Sometimes he even appeared in her dreams, wanting to do things she’d never thought she’d want him to do.
But she kind of did.
Wyatt was still waiting for her, patient as ever, so she slowly stood, looking up at him.
“I guess I could go for a ride,” she said.
His handsome face lit up. “Great.”
“You want me to saddle up a horse for you?” she asked. “Let me guess. You ride Musty?”
Wyatt laughed and walked down to the stall that held the tall, black gelding. “How’d you know?”
She frowned and tilted her head, trying not to melt at the sight of Wyatt cooing at the horse and rubbing a hand over its neck.
“He likes a firm hand, and he likes to think he’s the boss of the pack. I imagine you’re one of the only ones he listens to,” she said.
Wyatt grinned. “Because I’m naturally dominant?”
“No, because you let him do what he wants.”
Wyatt laughed at that and continued rubbing Musty. To her surprise, he grabbed a grooming bucket and started brushing down Musty in preparation for a saddle.
“I can do that,” she said. “It’s my job.” It didn’t seem right for the rich owner of the ranch to be grooming his own horse.
“Nah, I haven’t been out here for a while. I want him to get to know me again before I hop on.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll take Rose, then.” Rose had already been ridden earlier that morning and she’d be easy to groom and saddle. Rose was a beautiful brown and white pinto, and she nuzzled her nose in against Val’s outstretched hand, trying to get a scratch.
“Do all the horses get along with you this well?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “I’ve never seen Rose do that.”
“She gets itchy,” Val said, smiling at him brightly as she finished prepping her horse.
He was leading his horse past her and then stopped, looking over with an odd expression. She could almost see redness spreading over his tanned cheeks, but she thought it must just be the heat of the barn or exertion from grooming his horse.
A moment later, she was leading Rose out of the barn, looking forward to a ride that wasn’t work.
“You’ll have to show me a new trail through the mountains,” Val said. “I still haven’t gotten to explore much.” She wouldn’t admit it, but she hadn’t really felt safe going off alone. She was a long way from her family, but she couldn’t take any risk in being caught off guard should she get off the main trails.
“Sure,” he said. “We’ll go due south.”
She nodded in appreciation. So he remembered her family was north. That was good.
“You get on first,” he said. “I’ll hold the—”
But before he could reach for the reins, she was mounted in the saddle, with a perfect seat and the reins in her hands.
“Um. Okay,” he said with a grin, swinging up into his own saddle.
“I’m a horsewoman,” she said flatly, halting her horse so he could take the lead with Musty. “I don’t need any help when it comes to this.”
He just laughed and moved ahead, controlling Musty perfectly. She’d never thought the huge gelding would be so smooth for someone, but he seemed bonded to Wyatt.
Wyatt gave her a wry look, gold eyes glittering in the late evening sun. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not great with all horses, but Musty and I, we grew up together.”
“What was your dad like?” She couldn’t help asking as they started on their way through a narrow path that wound into trees.
Wyatt was quiet for a moment. “He was a hard man. A difficult man, especially after his wife left him.”
“She left him?” Val asked, accidentally halting her horse for a second. She urged Rose on with a silent apology. “Why?” She hoped it wasn’t for the reasons she’d left Lyle.
Wyatt shrugged. “She didn’t like it out here. She was raised in the city. There wasn’t enough to do.”
“Did it hurt when she left?”
Wyatt was quiet for a moment, and she thought at first he wasn’t going to answer. “I suppose so. But she’d been threatening it for so long that I expected it. I’d already told myself not to bond with her. She’d never been very maternal. I think what I hated most about it was what it did to my dad.”
“I’d never leave someone like that,” she said. “It doesn’t sound like he did anything wrong.”
Wyatt frowned. “Nothing except choosing the ranch over her, I guess. Anyway, enough about me. How are you liking the ranch?”
She grinned. “I like it a lot. I’ve never been so happy. If I’d known it would be like this, I would have fought you a lot harder for that job.”
“Good,” he said. “Wayne tells me you’re quite an asset. That you can calm the horses like no one else can.”
“Horses like me,” she said, reaching down to stroke Rose’s mane. “And I like them. They don’t hurt anyone. Not on purpose. Not like people.”
He nodded tightly. She sensed he didn’t like when she talked about what had happened to her. But he never told her not to, and she appreciated it.
She felt, out here in the fresh air, with more freedom than she’d ever had in her life, she was coming out of the shell she’d been trapped in and was finally feeling like a person.
And, when Wyatt was around, like a woman.
“I like this a lot,” he said, trotting ahead of her. “Let’s do this more often.”
She nodded, urging her horse to catch up and laughing as they rode alongside each other into a wide meadow pasture where there was plenty of room to run.
6
A week or so later, when Wyatt came to the barn for their usual ride, Valerie actually felt her heart skip a beat at his presence.
