Courting Her Rebel: (Taken by Cowboys: Part 2) A Billionaire Western Romance (3 page)

“Let’s head to the pasture,” he said. “This-a-way.”

They started down the path that led away from the lodge. Her heart began to dance a little faster. Did Nate know about what had transpired between her and Spencer? She hadn’t thought to ask him. It worried her that Spencer might be keeping her quiet, like some dirty little secret. On the other hand, it was none of Nate’s business. But on the
other
hand, Spencer had given her permission to pursue her interest in Nate.

This was all far too confusing. She glanced over at him, hoping his face might give her an inkling of what he was thinking and how much he knew. But he was walking with a calm, unperturbed expression on his face. It was impossible to read anything from it.

“I didn’t see you at movie night,” he said casually, casting her a sidelong glance.

“Oh!” she said with a start, convinced for a second that Nate had read her mind. But that was ridiculous. It had to be a coincidence. “No, I decided to turn in early. I was feeling a bit worn out.”

“Pretty exhausting first day?” he asked.

“You could say so,” she said weakly. “I’m not used to doing so much hiking.”

Nate gave her a half smile. “The great outdoors can take it out of you.”

She drew in a deep breath. “You’ve got that right.”

They were approaching a large fenced-in pasture where beautiful horses of all different colors were grazing. Their sleek silhouettes cut imposing figures in the background of tall mountain peaks.

“Ever sat on a horse before?” he asked.

“Never,” she confessed. She was starting to feel a little nervous.

“Ah, a first-timer,” he said, tossing her a wink. “Well, not to worry. You’re in good hands.” Unable to stop herself, she looked down at his hands. They did indeed look broad, strong, and capable. She felt a surprising shiver run through her body.
Now what’s that about?

They reached the pasture and Nate hopped over the fence with the agility of a born cowboy. He reached his hand out to Jess, who had put her foot on the lower prong of the fence. She took it and immediately felt a current of warm electricity radiating from his strong grip straight through her arm and down the length of her body. She looked at him with a small gasp. His green eyes were riveted to hers. Then, with a brisk motion, he whisked her over the fence.

Oh, my . . .
She followed him over the damp grass, her head swimming. Maybe it was just his undeniable handsomeness that was making her swoon. She found herself mentally comparing him to Spencer, putting them side by side and assessing them. She felt a deep attraction to Spencer, but objectively they were both equally appealing, just in different ways. Nate was freckled and roguish with a lithe, sinewy physique, while Spencer was dark, compact, and chiseled.

Cut that out right now
, she told herself. It felt wrong to be thinking of two different men that way. It gave her a funny feeling deep in her stomach.

“Jess, meet Oreo,” Nate said, tearing her from her thoughts. They had stopped in front of a black-and-white dappled mare. Nate hoisted the bag off his back and set it by the fence. “Offer her the back of your hand to sniff. It’s sort of like a horse handshake. Oreo, this is Jess. Be a good girl.”

“Is it true horses can smell fear?” she asked, tentatively extending a hand. The horse’s huge nostrils twitched. These animals were so
big
. It surprised her every time she got near one. But Oreo seemed calm, so she gently began to stroke her muzzle. She didn’t seem to mind.

“Sure is!” he said cheerfully. “No need to be scared, though. I’m with you the whole time.” He put a hand lightly on her waist. She practically jumped out of her skin.
Cool it, girl. You’re just like a cat in heat.

Nate took a helmet from where several were hanging on the fence. “Put this on,” he said.

“Where’s yours?” she asked.

“I don’t bother with that myself,” he said. “I’m as comfortable on a horse as I am in a Mercedes-Benz. And let me tell you, that is one comfortable ride.”

“A real gaucho, huh?” she said as she put on the helmet and adjusted the strap. “How do I look?”

“Stunning,” he said with a grin. She flushed in spite of herself.

