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“Am I trying?” Her dark eyebrows arched over eyes sparkling with humor. “Um, probably best if I get myself a man first, don’t you think?”
“Probably.” He grinned even as his pulse skipped at the idea of offering himself for the position. “However, I meant in the future. Do you want kids someday?”
“Definitely.” She tilted her head sideways, glancing at him from beneath her lashes. “You?”
“Yeah, I hope so.” The smile she gave him did funny things to his stomach, and he quickly shifted the conversation. “How many brothers do you have?”
“There’s five of us. Axel, the twins—Phoenix and Chance—and then Olix. I’m the only girl, and the youngest.”
“Ahh. That explains so much,” he teased.
“Shut up.”
He laughed. “I’m the baby, too. I bet you got away with a lot of shit just like me.”
“True—but it can suck, too. Especially for girls. I’ve got four brothers who are super overprotective, and my dad still thinks I’m his baby girl.”
“You’ll always be his baby girl.”
Her nose scrunched up, and he laughed again. Riding like this always brought him peace, but today felt different. Lighter. Fun.
Man, when was the last time he’d truly had fun?
“What about you?” Raine asked. “I know Devante, and don’t you have an older sister, too? I think I remember Shelby pointing her out at Loyal’s wedding back in February.”
“Yeah, Solana. She’s an FBI agent based in Washington state, though she’s hoping for a transfer to the Colorado field office. We each left the moment we graduated high school, so if she comes back, it’ll be nice to all be close again.”
“That’s cool. That she works for the FBI, I mean.”
“It’s her job,” he said with a shrug.
Raine looked ahead, her expression suddenly pensive. “But it’s a job that can make a difference. All I do is ride horses.”
He blinked at the statement. “What’s wrong with that? I pretty much do the same.”
“You train them—there’s a difference,” she countered. “And you help re-home retired thoroughbreds. Shelby runs her clinic so low income families can have pets and not worry about the cost of caring for them. Loyal and Grayson run the veterans foundation, and Grayson also raises and trains service dogs. What good does me riding a horse over jumps do?”
There was an unexpected depth to her question that had him posing his own. “Would you rather be doing something else?”
“Maybe.” As if realizing what she’d just admitted, she shot him a quick glance and a shrug. “I mean, I love what I do, but I guess I wonder sometimes.”
“What else would you do?”
She grimaced as her shoulders shook with a visible shiver. “I have no idea.”
“Maybe it’s something you should think about.”
She didn’t reply, and they rode in silence until he noticed her rub a palm ov
er her bare arm. He’d thrown a gray plaid button up over his T-shirt this morning, leaving it open and rolling up the sleeves. It kept him comfortable in the shade of the tall trees, but Raine’s T-shirt didn’t appear to be doing the job.
“You cold?” he asked.
She looked over in surprise and then dropped her hand back down to her leg. “I’ll be fine once we’re back in the sun. I’m usually warm when I’m jumping, but it’s cooler here in the woods than I would’ve expected.”
He should’ve thought of that and suggested she grab a sweatshirt. Shrugging out of his shirt, he rode closer to hand it over. “Here, put this on.”
“What about you?”
