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She nodded her head thoughtfully. “A lot of saddle time.”
“I think it’s broken.”
“So tell me? Have you always been afraid of horses, or is it something recent?”
His head shot up. “Yeah, sure. Yeah, right.”
She didn’t say a word. She merely smiled.
“Me? Afraid of horses?”
Not a word.
Another jerk on the zipper. “A lot you know.”
He was determined to gut it out. He even managed an appropriately belligerent sneer. Her smile passed from sweet to saccharine. Finally he dropped his head. “I wouldn’t exactly say I was afraid,” he muttered.
“What exactly would you say?” she cooed.
“We just don’t get along, that’s all.”
She let out a whoop of laughter and fell back on the bed. “You’re afraid of horses! Bird Dog’s afraid of horses! You’ll have to be my slave forever. I can blackmail you with this for the rest of your life. Backrubs, home-cooked meals, kinky sex—”
He looked hurt. “I like dogs.”
“Do you now?”
“Big ones, too.”
“Really?”
“Rotweillers. Shepherds. Bull mastiffs. The bigger the dog, the more I like it.”
“I’m impressed.”
“Damned right you are.”
“Very impressed. I was starting to think you were more of a Chihuahua guy.”
“Are you crazy? Those suckers bite.”
She laughed and threw herself into his arms.
On their last day together, she lay with her head in his lap and thought about how much she didn’t want to fly home alone tomorrow, but Jake needed to stay in California for a few weeks to take care of all the business he’d neglected while he’d been writing his book.
He made a paintbrush out of a lock of her hair. “I’ve been thinking…” He trailed the curl over her lips. “What about—what do you think would happen…” He painted her cheekbone. “What if we…got married?”
A rush of joy shot through her. She lifted her head. “Really?”
“Why not?”
Her joy bubble slipped aside just enough to reveal a tiny yellow caution light. “I think—I think it’s too
fast.”
“We’ve known each other for seven years. That’s not exactly fast.”
“But we haven’t been together for seven years. Neither of us can stand to fail at this. We bruise too easily. And we have to be absolutely sure.”
