I want you to stay where you can see if she’s reacting negatively to anything. You don’t want to be five feet ahead of her and have her spook and rear and yank you on your ass, or worse.”
“Got it.” He looked at Petunia. “No ass-yanking.”
Elena laughed. And he knew he was in deep, deep trouble.
Because making her laugh was not his objective. And yet, he found himself wondering how to make her do it again.
Chapter 6
Elena was still grinning as she stood behind the open stall door and watched Rafe lead Petunia out. She had no worries about the horse misbehaving. Barring Rafe doing something totally bizarre, Petunia would go through the motions on autopilot, as she’d done a million times before.
The one she needed to worry about misbehaving was herself. In any near vicinity, Rafe was potent enough. Up close in any personal proximity, he was downright intoxicating. He was intensity and charm, humor and the kind of focus that made her want to smooth her hair back and moisten her lips. Hell, if she were honest, he made her want to do a whole lot more than that. There had been a few moments where she could have sworn he was thinking the same thing—then the mood would shift, or Petunia would interrupt. For which she should be eternally grateful.
Even if Rafe wasn’t the enemy she’d feared—and she wasn’t certain about that yet—he wasn’t an ally, either. Of any sort. Couldn’t be, not in her current circumstances. She just hadn’t counted on that bothering her so much.
She closed the stall door as soon as the horse was out, then walked on ahead of them, toward the crossover to the other aisle.
“What if she doesn’t go?”
Elena paused and turned, only to find them still standing just outside the stall.
Rafe looked from Petunia to her. “I’m guessing giddyap is just something they say in movies?”
She laughed. He was so dry, and, up until today, had struck her as somewhat of a hard-ass. A really suave-looking hard-ass, but a hard-ass all the same. And, in some ways, he was. That unholy part wasn’t so hard to believe. His ready humor had been unexpected—it was that part of him, far more than his smooth good looks, that was working on her. “Well, it works when it’s accompanied by a swift nudge with your heels or a squeeze of the knees. But you have to be mounted for that to happen.”
Even fifteen yards away, she saw the quick flash of teeth, and that awareness in his dark eyes. And mentally kicked herself for the double entendre. She hadn’t meant it. She didn’t flirt. Not normally, anyway. In her world, a woman had to all but bind her breasts, chop off her hair, and lower her voice two octaves to get taken seriously. One bat of an eyelash and she’d be seen as nothing but a saddle tramp.
But she wasn’t in that world any longer. And men like Raphael Santiago didn’t stroll across her path very often. She had no experience with someone like him. He didn’t fit into any mold she was used to. And seeing as she still didn’t know if he had ulterior motives, she couldn’t afford to make any rookie mistakes. If she was going to even think about flirting, or what that might lead to, she’d be better off starting with someone a hell of a lot simpler than this man.
And since she had no business flirting with any man at the moment, that took care of that.
“I would love to be mounted,” he said, and she wondered if she was imagining the amusement in his voice. “But someone thinks I need to learn to take her out for a walk first.”
She folded her arms. “Given that you’re standing still at the moment, I’m thinking I was right.”
His lips curved. “You may have a point.”
For a suave hard-ass, he had no qualms about making fun of himself. It was far too charming. “In cases like this, it’s okay to step ahead of the horse and lead. As soon as she starts walking, though, shift back. She’s used to this routine—she knows where to go.”
“And if she doesn’t start to walk?”
“You can encourage her.” She made a clicking sound with her tongue. “Like that, or just cajole her a little. That shouldn’t be a stretch for you.”
This time she knew she hadn’t imagined the flash. “Are you saying you think I have experience cajoling members of the opposite sex?”
Elena smiled. So, she was officially flirting, and he was definitely flirting back. But it seemed that the most innocent conversation between them was going to have mixed overtones, and she wasn’t sure how to stop that. And to be perfectly honest, she didn’t really want to. It felt good. She had no business engaging in it, but that didn’t make it feel any less pleasurable. Maybe even more so because it was taboo. “I was saying that you’re probably good at getting them to do whatever you want them to.”
“Unless they happen to be my riding instructor.”
If you only knew. It wasn’t lost on her that he hadn’t denied her characterization of him, either. She really needed to stop the banter with him. Really.
With a little pat and a few softly spoken words Elena couldn’t hear, Rafe walked forward, and Petunia fell into step beside him. He gave her a half shrug when she silently applauded, which was cute and endearing and had her turning away before she opened her mouth and something else completely inappropriate popped out.
Rafe and Petunia made it to the other aisle without further incident, and it didn’t take long to run him through the procedure of putting her in cross ties. She kept it all business, at least outwardly, and shortly afterward they had the horse saddled and ready to mount.
Despite having no idea what was expected of him in this situation, he kept his motions steady and his tone smooth at all times. Which was working like a charm with Petunia. Unfortunately, it was working with her as well. She already knew, despite his apparent qualms, he’d be a natural on horseback. He had an easy rhythm to his stride and was comfortably in command of his body. He would adjust to the rhythm of the horse’s gait easily, as he had just walking Petunia over, neither letting her lead nor rushing her.
Which naturally led her to imagine how equally skilled he’d be at putting a woman at ease during sex. And God, she really wished she could be thinking about anything other than mounting and riding at the moment.
“So, chief, is there enough time left to take a trip around the ring? Seems a shame to waste all this preparation. Not to mention that we’ve gotten Petunia’s hopes up now.”
He had a point. Petunia looked at her and blinked a few times, looking quite winsome. It’s okay, she wanted to tell her. I’d want him to ride me, too, if I were you. “Okay, okay,” she said, relenting. “Take the rope.” She instructed him on how to unhook the cross ties, then said, “Lead her out to the paddock.” She didn’t wait for him, but turned and headed in that direction.
He didn’t say anything about her defection. A quick glance back showed he just went to work. Attempts to throw him off stride were clearly not going to work, just as he was making it very difficult not to like him, or at least respect him. He spoke his mind, and didn’t necessarily agree with her methods, but beyond that he’d followed her instructions and done as she’d asked.
Figured.
Once out in the paddock,