“Beautiful day,” he said, leaning against the barn wall and looking around. “The trees are turning. Our rides are going to just keep getting better. Well, until winter.” He gave her a bright smile, one that nearly knocked her on her butt. “I guess we better get in every good ride we can.”
“Don’t you have a big group over at the lodge right now?” she asked, combing Rose’s hair gently. “I understand if you can’t come out for rides as often.”
His brow lowered impatiently. “No. I hired someone to manage the social stuff at the lodge. I just don’t have the time. I’ve been doing too much on my own for too long.”
“Who?” she asked.
“John,” he said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes. “Really? But he’s so lazy.”
“Yeah, but he likes people. And he’s good with social stuff. And all he has to do is run card games and movies and shuttle them around when they aren’t looking to do horse stuff. And since this is just some business conference, I don’t expect them to do much but eat and talk.”
She looked at him sidelong. “And you’d rather spend time with me.”
“Yup,” he said, pulling on a pair of riding gloves. “So where to today?”
She let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.
He was wearing a fitted flannel shirt, a cocked tan cowboy hat, and tight jeans that tucked into snakeskin boots. His blond hair was tufted by the wind and his golden eyes were calm and serene.
He looked gorgeous today, as usual.
“It’s going to be a good fall,” he said. “We have some bookings, but not too many. I’m looking to hire another person to help with concierge, but that’ll take a few weeks. People do like coming out here in the winter. For the views.”
“I’m sure,” she said hesitantly.
He went on, oblivious to the awkwardness between them. Damn her for being a naive, innocent woman who had to start falling for the one man who was nice to her.
Even if she couldn’t do anything about it.
“You good riding in the winter? We have some different protocols, but it’s good for the horses.” He went on.
“Of course,” she said. Then she hesitated.
She liked the sound o
f it, riding in the winter. It meant she’d still be here. But a part of her knew this couldn’t really go on forever.
She couldn’t just keep relying on him like this. She did like working here, but eventually, he’d want her to be better and move on, right? He’d hired her out of pity after all, and the bruises had long healed.
“What are you thinking over there?” he asked. “You’re being awfully quiet.”
“Just thinking about the future,” she said. “And how much things have changed since I ran. Even if this can’t last, I’m really liking it.”
“Why can’t it last?” he asked. “You can stay as long as you like.”
“Please,” she said. “One day, you’re going to bring a woman out here and marry her. And she won’t like you hanging out almost every day with your pity project.”
“You aren’t a pity project,” he said. “You’re a damn good employee.”
“I see,” she said.
“And a friend,” he said. “I’ve been way less lonely since you’ve been here.”
She wrinkled her nose. That made her feel like some kind of asexual substitute for the women he knew he should be with.
“Speaking of which, there’s this fair a few towns over. It’s a bit of a drive, but I’d love to take you there. Do some fall stuff I bet you’ve never done before.”
“Like what?”
“Caramel apples. A corn maze, if you want to do one. Maybe a haunted house.”
“Kid stuff,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“Oh, come on. Fall’s the best season of the year!” he said, throwing his hands up. “Unless you’re scared.”
She shrugged. “Isn’t that the sort of thing you do on a date?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said. “But we’d just be going as friends. What do you say?”
She looked over at him warily. How could a man be so hot, so capable, and so incredibly stupid?
She might have had bad experiences. She might still be wary of people in general. But she wasn’t ice cold. She still was capable of having feelings, however broken they were.
And she hadn’t forgotten his touch that night on her porch. Or any other of their little accidental touches thereafter.
Sometimes she felt like the cat in her was waking up, responding to him. But that was silly. She couldn’t have much cat in her. She’d never been able to shift after all.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “Don’t say no. I’ll have to ask John or something.”
She laughed at that. “Okay, I’ll go.”
“Good,” Wyatt said. “Next Friday.”
“It’s a date,” she said, then snapped her mouth closed, hoping he didn’t take it wrong.
He just winked at her, gave her a friendly wave, and strode off.
She looked down at his ass, knowing he’d never suspect her of it.
What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
* * *
Wyatt pulled on a soft, pine-green fleece jacket that set off his skin well and went with his dark jeans and sneakers.
He wanted to look good tonight. Not that it would matter to Val, but since he was the one taking her on probably the first “date” of her life, he wanted to be someone she’d be proud to be with.
He thought he was doing a pretty good job of keeping things professional, even if he did really enjoy spending time with her on their rides.
She was fun to talk to, a great listener. She also knew when to be quiet, when to just be still and look at a sunset. Those moments made a deep calm and contentment settle in Wyatt.
Yes, that’s what he felt around her. Contentment.
He put his keys in his pocket, grabbed his phone and his wallet, and then shut the door to his room and headed down the steps to the ground level of the lodge.
He hadn’t expected her to be waiting inside the lobby, and his heart thumped unexpectedly when he saw her.
She looked… different.
Maybe it was just the lack of bruises on her face. Instead, she had clear, healthy skin with a hint of freckles over her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She was lightly tanned.
