleading for him to back off.

“This job is important to me. I’m happy here. I feel at home. Wanted. Needed. I never felt that way before. Not in my own home and not with college roommates. I belong here. I want to be here.”

He wanted to hit something. He’d pushed until he’d gotten his way. And now his beautiful cowgirl was the topic of rumors. Rumors that would hurt her in so many ways—taint and tarnish her like he’d known he would.

“So is this a warning?”

Disappointment laced the breath Jesse let out. “It’s whatever you think it is. It’s honesty. If you were in love with her, it’d be different. I’m sure my dad would give you two his blessing and you could transfer to a different facility.”