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She patted the horse and rubbed her neck, continuing to talk to her. “Let’s have a nice ride today. I’m only here this week and I really would like to learn more about what it’s like living in this small town that I’m learning has quite the reputation.”
When the men were finished, Luis came to her side. “I’m going to show you how to get on a horse.”
It looked fairly easy and she had done it before, but she had been much more limber in those younger years. She did exactly like he showed her to put her right leg in the stirrup and swing over her left. Once she was up in the saddle, she held on tightly to the reins and leaned down.
“Thank you for standing still, Ginger,” she said.
“Don’t pull hard on the reins or she’ll stand up and that’s when you get into trouble. When you want her to slow down, pull back easy,” he said. “We’ll be on either side of you. Try to relax and let your body sway with the motion of the horse.”
“All right,” she said, sitting tall in the saddle trying to get accustomed to the feel of a horse between her legs.
“Let’s go,” Trevor said.
“Kick her sides gently,” Luis said. “Give her a little slack in the reins and she’ll be happy to keep up with the other horses.”
The gentle red mare did exactly like he promised and soon they were riding out across the prairie. There were few trees in sight. Some oaks were in the distance, but mainly it was bare grassland with cattle dotting the landscape.
They rode along in silence and soon she began to relax.
“How long have you owned this property?” she asked.
“About five years,” Trevor replied. “Luis was still in the Navy.”
That was news to her. She didn’t know he’d ever been in the military.
“You were in the Navy?” she said.
“Yes, I was a SEAL,” he replied and she could tell he really didn’t like to talk about it, but it explained so much about him. Those burly arms and the strength she’d felt when he held her.
Most military men were honorable and she could see that in Luis.
“Why did you go into the military?” she asked, wondering what made someone choose that kind of career and life.
Her body swayed in the saddle, the horse meandering alongside the other two animals.
A frown crossed Luis’s face and she could see the tension in his body.
“Bad breakup in college,” he said. “Plus, I didn’t want to work for my family. So I went into the Navy thinking that would be easier. It never was easy, and after five years, I’d had enough.”
She nodded, making a mental note that he really didn’t like talking about his past, but she was curious about what made him into the man he was today. And she really enjoyed Luis. That little sprinkling of gray in his sideburns, the way his emerald eyes were large, dark, and intense sent a sparkle of pure heat through her even today.
“What about you, Trevor? Why did you want to buy this ranch?”
Trevor seemed more at ease as they rode.
“I’m a bioscientist,” he said. “I like to study diseases and test different things. One day, I was working on a skin cancer cure. What I created didn’t cure cancer, but it smoothed out older women’s skin. It worked great on making skin look younger. So I took my formula and created a skin care company. Luis helped me with the funding and that’s how I went from a scientist to a skin care company entrepreneur.”
He had told her the name of his company and she’d been shocked. The company was worth billions, and while she’d never used the product, she liked the man who created the beauty line.
It was obvious that Trevor had an above-average intelligence. One man was brawny, and one was brainy. It was a perfect combination. And they were such good friends that it was a very nice arrangement.
Cattle watched them from the distance and one of them mooed a hello.
“How many acres do you own,” she asked, gazing out at the land.
“A thousand acres,” Luis replied. “We’re running cattle on about five hundred of those acres and in the spring we’ll divide the herd.”
She just couldn’t imagine that large of a spread. Not after living in New York City most of her life. Her apartment was less than a thousand square feet and was considered large compared to other living spaces in her price range.
