Dark Horse: Bad Boy Cowboy Romance (5 page)

Meanwhile, there was never any shortage of work to do around my house. I'd noticed the kitchen faucet dripping recently; surely, plumbing couldn't be too hard to learn, right?

As well, I needed to make my weekly check of the fences that enclosed my pasture. I had to check the stocks of hay in the barn, make sure I didn't need to order more for Merlot. I also remembered that I had a couple of riding lessons scheduled during the week; the tutoring didn't bring in much, but given my lack of family riches, I could use even the meager paycheck. And I did enjoy helping the young women (and the occasional young man) learn how to handle their horses, how to ride with ease and skill.

Once my sandwich was gone, I swept up the last few carrots into my hand and headed out to the barn. Merlot had left the barn, probably gallivanting off somewhere in the pasture, but I slipped two fingers into my mouth and blew out a sharp whistle.

By the time I had the saddle and tack lifted down from their hooks, my horse had arrived, whinnying and butting his head up against my hand as he caught the smell of the carrots. I gave him one to snack on, and then tossed the riding blanket and saddle onto his back once he was distracted with chewing.

It didn't take more than a few seconds to saddle the horse up, cinching the belt tight around his waist and making sure that the halter fit snugly on his head. I gave him the second carrot to eat, and then grabbed the pommel of the saddle and hauled myself up astride him with a single swift motion.

"Let's go for a little ride, Merlot," I suggested, patting the animal on the flank as I turned him towards the barn's open doors. Merlot gave a little whicker of agreement and walked out of the barn.

Outside, I glanced up at the sky, noting an oncoming wave of clouds with slight unease. That looked like some bad weather, probably hitting later this evening. But I already had Merlot all saddled up and ready to go; no reason to postpone the ride because of a little rain! I'd ridden in worse conditions before.

I turned the animal towards the normal trail that we took around my property, heading out towards where a trail cut through the nearest bank of trees. On the other side of that bank of trees, I knew, the land leveled out into a wide plain for a half mile or so, before diving once again into trees, this time a taller old-growth forest for which I'd refused several lucrative logging offers.

As we crested out of the trees, onto the plain, the skies opened up with a crack as the rain began. It came down much harder than I'd expected; before long, I was completely drenched, starting to shiver as I sat atop Merlot.

Merlot, meanwhile, wasn't liking the thunder. He grew increasingly edgy, and I could feel him shifting with each flash of lightning.

Finally, I made the decision. "Let's turn around," I called out, hauling on the reins to pull the horse around.

Unfortunately, just at that moment, the loudest crack of thunder yet echoed across the plain - and I felt Merlot, already skittish, lose his remaining control and pitch up. Before I could tighten my grip on the reins and recover, I felt myself flying through the air, off of my perch and down towards the ground.

Chapter seven

"...and that's how I ended up here," I finished, taking a moment to catch my breath after this story. "Sorry for talking your ear off."

Pressed up against me, I felt Lance shrug. "It's a good story," he admitted. "And I'm glad that you've kept from passing out. How do you feel?"

I considered the question for a moment. As I'd talked, I had curled up closer to the man, and had ended up lying between his legs, leaning back against his chest, his upper body and arms draped over me like a heavy, warm blanket. It was far too close and inappropriate, I was sure, but the man did feel warm, and although I still occasionally shivered, I felt much more comfortable than I had when we first reached the fire.

In addition, the fuzzy fog that had previously suffused my mind had receded. I could still feel the seductive call to go to sleep, but it was much easier to resist now, and I felt more convinced that, even if I did fall asleep at this point, I'd wake up at a later point, instead of just growing colder and colder.

"I feel better," I replied after taking all of these thoughts into consideration, glancing up at Lance. From this angle, closer to him, he didn't look quite as stern and intimidating as he had before. "Are you doing okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. And it sounds like the storm is moving past us."

