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“I’m his only nephew.” Midnight Star approached Cord and allowed him to run a hand down his sleek neck. “After Uncle Pete’s stroke, he had to sell off his ranch. He couldn’t bear to part with the stallion, so I offered to board him. When my uncle passed away a few months ago, he left the horse to me.”
Lexi’s concerned gaze caught his. “I’m sorry about your loss, but it was kind of him to leave you the horse.”
Her sympathy warmed a spot just beneath his ribs. It’d been a long time since he’d opened up to anyone, even about the broad strokes of his life. What was it about this woman that snuck past all of his carefully placed defenses and burrowed into his chest? If she were to purchase that spot of land, how would he keep her at a safe distance? Especially when he’d ride past her place every time he drove into town.
Lexi’s gaze moved back to the horse. “Do you ride him much?”
“Not like I should. I just don’t have the time.” He studied the genuine curiosity in her bright eyes. “How long has it been since you were horseback riding?”
“I was a teenager.” She paused as though wondering if she should say more, and he hoped she would. She licked her lips. “I tried talking my father into buying a horse farm, but he said our New York City town house was a lot shorter commute to the office. So instead, he got me a horse and boarded it. He hoped it’d get the notion of riding horses out of my system.”
“And did it?”
A thoughtful expression filtered over her face. “Yes and no.”
“Not very decisive, are you?”
“I rode for a number of years. I even took part in some competitions, but then I…I got busy doing other things.”
The way she stumbled over her words and the way her gaze drifted off to the side, he’d lay odds there was more to her story than she was letting on, but it was none of his business.
“Why don’t you come a little closer? Midnight Star won’t bite. I promise.”
She took a few hesitant steps forward, until she was standing next to him.
“Would you like to pet him?”
Her gaze darted between him and the horse. Then she cautiously raised her hand. Cord wrapped his fingers over the back of her hand and guided her fingers to Midnight Star’s muzzle. Cord spoke to Midnight Star in a soft, hushed tone as Lexi petted the horse. After a few strokes, her shoulders started to ease, and she relaxed.
Cord pulled his hand back, realizing there was no need for him to keep touching her—enjoying the softness of her skin. She turned her gaze to him, and a strange sensation rose in his chest. He swallowed hard. It had to be dirt the breeze kicked up that caused the weird feeling within his ribs because there was nothing special about this woman.
It’d take a lot more than good looks and expensive clothes to impress him. A polished professional like Lexi would never understand a down-to-earth cowboy such as him—just like those suits at the bank didn’t understand his desperate need to keep his ranch.
“Hey there, big boy,” Lexi crooned to the horse as she continued to run her hand over him. “I think you and I could be good friends.”
This was Cord’s opening, his chance to sell her on the small parcel of land. “He likes you.”
Lexi smiled, easing the stress lines from around her eyes. “Is that true?” she asked the horse as though the horse would answer her. “Do you like me?”
Cord stifled the urge to laugh. She was like a child having met a horse for the very first time. And what surprised him most of all was Midnight Star’s tolerance of her fussing over him.
Cord cleared his throat. “You know, when you purchase the land, you could have some horses of your own.”
There was an extended pause, as though she mulled over his words. “You’ve got a really big farm here.”
“West of the Mississippi, we call them ranches.”
“The ranch has an unusual name. How did you come up with it?”
“I didn’t. The ranch has been in my family for generations. I’m not sure who actually came up with the name, but it’s in honor of my great-great-grandfather. The way it was explained to me is that he’d brazenly set off for the then untamed Wild West to start up the mining town of Haggerty. Hence the name Brazen H.”
“Int
eresting.” She turned away from the horse and gazed around at the array of different-sized buildings. “Do you run this place by yourself?”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “No. I have ranch hands who do a lot of the work.”
“Still, it must be a huge responsibility.”