Nate turned to Oreo and patted her affectionately. “No, I’ll show you how to mount and then you’ll have a go yourself,” he said. “Always mount a horse from her left—that’s called the near side. Grab the reins with your left hand and grab onto the stirrup with your right,” he demonstrated.

Jess tried to watch closely and repeat the instructions to herself.
Stirrups, left hand, reins, right—or was it the other way around?
All of his words seemed to be flowing in one ear and out the other, and getting pretty mixed up on their way. Usually she was better at concentrating. Working at the PR firm, for her boss who was always there with a cutting remark and a new task, had made her a pro at following directions on the fly. Out here, though, nothing was computing.

“Then you put your left foot into the stirrup—hang on to the saddle–give it a few bounces, and swing your right leg over.” He swung himself up and landed gently on the saddle in one fluid motion. He looked down at her and smiled. “Don’t worry—I’ll give you a hand.”

“Right!” she said, while she was thinking,
You want me to do
what
?

“Once you get up here, you’ll have to find your balance,” he said. “Sit up nice and straight—don’t crouch over like you see in western movies. Then I’ll hang on to the reins and lead you around,” he said. The horse took a few steps, apparently responding to some invisible signal. “The horse knows to start moving when you give her a squeeze with your calves,” he explained. He led the horse in a small circle around her, holding the reins casually with one hand.

“You look like you were born on that thing,” she said.

He gave her a mischievous look and before she knew it, the horse had sped off into a gallop. He rode it off into the pasture in a torrent of hoof beats. He took off his baseball cap and tossed it in the air, throwing his head up to watch it and yelling, “Yee-haw!” before neatly catching it again. She laughed with delight as he turned the horse around and cantered up to her again, slowing the horse to a stop a few feet in front of her.

“A midnight rider in a baseball cap,” she said.

“You got that right, girl,” he said, exaggerating his Western twang. She giggled. Nate had a reckless spirit that she found immensely attractive, something slightly wild. Not to mention entertaining.

“So when do I get to try?” she asked, suddenly eager. Nate had made it look so easy.

“That’s the spirit!” he said, swinging his right leg over the saddle and briskly dismounting, landing with agile precision. “Alright, let’s have you give it a go.”

She approached Oreo with a confidence she didn’t quite feel. Wow, was this animal massive. She could see the cords of muscle in her barrel-like side. What if the horse didn’t like her?

Nate seemed to sense her hesitation. “You’ve got this one. Oreo is very gentle with beginners,” he said. “Grab the reins in your left hand, grab the stirrup with your right, and put your foot in it,” he repeated. She followed his instructions, glad she had opted for jeans instead of the short shorts she had been considering. Nate gripped her waist. “Now I’m going to count to three, and you’re going to push with all your strength.”

“But it’s so . . . high,” she squeaked, looking up at the saddle. From where she stood, it looked as daunting as scaling a skyscraper.

“You can do it, Jess,” he said, his voice firm. She felt a surge of confidence. “One—two—
three
!” On three, she pushed with all her might and felt him lift her up from her waist. The next thing she knew, she had landed on the saddle with a slight bump, her right leg finding its way over to the other side.

“I did it!” she cried, a little disoriented.

“You sure did!” said Nate. “How’s the weather up there?”

She looked down at him. “Wow. You sure are far away.” It felt strange and thrilling to be on the horse’s back. She felt the urge to lean forward so she had something more to grip on, but she remembered Nate saying to keep her posture straight. She could feel the animal’s muscles moving underneath her.

“I’ll keep hanging on to one of the reins and lead you around a bit,” Nate said. “But I want you to start feeling comfortable leading Oreo. Treat the reins like a joystick.”

“I was never one for video games,” she said. “Ooph!” The horse had started taking a few choppy steps forward.

“Hey, I’m doing it!” she said. “I’m riding a horse!”

Nate laughed heartily. “You sure are. How does it feel?”

“It feels . . .” She paused. “Actually, it feels pretty damn great!”

