his hands up in surrender. “I’ll drop it.” He grinned. “For now.”
“Forever.”
He moved his hat back to its usual position. “Lift the left stirrup and hook it over the horn. Good. Grab the cinch strap. Good. Pull it through. Good. You got it. Nothing to it. Now tighten it up. Harder.”
She grunted and tightened the strap as much as she could. She wasn’t a weakling. After the accident she had developed muscles that she hadn’t known she had.
“Now what?”
Jake gripped the saddle horn and jerked it. “Not good enough. Thunder puffed himself up.”
“He did what?”
“He doesn’t like being cinched, so he swells himself up. Brace yourself with a knee against his ribs—” he pointed “—about here.”
“I can’t do that!”
“It won’t hurt him.”
“I still can’t do it.”
“Okay.” He nudged Thunder with a knee. “Don’t make me get ugly in front of the lady, horse. She adores you. Knock it off.”
Jake easily tightened the cinch another few inches.
“Good boy.” Jake fed him a piece of carrot and turned to Beth.
He handed her a bridle. “Go for it.”
She stared down at the leather and metal in her hand, then at Thunder’s big yellow teeth. “I guess you can keep your boots on after all. I don’t remember this part.”
“Hold the bridle like this, and slip it under his chin and up over his eyes like this.”
She tried to concentrate as he demonstrated, but instead she noticed the faint scar that started just below Jake’s ear and ran to his jaw.
“This is a split-ear bridle. It goes around each ear. The bit rests forward in the horse’s mouth.”
He stopped as Thunder’s mouth opened. “See? Thunder’s used to it. He knows what to do even if you don’t.”
“Thank goodness.”
“You ready to try it?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Relax. He’s not going to bite you.”
His arms wrapped around her from behind. She could feel every hard muscle, every mountain and valley of his body against hers. His crotch bumped against her backside. She tried not to notice.
Oh, sure.
He helped her guide the bridle into place. “See? Nothing to it,” he said.
Why am I so warm?
She turned and found herself staring at Jake’s full lips. They turned up into a sly grin.
He was so close, so overwhelmingly masculine, and she had a strong desire to get away from him. She stepped back.
“Drop ’em.”
“What?”
“Drop the reins to the ground. Thunder’s a cattle horse. He’s trained to stand still when the reins are dropped to the ground.”
She just couldn’t think around him, and she hated to feel so out of control, so disjointed. “Oh. You want me to drop the reins.”
She did as instructed. Thunder stood as still as a statue in a park.
“Ready to ride?”
She nodded, feeling like she was a kid again. She was at the horse barn at the state fair. Only this time, the horse was hers.
He patted the horse’s neck. “Cowboy up!”
Her cheeks were flushed. Jake suspected it was because he made her nervous and she wasn’t particularly fond of him. But perhaps she was just excited about riding the horse.
She sucked in a deep breath. “I guess this is how Kevin feels. Maybe he’s more like me than I’ve given him credit for.”
“Ah, so you’re a cowgirl at heart?”
“When I was a girl, I wanted a horse more than anything in the world.” She petted Thunder’s neck. “We lived in a tract house, so there wasn’t enough land for a horse. Even if my father had bought one, he couldn’t afford to stable it.”
Jake couldn’t imagine growing up without horses and cattle. He needed wide-open spaces. “Out here, just about every kid grows up with a horse, or dozens of them.”
“This means a lot to me. How can I thank you, Mr. Dixon?”
“By calling me Jake, for heaven’s sake.”
She started to protest, then her jaws shut. “Okay.”
He let out a long, low whistle. “Finally.”
He held Sidewinder’s…er…Thunder’s reins and lightly touched her arm. “Up you go.”
Jake gave her a gentle push on her cute behind. She landed in the saddle and grinned down at him. “It’s pretty high up here.”
“You’ll get used to it.” He handed her the reins, and she took them. She clutched the saddle horn, her knuckles turning white. “Relax, Beth. Take a deep breath and relax. Thunder won’t do anything stupid.”
She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “But I’m afraid I might.”
“I personally tested him for Wheelchair Rodeo. He’s a good, calm horse. Just relax and enjoy.”
He showed her how to hold the reins. “I’m just going to lead him around the corral until you get used to the motion.”
“Ramon!” He cupped his hands and shouted to a group of cowboys who were watching intently. “As long as you’re just sitting there looking pretty, would you mind saddling Lance for me?”
One of them jumped down from the fence. “You got it, bro.”
Jake continued to walk Thunder around the corral. She noticed that the more they circled, the worse Jake limped. No doubt the loose soil was taking a toll on whatever was wrong with him.
“I’m comfortable now, Jake. I can see you limping. Wait until Ramon brings your horse out.”
“Move forward in the saddle.”
“Huh?”
“Move forward.”
She did, and before she could blink, Jake had swung a leg up behind her and they were both sitting on the saddle. His arms and thighs were tight
