Ghostly Persuasion Read online

  Tarryn’s life is about to get a lot more complicated.

  When Tarryn gets into trouble, he’s shipped off to a ranch for the summer. He thinks it’ll be a horrible experience, and it starts out that way for sure. But when a handsome cowboy walks into his life, Tarryn is instantly interested. Sparks fly, but Tarryn gets more than he bargained for in the bed of this cowboy.

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  Ghostly Persuasion

  Copyright © 2014 Caitlin Ricci

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-973-3

  Cover art by Melody Simmons

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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  Ghostly Persuasion

  By

  Caitlin Ricci

  Ghostly Persuasion

  This day couldn’t possibly get any worse, Tarryn thought to himself as he stood in the middle of the small paddock with the hot Colorado summer sun beating down on his already sunburned neck. A young black stallion stood across from him, appearing nervous as he pawed at the ground while Tarryn continued to stare at him. Black as night, the stallion’s ebony coat gleamed brilliantly in the sun. It gave the horse an appearance of beauty, but even this beauty had a price, as Tarryn was quickly learning. Since dawn he had been trying to win the horse’s trust enough to get close him, but the stallion would have none of it. Teasing was his specialty, and he was a master escape artist. He’d demonstrated that many times when Tarryn had cornered him and the horse had managed to quickly move past him without so much as a pause.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, boy,” he gently told him. The horse snorted as if to say “yeah right” before again moving past him in a flurry of black satin and muscle. If Tarryn hadn’t been so annoyed at him he might have been able to actually appreciate how pretty the horse actually was. Not that he’d thought about that much—well, or ever, really—before being exiled to the ranch by his overbearing mother.

  “Got that horse under control yet, or is he still playing games with you?” a gruff voice called from the fence at his back.

  Just great, the boss had come to see Tarryn’s complete lack of ability with his horses. Tarryn suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and forced a bright smile as he turned to face the man introduced to him as Mr. Phillips, the owner of Cornerstone Stables. “He’s being a pain in the butt,” he admitted quietly. If there was anything he hated more than work it was admitting failure, and this morning he had endured quite enough of both. But he had to be patient.

  “Well, keep at it. He’ll break soon enough. Just have to keep at him,” Mr Phillips said, turning away from Tarryn as a pickup truck rumbled into the driveway. Tarryn put his attention back on the horse, hoping something would happen, that some miracle would fall out of the sky and make this horse actually behave for him for once in this miserable day.

  “That’s a damn fine looking horse,” a new voice said a few minutes later.

  Tarryn turned, wondering who had come up with them, and was surprised to see a true cowboy leaning against the railing watching him. There was nothing showy or fancy about him, just a pair of black jeans, a dark hat and old boots with well scuffed toes. His black brows lifted as if he was waiting for an answer, but Tarryn couldn’t form any words past the lump in his throat. Real cowboys were sexy to him, he couldn’t help it. But even though he’d lived in Colorado all his life, he’d rarely seen them. And he was hardly ever on the receiving end of any of their attention.

  Mr Phillips threw an arm around the cowboy’s shoulders and slapped him on the back. “Tarryn, this is the trainer, Cody, I’ve hired to get the colts in shape and ready to sell. Cody, this is Tarryn. He’s here because he can’t stay out of trouble and his mom put up a pretty convincing case about him needing some structure. If he gives you any problems you have my, and his mom’s, permission to kick that skinny butt of his. Cody, you need anything, you come talk to me. Tarryn, I want that horse saddled within the hour. And I mean it this time. Stop letting him control you. Be the boss.”

  His mouth fell open. How was he supposed to saddle the stallion when he couldn’t even get a halter on him? What kind of crap was that supposed to be? His boss turned away and headed toward the house, leaving him and Cody alone. Tarryn forced himself not to watch the cowboy, as tempting as he was, and instead put his attention back where it was supposed to go. On the stubborn horse in front of him.

  “What kind of trouble?” Cody asked him.

  Tarryn shrugged and started to go after the horse again. “Fights, mostly. And all with homophobic assholes. My mom knows Mr Phillips from way back. She says she called in a favor. My dad said it was either this or the military.” The stallion took off at a trot to the other side of the pen, eluding him again. Tarryn sighed and walked over there, sure the same thing was going to happen this time as well. But he didn’t know another way to get the halter in his hand onto the horse’s head.

  The gate behind Tarryn opened on rusty hinges and Cody was beside him moments later. He was at least double Tarryn’s size and a good head taller as well, which wasn’t saying much since Tarryn barely weighed one-thirty and wasn’t much over five feet. “Want some help?”

  “Don’t you have to unpack or something? You’re staying on the ranch, right?” Tarryn asked him, his heart starting to speed up as dark blue eyes looked back at him.

  Cody nodded. “I am. It’s over two hours to the nearest large city with a hotel. You?”