She was wearing a checked shirt, as usual, but it was a little less baggy, and he could make out more of her curves. There was even a little cleavage showing at the collar. Her jeans were tucked into cowboy boots that hugged her calves.
Maybe it was her hair? Her hair was down over her shoulders in natural blond waves, accenting her natural beauty.
Why had he never noticed she had such a pretty face? He supposed he’d been trying not to stare at it while it was healing, because it made her uncomfortable.
But now that he could see it and she was wearing a nervous but excited expression, he could see she was absolutely beautiful.
Suddenly, he felt a little less sure of his ability to keep things strictly friendly after all.
He gulped, his throat dry, and walked down the stairs. Her blue eyes shone like wildflowers under her blond lashes, and her small nose was wrinkled as she looked him over.
“You’re all dressed up fancy,” she said, looking down at herself. “I have nothing to wear.”
“Nonsense,” he said. “You look great.”
Too great.
She was supposed to be his friend. His buddy. Not a woman he was attracted to.
He tried to stay brisk and business-like as he led the way out the front door and over to the garage where his truck was parked. When they got to it, he unlocked it with his remote and wondered if he should open the door for her.
No one had ever told him the rules for taking a friend on a date.
He decided to let chivalry win out and opened her door. He was rewarded with a confused stare in her blue eyes as she folded her arms over her ample chest, causing her breasts to press together in a way that made his mouth dry.
“I could have done that myself,” she said.
“That’s not the point,” he said lightly, handing her into the truck and then shutting the door. He got in on his side and started it up. “I mean, you could buy your own birthday presents too, right? But why not let other people do it?”
“But it’s because I’m a woman,” she said, crinkling her brow. “Right?”
“It’s because I respect you,” he said. “But if you’d rather I didn’t, then I’ll stop.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s just confusing.”
Yeah, it was.
She had no right looking like that. Soft, pretty, and sumptuous. Her hair was long and silky and thick, making him wonder what it would feel like wrapped around his hand.
“So,” he said, starting up conversation to distract himself. “You’ve had a few weeks working with Wayne and some of the others. Do you still hate all men?”
She was quiet for a moment, and when he looked over at her for an answer, he caught her studying him with shy blue eyes. “No, not all men.”
That sent a shudder up his spine. Did that mean what he thought it meant? He frowned.
“No, no,” she said, putting up both hands. “I just mean I think of you as a friend. Like you said.”
He had said that, hadn’t he? So why was he so irritated to hear it parroted back at him? Friends. Friends?
Friends.
“Did I say something wrong?” she asked, looking as nervous as he felt.
“No… no,” he said, palming the wheel as they took a hard turn. She gripped her seat, and he vowed to drive more smoothly. As soon as his heart stopped pounding in his chest.
He didn’t think he’d have any problem taking her out. They’d been fine on their rides. He’d really only ever been thinking about watching out for her or when they should make a call about the men who had hurt her or making sure she was getting settled into life on the ranch.
He hadn’t ever planned to start feeling this way about her. But without the horses and nature around, it seemed much harder to focus away from the fact that she was a desirable woman and he was attracted to her.
And liked her.
<
br /> And found her interesting and fun to be with.
That was dangerous.
She didn’t need one more guy perving on her. Not with what she’d been through. Not when she seemed to only want him for a friend, despite the way she looked at him.
He knew people could be attracted to someone and still not want to do anything about it.
But in his case, he did want to do something about it. He rubbed his hand over his chin and told himself to calm down. Just a simple date. No big deal.
Just a simple hangout. At night. In the dark. With a bunch of other families and couples.
Sure.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “You look tense.”
He laughed. He liked that about her, that she would always speak her mind. “I’m fine. I just. Well, hell. I’ll just come right out and say it. You look nice tonight. More than nice.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I did my hair in braids so it would dry like this.”
“It looks great,” he said.
“You look nice too,” she said.
Damn, now it really did feel like a date.
“So what do you want to do first when we get there?” he asked. “Corn maze? Eat treats?”
“I’ll have to see when we get there,” she said. “I may just want to do all of it at once.”
“All right,” he said. “We’ll do as much as we can, then. I guarantee it.”
But given that he’d also promised she wasn’t his type and that he wouldn’t look at her that way, he didn’t have much faith in his promises lately.
7
Val was all too aware of Wyatt sitting next to her, looking far too good in that green fleece jacket and those tight-fitting jeans that showed off large, taut thighs.
She squirmed on her chair and couldn’t wait to get out when the truck came to a stop outside a huge clearing with lots of hung lights and decorated buildings.
She didn’t wait for him to get her door. Instead, she jumped out and ran around the truck to get a look at everything in front of her.
She was twenty-two years old. She shouldn’t be this excited to be at what amounted to a Halloween amusement park.
Mountain Lion (Bear Haven Book 4) Page 4
