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Skye knew it was a ploy, and half-tempted to be caught, she took one step closer. ‘You okay, old man?’
‘Just winded.’ TJ eyed her from beneath his cowboy hat. His body was still. Too still. But not relaxed; his muscles were tense and ready.
Skye held both hands up. ‘Truce?’
Before he could reply, before he could reach out and grab her as they both knew he would, the sound of stomping hooves distracted them. They turned in sync to look at Smokey, right as the horse yanked her head back and pulled at the knot she’d nibbled loose.
The reins slipped from the knot. TJ’s, ‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ morphed into a quick curse as Smokey freed herself the rest of the way and, turning her butt in their direction, gave one gleeful kick before galloping away, the reins dragging dangerously on the ground in front of her.
Skye watched her horse rapidly disappear back towards the farmhouse. ‘What was it you said? Something about, “Good luck getting out of that one, pretty girl”?’
‘Shit.’ TJ pulled out his phone and called his dad. Skye got the gist of what he said from his side of the conversation. ‘Hey, Dad. Skye’s horse got loose and is headed back to the barn … Yup … No, she’s fine. We were on the ground … Damn mare undid a bowline knot … Okay … Ah, hold on, let me ask her.’ He looked to Skye, asked, ‘You okay to ride double with me on the way back?’
Skye hesitated.
TJ obviously saw it because he added, ‘My dad will come get you in the truck if you’d prefer?’
‘No.’ She didn’t want to make a big deal of it. And she certainly didn’t want to make work for Ryan. ‘I can ride double.’
TJ went back to his call. ‘We’re good. We’re headed back now … Okay. Bye.’ He hung up the phone, said, ‘My dad will grab Smokey and put her in her stall.’
TJ rerolled the leather scrap with the tools and the wire and then secured it to his saddle before unlooping Kai’s reins from the post and climbing on.
Skye went to him, looked up at him on the horse. He was so handsome, so competent. But that didn’t stop the instant anxiety that flooded her chest, leaving no space for her lungs to draw in air, so that when she asked, ‘What now?’ it came out tight and rasped.
TJ could see the new fear in her and immediately tried to calm it. ‘Don’t be nervous. Just take a deep breath. You got this.’
‘I’ve never ridden double before,’ she said breathily.
‘We’ll go slow,’ he promised. ‘I’m going to take my foot out the stirrup,’ he said, and did just that. ‘And then you’re going to mount just like you always would – except, instead of swinging into the saddle, you’re going to swing onto Kai and tuck yourself behind the saddle. After that, all you have to do is hold on, either to me or to the cantle – the back of the seat.’
‘Okay.’
Because she still looked worried, TJ reached forward and tapped her chin up until she met his eyes again. ‘Do you trust me?’
Her eyes glassed over, but she whispered, ‘I think so.’
TJ felt the impact of those three little words like nothing he’d felt before. They hurt, like a knife to the gut when he’d been hoping for a smile. The fact that she was unsure of doing something as simple as sitting on the back of a horse behind him was eye-opening, especially when he’d felt her barriers lower only five minutes before.
Without a word, he dismounted.
Skye’s instinctual step back was all the affirmation he needed.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked.
‘Hop on. I’ll walk.’
Her relief was obvious. Her entire body relaxed. The panic in her eyes calmed. But instead of doing as he said, she looked in the direction of the farmhouse. ‘How about we both walk? It can’t be more than two miles.’ She frowned. ‘Can it?’
‘It’s about one and a half,’ he confirmed.
‘Think you can manage that?’
TJ grinned, because he knew she was trying to deflect from her previous panic. Pleased with the compromise, he grabbed Kai’s reins and started walking. ‘Only one way to find out.’
Skye fell into step beside him.
They were quiet for the first five minutes, the only sound the crunch of their boots on the ground. But when Skye spoke, she surprised him by saying, ‘Thank you.’