“In that case, I’m going to let go of the reins,” he said. “But don’t worry, Oreo waits for definite signals, so she probably won’t move much at all.”

“If you say so,” she said nervously. She barely noticed that he’d released his hold on the reins as Oreo continued to walk forward, bouncing her gently up and down on the saddle. The fresh scent of dewy grass rose up from beneath the animal’s hooves. She gripped the reins tightly at first, then relaxed. She even took her eyes off of her bobbing head and took in the stunning view of pine-covered mountain peaks that ringed the periphery, sunlight dramatically lighting up their eastern faces. The horse continued to walk in a slow, measured rhythm. It was almost soothing.

Hey, this isn’t so hard!
Why haven’t I done this before?
She must be a natural—she could feel it. Suddenly her head was filled with fantasies of riding off into the sunset on a pure white mare. In the picture that sprang in front of her eyes, though, she was not alone. On one side of her, mounted on a jet-black horse, was Spencer. But who was that on her other side? It was—Nate. She was flanked by both men as they rode off into the distance.
What is that about?

She was so absorbed in this confusing fantasy that had leapt into her mind unbidden that she stopped paying attention to the feeling of the horse underneath her. Suddenly she was aware of it picking up speed. The slow amble had turned into a quickening trot. It veered to the left, and she almost dropped the reins as the horse began to canter even faster.
Oh shit oh shit oh shit.
She was so scared she couldn’t even scream. She was sure she was a second away from tumbling straight to the ground. A terrifying image of landing in the grass and being trampled by Oreo’s hooves sprang to her mind.

“Heels down!” she heard Nate yell. She tried to jam her heels down, but they were already falling out of the stirrups.

“Whoa, whoa!” he yelled, running up to the horse and grabbing the reins. Oreo slowed down to a trot and then to a stop. Jess was shaking and drawing in ragged breaths.

“Are you alright?” Nate asked. “Here, swing your leg over and I’ll help you down.”

Shakily, she hoisted her leg over and let herself fall into his open arms. She was limp as a rag doll. “I almost fell off!” she whispered.

“You didn’t. It may have felt that way, but you were just fine,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “You weren’t going as fast as you thought.” He was holding her close, her head nuzzled in the crook of his neck. His body felt lean and strong against hers, and his plaid shirt carried the ghost of campfire smoke. She breathed in deeply, suddenly forgetting all about her scare. The heady rush of their sudden contact had overtaken her senses like paralysis. She couldn’t move a muscle.

“It’s not in Oreo’s temperament to act so impetuously. Did you give her the signal to go faster?” Nate asked after a moment.

“I—I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I was squeezing her without realizing it.” She felt a hot blush rise to her cheeks, cutting into the slowly waning panic.

“You’re shaking,” he said. He put his hands on her shoulders and moved her head away from his chest, so he was looking intently into her eyes. Her breath seized in her throat.

“I guess I’m a little rattled,” she whispered. His face was very close to hers. His sandy hair fell into his bright green eyes that seemed to be calling her even closer. Then the horse began to neigh and stomp its feet behind her.

She started and the moment was broken. Nate dropped his hands from her shoulders and grabbed the horse’s reins with one hand, stroking her muzzle with the other. “Easy there, easy,” he said soothingly.

She frowned. Her heartbeat was returning to something like normal and her legs were regaining some of their strength, but she was still bewildered. It seemed like a kiss had been imminent—or maybe it was just her imagination, and Nate had simply been comforting her in her moment of fear. Two emotions battled against each other in her already overflowing mind: her deep disappointment that it hadn’t happened, and confusion at how badly she’d wanted it.

“I guess I’m really not meant for the cowgirl life,” she said miserably once Nate had calmed the horse and taken off her saddle.

“I think you did great, especially for a first-timer. Horses are temperamental creatures, particularly when you aren’t used to them,” he said. “But why don’t we try something a little different?”

“Different?” she questioned.

“A little bit lower stress,” he said with a smile. “Come on. I’m going to take you to the fishing creek.”