I perked up. I hadn't realized, but now that I listened to the sound of rain falling against the tarp that covered us, I realized that the sound was much softer. A drizzle still fell on us, but the sheets of water dropping out of the sky had stopped, and even though I waited for a good thirty seconds, I didn't see a single flash of lightning or hear a single crack of thunder.

"And so," Lance continued, patting me on the arm, "we should see about getting you home."

I started at that. "What?"

"Oh, did you intend to sleep out here on the hard ground all night? Even if you weren't still soaking wet, that wouldn't be a good idea." Lance nodded over across the fire to a dark shape sitting on the ground across from us. "I've only got the one sleeping bag."

I opened my mouth to respond, but then closed it again, feeling myself blush furiously as I bit down on the thought that had nearly just emerged from my mouth. What in the world was wrong with me? I didn't know this man at all - and besides, I had a fiancé!

"I guess it's a good idea," I gave in, leaning forward to detach myself from the man. Immediately, I felt my back missing the warmth of the man's body as the cool air sent a chill through me, but I steadfastly ignored it and pulled myself up to my knees. "I'll have to go slow, since it's dark. I hope Merlot has calmed down by now."

I glanced over at my horse, still standing calmly where Lance had tethered him to the tree. He did look much calmer, now, his eyes half-closed. He probably wouldn't be thrilled at my waking him up to take him home, but he'd definitely appreciate the dryness and warmth of the barn once we made it back.

I stood up - and then stopped as I heard a rustling of leaves from behind me. When I glanced around, I saw that Lance was also on his feet, stretching his hands up above his head and bouncing slightly on the toes of his boots.

"What are you doing?" I tried to ignore how, when standing, his wool shirt rose up above the waist of his jeans, revealing an inch or so of tight abs. I forced my eyes to pull away from that little patch of exposed skin. Just because you've been cuddling - no, not even that! I said to myself. I've only been laying against him for his warmth! Fiance!

Lance raised an eyebrow at me as he lowered his hands. "I'm coming with you, of course. I don't want to find you tomorrow, pitched off your horse or hopelessly lost, after I went to all the trouble to keep you from dying of hypothermia."

My mouth gaped open for a moment before I could respond. Did the man really have such little faith in me? "This is my property! You think that I'm going to get turned around and end up dying somewhere?"

He at least was smart enough to not answer that question. Instead, Lance acted as if I hadn't spoken, moving past me to pat his own horse on the nose. "Shadow, wake up," he called softly to his horse.

"Shadow?" I hadn't caught the name of the man's horse before. "Seems like a pretty obvious name for a black horse, doesn't it?"

Lance just chuckled back at me. "You haven't dealt with him sneaking up on you and putting his head over your shoulder to grab a bite of whatever you're eating," he replied without turning around.

Feeling a bit annoyed that my little snipe hadn't phased Lance, I busied myself with checking Merlot's gear. Fortunately, everything still looked in place, and although I had to tighten up his girdle a little after the rain, he seemed in good condition to ride. I tested him by putting one foot up in a stirrup, and he didn't shy away as I hopped halfway up, putting my weight on him.

Meanwhile, my new companion had left his horse alone and was now undoing the ropes that bound the tarp covering our heads to the trees. He pulled the canvas sheet down, quickly and efficiently folding it up. He stowed it in one of the pockets on his bag, and then slung the entire bundle up onto Shadow's back and strapped it into place.

"Ready?" he asked me as he kicked dirt onto the fire, already starting to gutter and die away. He hadn't fed it in some time, and the drizzle that still fell down between the trees helped extinguish the remaining little flames.

I sighed. It didn't seem like I had any way to get rid of the man. And, to tell the truth, I did kind of appreciate his insistence on escorting me back. The darkness made me feel a little uncomfortable.

Besides, even though I'd never admit it out loud, he had already saved my life once tonight, maybe twice. He'd pulled Merlot aside, and had kept me from freezing to death out in the rain.

