FRIDAY MORNING WES paced his cabin floor, beating himself up for taking the walk in the woods with Callie. He’d liked talking with her and hearing about why she’d become a librarian, and once she’d begun to relax, he’d enjoyed being with her even more. It felt natural to share his most private place with her, the spot he’d never shared with anyone. Christ. He’d made a big mistake. Seeing her as the shy, intriguing girl who picked out his reading material went right out the door. One look in her sultry dark eyes and he’d lost his ability to think clearly. Suddenly, he’d felt the soft pillows of her breasts pressed against him and the curve of her hips filling his palms. He’d smelled her fresh, feminine scent, and that was it. He was a goner. If that damn light hadn’t turned on, he would have taken her in a kiss that would have led to God only knew what else. He needed to get his emotions in check before the trail ride today.
The trail ride presented another issue. He had a feeling she had no experience on horseback, and given that she nearly climbed under his skin at the height of the boulder, he had concerns about how she’d do riding a horse.
A few minutes later, he and Sweets headed down to the stables, where Cutter had already saddled the horses and packed the supplies for their ride. Usually Wes joined their guests in the saloon at the end of the trail ride, but this morning, with the sun high in the sky and the crisp mountain air promising a warm day, his gut clenched at the thought. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold himself together when he was near Callie without everyone else seeing how she turned him on. He didn’t trust himself to be around her in a situation where they were drinking. He’d need all of his mental faculties in order to keep from reaching out to her. There was no way he’d be at the saloon tonight.
He heard Cutter’s voice before he saw him come around the side of the barn.
“Here you go, ladies. Your wrangler awaits you.” Cutter waved to Wes.
Bonnie’s camera hung from her shoulder like an extra limb. She, Kathie, and Christine all wore shorts and sleeveless shirts with the telltale signs of bikini straps tied around their necks. Callie wore a short skirt and—sweet Jesus—a bright blue bikini beneath a blousy white top that stopped just above her waist, revealing two inches of toned stomach sweet enough to eat off of.
Wes shifted his eyes to Cutter, who raised his brows in quick succession before heading into the barn. He cleared his throat in an effort to concentrate on something other than running his hands up Callie’s thighs and tasting every inch of her. He settled his hat on his head to distract himself from the thought.
Focus on the activity and do your damn job.
“Good morning, ladies. Ready for the trail?”
Callie’s eyes were trained on the ground.
“You know it.” Kathie’s hair was pulled up into a high ponytail. She walked up to Chestnut, a red-coated mare, and stroked her side. “Can I just climb up?”
“In a minute.” He hated to embarrass Callie, but after last night, he needed to know exactly how much experience she had. He no longer trusted a damn thing on her application. “Have all of you ridden before?”
“I grew up on a farm.” Bonnie wiggled her fingers in the air.
“I had a thing for cowboys at a young age. Riding lessons at six years old.” Christine adjusted her red sun visor on her forehead.
“Me too,” Kathie said. “Plenty of experience.”
Just what I thought. Callie is the only one with little or no experience. “Callie?”
Her cheeks flushed, and she nibbled her lip again. Damn it. Why did he want to hold her every time she did that? The way her girlfriends watched her with bated breath, as if they’d all stopped breathing in anticipation of her answer, didn’t escape him.
“I’ve ridden,” she said quietly.
Right. Never ridden a day in your life. Great. If she’d mentioned that last night, he could have given her a private lesson, but now he’d have to take her at her word or risk embarrassing her further.
“Super. Why don’t you take Chance?” He patted the white horse with black spots. “She’s a gentle girl.”
Callie drew her shoulders back. “Which one is the least gentle?”
Bonnie stepped closer to her. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t need the most gentle horse.” Callie held Wes’s stare.
That would be Glory, and there’s no way in hell you’re riding her. He nodded to a brown mare. “That would be Jazz.” What the hell was she trying to prove?