  Tarryn turned away, unable to keep looking at the man. “Yeah. But there’s only the one cabin. So…”

  “So I guess we’re bunkmates. And, to answer your question, I don’t need to unpack just yet. But you’ve got a time limit on getting this horse under control. Want to work on that first?” Cody asked him, stepping toward the horse.

  “Yeah, sure. This horse is ridiculous. He’s not doing anything right,” Tarryn grumbled as his mind circled around staying with Cody and how great his ass looked in that pair of jeans. Damn.

  Cody smirked at him and shook his head. “The horse isn’t doing anything wrong. Adapt to his needs instead of fitting him into your box. What have you been doing?”

  Tarryn flushed at being chastised so quickly by the stranger. “The basic stuff. Trying to get him.”

  “Yelling?”

  Nodding, Tarryn pursed his lips. “A bit, yeah.”

  Cody turned and tilted his head to the side. Tarryn shifted under that attention and looked away. “Chasing him?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. So what? That’s how you get a horse here. That’s how Mr Phillips does it.”

  Cody sighed and walked forward. “I don’t really care how the boss does it. He put me in charge of training the horses and that starts with how they’re treated on the ground. You work for me now, got it?” Cody stepped into Tarryn’s
space and Tarryn could smell his soft cologne. It was spicy and a bit like the woods. Whatever it was, Tarryn liked it instantly.

  Tarryn nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah. I do. So what’s your plan then?”

  Cody gave him a grin and stepped back. “Follow me. Walk up to him. He may try to run, but you let him know that you’re okay. Walk up to his shoulder, not from in front of him. He can’t see you when you’re standing at his chest. Talk softly.”

  Tarryn’s face pinched. “This is totally not the way Mr Phillips said to do it.”

  “Has his way been working for you so far?” Cody asked him.

  He shook his head and stepped forward, keeping Cody’s instructions in his mind. “No, it hasn’t,” he admitted.

  Smirking, Cody followed along with him as they approached the stallion. “His way may work for some horses, but not all. This Arabian here, he’s too smart for those tactics. Adapt to them, don’t expect a twelve hundred pound animal to adapt to you just because you said so. Force, pain and intimidation will work after a while, but we don’t want them to go through that. They’re gentle creatures with far too much intelligence for such tactics. Now, tell him you’re okay. Make him believe that you’re a safe person to be around, that he’s okay with you.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?” Tarryn hissed as they got closer. The stallion’s head lifted and his ears pricked forward as he watched them as if waiting for them to strike.

  Cody put his hands out at his sides and Tarryn mimicked him. “Like this. Easy, big guy. That’s a good boy. You’re doing just fine. We’re not going to hurt you. Nothing is going to hurt you here. You’re safe.”

  Tarryn nodded. “That’s good. We’re not gonna do anything bad here. I just want to get this halter on you. That’s it.”

  The stallion pawed the ground and tossed his head, but by now Tarryn was within three feet of him. That was much closer than he’d been all morning. Cody moved forward and, to Tarryn’s amazement, was able to put a hand on the horse’s shoulder. “There’s a good boy,” Cody said. He waved Tarryn closer and together they managed to get him haltered. Tarryn stood back, marvelling at the sight of the stallion actually under control as Cody stepped back.

  “I’m going to put my stuff in the cabin. Get him tied up in the arena. I’ll handle the rest,” he said as he walked toward the gate.

  Tarryn pursed his lips. “Mr Phillips said he had to be saddled within the hour, so maybe I should just go ahead and do it.”

  Cody shrugged and held the gate open for them as Tarryn picked up the lead rope and led the stallion through. “That’s up to you. You could struggle with him, attempt to get the saddle on, get frustrated, get him upset as well, risk damaging your boss’s tack…”

  Well, when he put it like that Tarryn wasn’t quite so sure. “Or?”

  Cody gave him a smile and rubbed the stallion’s neck. “Or you could just trust me to do my job. You could even come watch if you wanted to. Unless you’ve got something better to do.”

  He did, actually. He’d only been there for three days, but Mr Phillips had filled them with a ton of chores, and he’d worked long hours until he’d been exhausted by the time he finally got to crawl into bed. But getting to watch Cody work? Well, that’s was just too much temptation for him to resist. “Sure. I’ll stay and watch.”

  Cody nodded and walked to the truck. Tarryn watched him go for a few moments before leading the now docile horse into the arena. There was a hitching post off to the side, and after he’d secured the stallion to it, he filled up a bucket of water for him. He was going to be snipped. Tarryn knew that from overhearing Mr Phillips on the phone last night with the stallion’s new owner. He’d planned to keep the horse for himself, but he wasn’t filling out like he wanted and the new owner didn’t want a stallion. She was okay with him being a recently gelded horse, but not a stallion. Tarryn sympathized with the stallion, but as far as the fate of the horse, he didn’t much care. He’d given him plenty of hell the past few hours and Tarryn would be glad to never have to work with him again after he was picked up at the end of the week. But he could admit that the shiny black horse was a good looking animal when he was calm, like he was now. Looking at him tied up with his head lowered and seemingly relaxed, he might not have believed this was the same horse he’d been struggling with earlier had he not seen the change himself. The screen door back at the house slammed open and Tarryn turned to see Mr Phillips coming toward him. He waited uneasily, wondering what new source of torture the man would think up for him to do. Hopefully something inside. His sunburn was getting worse by the minute.