"Ready," I called back, climbing up into Merlot's saddle. I picked up the reins, giving them a little twitch, and the horse between my legs responded smoothly.

"Take the lead," he suggested, swinging up onto Shadow.

"Really? Me? You don't want to take the lead, too?"

Lance grinned at me, and even in the darkness, I could see the dim light glint off of his teeth. "As you said, it's your land, Gilly."

For a moment, I rankled at his use of my childhood nickname, but I decided not to bother fighting over the issue right now. Instead, I picked up Merlot's reins, gave them a little twitch to get him walking forward, and headed out of the forested area, back towards the more open grassland.

The ride back took longer than I expected, but I didn't mind sacrificing some speed in exchange for letting Merlot take his time, picking his footing carefully to ensure that he didn't accidentally step into a hole or divot and hurt himself. By the time we'd passed through the second bank of forest, I could feel myself starting to nod off in the saddle, soothed into a semi-conscious daze by the repetitive rocking motion of the animal beneath me.

As we emerged, however, and I spotted the lights of the barn and my farmhouse up ahead, I perked back up. "We made it!" I cheered, tossing my hands up in the air in joking celebration.

Lance followed me on Shadow up to the barn, but although I dismounted to pull the barn door open and lead Merlot inside, he stayed sitting up on his horse. "Well, good to see you've made it back," he called out.

I turned, confused, as he started to turn Shadow away. "Wait! Where are you going?" I called out.

He paused, but still didn't dismount. "Off on my way, now that you're back and safe," he replied to me.

"No, wait!" He stopped again, giving me a second to collect my thoughts. I had to stop for a moment, trying to figure out what I wanted to say.

"Listen, why don't you stay the rest of the night?" I finally suggested to him. I gestured back at my house. "I mean, I've got the whole house to my own. And it will certainly be warmer than out on the trail. The night's half over already, anyway - you can always get going in the morning, or later."

Lance turned and looked down at me for a moment. I couldn't read anything from his expression in the dim light, but after a long second, he finally nodded. "A soft bed does sound nice, if you're okay with having me," he said softly with the slight drawl in his voice.

I waved him down off his horse. "Come on, put that black beast of yours away in the stable!" Not waiting for him to obey my order, I led Merlot into the barn and out of the rain.

Chapter eight

I heard the soft sound of Shadow's hooves stepping into the barn as I undid the straps on Merlot's gear. I smiled to myself for a brief little second, but made sure to wipe that expression off of my face as I turned to put the gear away.

Lance similarly didn't say anything as he unsaddled Shadow, but I caught his eyes flicking over my own face, only briefly making contact with me before pulling away. I frowned a little to myself. What was he thinking when he looked at me like that?

"Listen, Gilly, I'll stay the night," Lance spoke up as I finished giving Merlot a little brushing down. "But I think maybe I'll take a couch or something. I appreciate the offer, but I don't think we, um, know each other well enough."

I turned to look back at him, my mouth dropping open. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

He blinked, shaking his head for a moment. "Well, you said that you had the whole house to yourself - I thought-" he began helplessly, and then stopped, clicking his mouth shut.

It took a moment before I realized what he'd been thinking. "Oh my god!" I exclaimed in shock, throwing the horse brush at him. "I'm engaged! I wasn't intending to ask anything like that! I just meant that I have some spare bedrooms where you could stay!"

The man yelped as the brush connected with his shoulder, but I didn't feel any better. How dare he! Why would this man think that, just because he'd helped me out when I was temporarily inconvenienced out in the woods, I would throw my body at him? Did he imagine that I had absolutely no respect for myself?

For a moment, I almost considered revoking my invitation, kicking this stranger back out into the cold. But just as I opened my mouth to suggest such a thing, I saw the panicked and ashamed expression on his face, and relented. Lance might have completely misread my suggestion, but he appeared very apologetic for thinking such a terrible thing.