“Okay, Christine, you’ll be on Flash, and, Bonnie, you can take Brownie. It looks like Kathie’s already made friends with Chestnut.” Wes glanced at Kathie, who had her cheek pressed against the horse’s neck.
“Brownie. Yum.” Bonnie brushed her hair from her face and went to Brownie’s side.
“Today we’ll be riding up the mountain. We’ll take it at a nice, slow pace so you can enjoy the views. We’ll be stopping for lunch by a creek, and then we’ll head back. There are riding helmets right inside the barn, and if you have to use the ladies’ room, I suggest you do it now.”
“Oh, bathroom. Good idea.” Kathie put her hands on her hips. “Anyone care to join me?”
Bonnie and Christine flashed quick smiles at Callie and followed Kathie into the barn. Wes had a feeling he and Callie were being set up, which meant that she had told her friends about their little trip into the forest last night. Fucking perfect.
He came around Chance’s side and found Callie fiddling with the stirrup. “Hey.”
“Hi.” The bravado she’d shown in front of the others was gone, and shy Callie was back in full adorable blush.
“Listen, Callie, I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable last night. I’m sorry I took you up on the boulder. I should have picked up on your hesitation, and…” I’m sorry I almost kissed you. Only he wasn’t sorry. He still wanted to kiss her.
“I’m fine, Wes.”
She took a step toward the back of the horse and he grabbed her arm. She whipped her head around.
“When’s the last time you were around a horse?” He held her arm tightly as she tried to pull away.
“Why?”
“Because if you walk behind even the most docile horse, you take a chance of being kicked into tomorrow.” He closed the gap between them and lowered his voice. “Callie, I can delay the trail ride and give you a quick lesson. Twenty minutes, that’s all it’d take.”
She pressed her lips together, and he could see her contemplating a response. She looked down at his hand gripping her arm and he released her.
“Safety first, okay?” Goddamn it. He wanted to protect her from getting hurt, like he would any guest, but the way she was looking at him, like she was angry and hurt all at once, nearly brought his arms around her again—and that was nothing like he felt toward other guests.
She sighed. “I’ve ridden once, okay? A pony at a county fair. On a lead. But how different can this be?”
He was glad she trusted him enough to be honest. “Night and day. Do your friends know?” He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out to her again.
She nodded.
“Great. Then give me twenty minutes. Please. I don’t want you to get hurt, okay?”
She rolled her eyes and he knew he’d won. She took a step toward the horse’s rear again and he took her by the shoulders and turned her around. Callie was too smart to have forgotten the recent directive, which meant he had the same effect on her that she had on him.
He liked that. He liked it a lot.
Ten minutes later, Christine, Kathie, and Bonnie sat on the fence watching as Wes gave Callie a quick lesson in horse etiquette.
“Okay, before we begin, are there any other surprises I should know about?”
Callie fidgeted with the stirrup. “I told you in the library that I didn’t like deep water, or heights, or spiders, snakes, or—”
“Christ, you did.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I should have known that you wouldn’t like being on top
of the boulder. I won’t make the same mistake again.” He explained what each piece of equipment was used for and talked to her about using her body to give the horse direction. “Remember, a sharp kick will send her running, and she’ll pick up on subtle movements like pressure with one leg harder than the other, leaning, and easing or tightening of the reins.”
“I’ve got it. Okay.”
He lowered his voice and leaned in close. “Callie, are you sure? If you’re nervous, the horse will pick up on it, and you’ll be more likely to make sudden movements.”
She pressed her lips together. “I’m fine.” She’d show them that she could do more than read books or be the girl who knows her books.
“Okay, let’s get you on the horse.” He looked down at her thin cotton skirt. “You sure you don’t want to put on jeans or even shorts?”
“I didn’t bring any.”
“You didn’t—”
She rolled her eyes again. “They said we were going to a spa, remember? And they offered to share, but I’m smaller, so…”
“What size do you wear?”
She pressed her lips together like he should know better than to ask that question.
