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“Have him as your own. As in he belongs to you. Anyway, how are you going to learn to ride if you don’t have a horse?” I lean in closer. “You do want to learn to ride, right?”
Her face brightens, and I fucking love her glow. I bask in every contour of her delight.
“Isn’t he too big for me?”
“Nah. He’s probably perfect. He’s older, too, so he might not do too much dumb shit, and it can actually be easier to learn on a big horse. They’re not so hard to stay on.” I wink.Oh Lord, I winked. What the hell is getting into me?“What do you say?”
“I don’t even know what to say…” She’s beaming then lowers her eyes back to her screen, shakes her head as if in disbelief. “Thank you.”
A feeling of satisfaction overwhelms me. Making Molly happy and seeing her smile is just about the best feeling in the world. It’s hard not to keep chasing this feeling down, and I have been, about fifty times a day. Bringing her a hot chocolate in the day. I bought her a new coat as if I go in the ladies’ section of Carhartt every day and just randomly picked it up for her…
I push myself off the table and clear our plates when Molly lets out a gasp behind me.
“Holy shit…” She gets up and goes to the window. “It’s snowing!”
I join her at the window, and we stare out at the sky filling with a flurry of white flakes.
“It’s coming down hard,” I say.
“Think we can…?”
“Absolutely,” I say, reading her mind.
We stare out in silence, but the fact that I was able to know her thoughts without her finishing her sentence doesn’t escape me. She wants to take the sleigh out, and so do I.
Her bright eyes stare out at the beautiful wintry confetti falling from the sky, and I wonder what her eyelashes will look like with snowflakes on them. I wonder what it would be like to kiss her warm lips with the cold snow whipping around us… and I wonder when I’ll stop wondering.
I go back to my chores in the kitchen. “You see if the driver is around, and I’ll buzz my family. I’d love to take Eve out especially. Maybe everyone can come over after school. There should be enough snow by then.”
“Sounds perfect.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
MOLLY
Today,I look at the ranch differently than ever before. I’m more settled in my role. I have my own horse here now. I have a friend, and even though it’s complicated, he’s the best one I’ve ever had. I have a secure place to live. Starlight Canyon is feeling more like home than any other place I’ve been.
The mountains around me are winter bliss and the purest beauty. It’s the purest beauty maybe I’ve ever seen. Maybe. Because Dash’s face and soulful eyes, and the way he’s starting to express himself and open up, rival all of this. Watching him unfurl fills me with awe just as mighty as the mountains.
And the way we’ve been getting along the past few days has filled me with total wonder at where this will all lead. Will we someday forget our physical connection? It really doesn’t feel like it whenever he brushes up against me and I come alive like a volcanic explosion. And when lava rushes through my body, it doesn’t burn me, it’s more like I was always meant to erupt. The way I am around him is different. I’m confident and I don’t quieten anything about myself anymore. I guess I’m unfurling, too.
We did our work separately this morning after breakfast, knowing we had to rush to get everything done before everyone we invited for a ride arrives this afternoon. Dash did the jobs I’d normally do outside, and I made all the phone calls and dropped texts to ensure everything was ticked off before the entirety of Starlight Ranch gets distracted by the sleigh. I like being a team with Dash. We’re a pretty damn good one.
Reconvening at the storage barn, less than seven hours after separating, I’m giddy to be with him again… I watch him in the barn, heaving the horse sled along makeshift rollers to get it out into the snowy yard. I didn’t think that through.
It’s the men who help because the sleigh is solid and heavy. They defer to Dash. His quiet, manly way is like the truest alpha I’ve ever seen. All it takes is a nod, one word, and the other guys trust he knows how to get a job done.
Dash moves with composure and a charming ruggedness. And boy is he sexy doing every little thing. No matter how hard I try, I just keep tumbling…falling.I’ve told myself a bunch of times over the week it’s the admiration of friendship. I told myself it’s just a womanly thing to need some time to shake off desire after having sex. But beingfriendsis only raising the tension. At least for me. Sharing every waking moment with him is my only wish; I’m like an obsessed teenager.
But I’m still determined to get over it the best I can. I agree wholeheartedly with what he said in the kitchen the morning after. I’d rather be friends than nothing.
He leaves to get two Belgians from the corral and comes back leading two enormous beasts by their bridles. Like the men, they obey his every whim. He’s a wet dream of a cowboy.
I. Am. Fucked.
He ties them on near the side of the barn, and I follow him in to fetch the harnesses.
“Hey, don’t make fun of me when you watch me try and do the harness for the first time,” I say when he comes out of the barn with the equipment.