  “Good, you got that horse secured,” his boss said.

  Tarryn nodded. “Yes, sir. With Cody’s help.”

  “I’m going to town. Tell Cody that horse is top priority. I want him to have some manners before he’s sold.”

  “Sure. Will do,” Tarryn replied. His boss was already turning away as he spoke, though. Minutes later Mr Phillips and his rusted old blue pickup were heading down the dirt road toward town, leaving Tarryn alone at the ranch with Cody. Well, if no one counted the dozens of horses lazily grazing in their pastures around him.

  He left the arena and rested his arms on the arena’s wooden fence with his chest pressed against them and watched the stallion drink. He didn’t have a name. Mr Phillips insisted on not naming any of the horses he didn’t plan on keeping. He had a registered name, but none of the horses went by theirs. Tarryn had taken to calling the stallion Demon Spawn in his head since the first time he’d charged him shortly after breakfast that morning. Hopefully he’d be better for his new owner.

  “I heard a truck go. Did the boss leave?” Cody asked, surprising him.

  Tarryn was startled and jumped at the sudden appearance of the man beside him, but quickly managed to get himself under control again. “Yeah. He went to town for a bit.”

  Cody gave him a slow smile and Tarryn had the sinking suspicion that the man meant trouble. “Good. For us, at least.”

  He was almost afraid to ask, but curiosity got the better of him. “What do you mean by that?”

  Cody went into the arena with the horse and picked up one of the cheap training saddles Tarryn had put out on the railing that morning. “Are you a betting man, Tarryn?”

  Swallowing thickly, he wasn’t too sure how to answer that question. Finally he chose to go with honesty. “Sure. I mean, I guess so.”

  Cody chuckled and let the horse sniff the saddle in his arms. “Then how about this? If I get this saddle on him, you give me a kiss.”

  Tarryn couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But did he want to kiss Cody? Of course. “Sure. Though I really doubt you’ll be able to get it on him.”

  Cody just shrugged at him and put the saddle on the rail in front of the stallion. He pulled the saddle pad out from under it and let the horse sniff it as well before laying it gently over his shoulders. “There’s a good boy. Nothing to it. You’ll be a fine horse with just a bit of work.”

  Tarryn snorted and shook his head. “Yeah right.” The horse was crazy.

  “How much time have you actually spent around horses?” Cody asked him as he ran his hands over the stallion’s neck and trembling shoulder in what Tarryn assumed was supposed to be a calming motion.

  He shrugged. “None, really. Not before coming here, at least”

  Cody lifted the saddle from the railing and brushed the smooth leather along the horse’s hip. Tarryn knew what he was doing from the books his boss had made him look through before he let Tarryn near his horses. He was desensitizing him. And if the beast had actually let Tarryn get that far with him, Tarryn would have been able to do it too. Probably. After another minute of touching the stallion with the saddle Cody lifted it over his back and gently set it down.

  “That doesn’t count,” Tarryn was quick to point out as he watched the horse for any signs that he was going to flip out.

  Shaking his head, Co
dy adjusted the saddle by a fraction of an inch over the horse’s back. “Never thought it did. When he’s all cinched up is when I’ll take my kiss from you.”

  Tarryn’s brows rose and he leaned back against the railing. “How much more do you think you’ll be able to get done with him today?”

  “How much will you let me do to you?” Cody shot back.

  His cheeks instantly heated and Tarryn looked away. Sure, he’d had casual sex before, so hooking up wasn’t all that new to him. But at work? He licked his lips. There was something especially tempting about sex at work. “I’m not looking for long term,” he decided to point out before Cody got any kind of ideas in his head. He was only twenty-two, after all.

  Cody laughed, bringing Tarryn’s attention back to him. “If you think I’ll be getting down on one knee to do anything other than blow you today, you’re nuts.”

  Tarryn’s gaze narrowed at him. “Well, you don’t have to be such a fucking ass about it,” he grumbled defensively.

  Stepping away from the horse, Cody put his hands on the rail on either side of Tarryn’s hips. “Make up your mind. You want to have fun, we’ll do that. You say you don’t want more and I say that’s fine. Don’t be defensive and don’t try to complicate this. You’re cute, I want you. That’s how this is going to play out. Deal?”

  Tarryn looked up at Cody, wondering what the older man saw in him, and nodded before even realizing what he was doing. Of course he’d agree to that. He’d be an idiot not to. Cody stepped back and ruffled Tarryn’s hair before going to the horse. “So what does the old man have you doing here all day?”

  Tarryn tried to smooth down his hair before giving up on the haphazard wisps completely. “I turn out the horses and feed them, give them water, clean their stalls. That kind of thing. How long have you been training?”