“What is it with women and sizes? If you said twenty-eight or two it wouldn’t mean anything to me. I was just going to see if one of the women on my staff had a pair you could borrow.”
“I’m a petite four and no, thank you. I’m fine. It’s not like anyone’s going to be looking up my skirt.”
He felt his lips curl up and she pushed his chest playfully. Oh yeah, he was totally in over his head. Even that little touch had his groin tightening.
“ARE YOU GOING to get on the horse today?” Kathie hollered.
“Trying,” Callie answered. Last night, when she’d finally gone inside, her friends had bombarded her with questions. She’d been too upset to tell them much, and admitting that she’d recognized the moment when Wes had gone from considering kissing her to putting space between them had shifted her mind-set. She’d be damned if she was going to be a weak girl who fawned over some guy. That’s how she was able to stand firm and demand a tougher horse.
Now, as she lifted a foot to the stirrup and tried to hoist herself up in the way the girls had told her to during their how-to-ride-a-horse lecture this morning, she promptly faltered and landed back on the ground with a thud.
Without a word, Wes’s hands found her hips and lifted her easily into the saddle.
So much for standing firm.
“Okay?”
Oh, heck yeah. Maybe I should fall off again just so you’ll do that again. “I could have done it.”
He leaned in close, one hand on the thing that stuck up in the front of the saddle—dangerously close to her crotch—and the other on the back of the saddle. “I know you could have, but your friends sounded anxious to get started.”
Callie imagined that low, husky voice saying her name in a dark bedroom. She looked away to avoid embarrassing herself any further, and Kathie gave her a thumbs-up.
Being up on the horse wasn’t so bad. It had a wide, stable back, and Callie was surprised at how confident she felt. Wes settled the reins in her hands and kept one hand on her thigh.
“Remember what I said about not pulling back too hard. Nice, easy movements. She’ll take her cues from you.” He looked down at his hand on her leg. “You’re shaking. Do you need more time?”
It’s from your hand, not the horse. “I’m okay.”
“I’m going to take a step back, and you can lean forward a little to give her a cue to walk, and remember, not too—”
“Ow!” Callie jerked her heels back and leaned to the side to swat at something on her leg. It stung her again, and as she jerked her heels back again, the horse took off running.
“Help!” She was flying—literally. Her butt lifted off of the saddle as the horse bolted across the pasture.
She heard Wes and the girls yelling, but she had no idea what they were saying. Her mind was screaming, Holy shit! Holy Shit! I’m going to die! She tried to remember what to do, and when the horse turned and headed back toward the barn at full speed, she just held on tight and screamed some more. They flew by the barn so fast her friends were a blur. She saw Wes mounting a horse as Jazz took another lap. Tears streaked her cheeks. She dug her heels into the horse’s side in an effort to keep from falling off, which made the horse run faster. In the next breath, Wes’s horse was neck to neck with Jazz. Wes was in complete control, while she was hysterical, clutching the saddle for dear life and praying she didn’t die as they sped around the arena.
“Pull back on the reins, lower yourself to the saddle, and relax your legs,” he hollered.
“I…can’t.” It was all she could do to hold on to the reins and the leather thing that stuck up in the front of the saddle. She tried to sit back down, but it was a futile effort. She popped back up every time the horse’s hooves hit the ground.
The horses rounded the curve and began the long run back toward the barn again. Wes leaned toward her, his arms outstretched. His eyes were locked on Callie.
“Let go and lean toward me.”
“No!” Are you freaking crazy?
“Callie, I’ve got you.”
“Hell no!” She gripped the saddle for dear life. Suddenly Wes’s big, strong hands clutched her waist.
“Let go!” A command.
She slammed her eyes shut, released the reins, and in the next breath she was suspended in midair. She landed hard on his horse, and her eyes shot open.
“Hang on to me!” With one powerful arm wrapped around her middle, he grasped the reins and the horse slowed its pace.
