“She’s no fool around horses,” he agreed. His gaze unerringly sought out her ring, and his mind, with equal precision, pinpointed the time and events she referred to. “You’re roughly eight or nine years older than she was then, but I sincerely hope you know what you’re doing.” His eyes lifted to hers, and he asked in a tone she’d seldom heard him use before, “What is it I’ve done, Thomi, that makes you feel you have to get out from under my influence?”
Her eyes widened in dismay. He might as well have slapped her, so much shocked was she.
True, they’d had some stormy encounters while she was growing up, but never had she carried any real grudges over them.
Conscience-stricken, Thomi remembered she’d never apologized for any of the insolent and cutting things she’d flung at him, both in