Callie could barely breathe. Tears streaked her face, and her heart beat so fast she thought she was going to pass out. Wes’s heart thundered against her back; his thighs were pressed to the outside of hers.
“You’re okay, Callie. I’ve got you. You’re safe,” he said in a low, confident voice that reassured her.
She saw her horse walking at the other end of the arena, and it made her cry harder.
“Callie!” Kathie yelled as Wes guided the horse back toward the barn.
“Oh my God!” Christine said, clutching Bonnie’s arm. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”
“Shh. She’s okay. God, Callie, you’re okay.” Bonnie reached up and touched Callie’s leg. “Wes, Jesus, thank you.”
Even after the horse stopped, Wes didn’t loosen his grip around her. It was all she could do to keep breathing as she tried to calm her racing pulse and stop the flow of tears.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered against her cheek. “You’re okay. Breathe, Callie. Just breathe. You don’t have to do anything else. I’ve got you.”
She focused on his reassurance and let out a breath. Without thinking, Callie sank back against him. He was big and strong, safe and warm. So warm. She closed her eyes and tuned out everything except his calming heartbeat. She’d never been so scared in all her life, and she’d never felt so safe in someone’s arms.
“Oh my God. I was so scared.” Kathie came to the side of the horse. “Thank God you’re okay. Thank Wes, actually. We’ll skip the trail ride.”
“No.” Callie opened her eyes. It was a gut reaction, and she had no idea what she was thinking. There was absolutely no way she’d climb onto another horse, but she wasn’t going to be the cause of a ruined day after everything her friends had done for her. “No. I’m not ruining this trip for you guys. No way.”
“Callie, it’s only a horseback ride. We don’t have to—”
Wes cut Bonnie off. “She can ride with me.”
Callie froze.
Kathie was the first to crack a smile.
“Really?” Christine asked. “You don’t mind having sweet, sexy Callie between your legs?”
“Christine!” Bonnie chided her.
Wes shook his head. “If Callie’s okay with riding with me, I’m fine with it. I don’t want her on a horse by herself until I have a chance to work wit
h her.” He lowered his mouth to just beside her ear again. “Are you okay enough for me to bring you down off the horse?”
No. Please keep holding me. Forever. One look at her friends’ worried faces brought a nod of her head.
“I’m going to get off the horse and help you down. Don’t flinch. Don’t kick. Don’t scream. Don’t…breathe.” He slid his hand around her waist and trailed it across her back as he dismounted, one hand on her at all times. From the ground, he settled his hands on her waist and lifted her off the horse.
She held tightly to his wrists.
“Okay?” He searched her eyes.
She nodded, feeling a million things—hot, flustered, embarrassed, still a little scared, but definitely not okay yet.
“You must have kicked her with your heels.” He sounded as if he were working out the logistics of what happened. His hands were still on her hips, his eyes full of compassion.
“Something bit me.” She looked down at a swollen red bite on her leg. Her pulse was finally calming down.
“Oh, hon, didn’t you put on the bug spray I gave you?” Christine took her hand. “We’ll be right back. I just want to clean her up and make sure she’s okay.” She guided her toward the barn and whispered, “Holy shit. That was brilliant!”
Callie glared at her.
Kathie and Bonnie ran after them, leaving Wes alone. Callie was still in a frightened fog. She looked over her shoulder, wanting to be back in his arms.
“Did you see him? That was like the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. He fricking rescued you.” Kathie’s eyes were wide as she pushed the bathroom door open.
“Hot isn’t the word for him.” Bonnie wrapped Callie in her arms. “Oh, honey, you’re shaking all over.”
“I almost died on that horse, and then he…He’s like the Lone Ranger, and after last night?” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m mortified.”
“Oh, hon. He probably goes through this stuff all the time. Really. Did you see how easily he did it? The man didn’t hesitate. He knew exactly what to do.” Christine hugged her. “We don’t have to take the trail ride.”
“Yeah, we can totally skip it,” Bonnie agreed.
Fated for Love Page 6
