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“How do you think Beau would feel if he knew we’d kissed?” I glared at him.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged and his eyes searched mine. “I guess the bigger question is, do you want him to find out?”
I stared at him, not knowing what to say. Of course I didn’t want Beau to find out … but maybe I did. I didn’t even know.
“Let’s just go riding, Austin,” I said finally.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said in a no-nonsense voice, which made me laugh. “How does it feel?” Austin looked back at me as Sally and I followed behind him on the dirt trail.
“It’s pretty cool.” I couldn’t keep the enthusiasm from pouring out of my voice. I was really enjoying riding. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. “It’s so beautiful here,” I said as I looked around at the green pastures and trees.
“Yeah. That’s the Hamilton Forest to the right. It was named after my great-grandfather.”
“Wow, that’s so cool. Your family must’ve been here for years. The trees are so old and tall.”
“Yeah. They’re firs and pines. Once you’re a better rider, we can go ride through the forest. I’ll take you to Honka Waterfall.”
“That would be cool. I’d love to go and see a waterfall in all its natural glory. The only waterfall I’ve ever seen was Niagara Falls, and that was when I was in high school.”
“Oh, well then, yeah, we’ll definitely have to go,” he said and smiled before facing the front again.
I patted Sally’s neck as I bounced up and down in the saddle, following behind. The ride was gentle, but I had a feeling my thighs would be aching in the morning.
“We’re a few miles from the cabin,” Austin called back. “Why don’t you tell me more about yourself?”
“Like what?”
“Like what makes you tick? Did you have a job before he came here? How’d you end up with someone like Mikey?”
“That’s a lot of questions,” I laughed. “Will you tell me more about you if I tell you about me?”
“Of course,” he said. “That’s only fair.”
“Well, I did have a job, but it wasn’t anything fancy. I worked in a boutique with my best friend, Olivia.”
“Oh, okay. Selling stuff?”
“Yeah. It was a retail job. I mean, that’s not what I wanted to do with my life, but it paid the bills. Kinda.”
“I’m guessing it didn’t pay that well?”
“No, not really.”
“What is it you really wanted to do?”
“Honestly? I always dreamed about being a photographer.”
“A photographer, wow.” He actually looked a little impressed. “Did you bring your camera with you?”
“I did actually.” I didn’t know what else to say. I was kind of embarrassed talking about my photography. I was very much an amateur, but it’s always been my dream to be a professional, though I wasn’t sure how I’d make a living from it.
“Do you do nature, people, weddings, what?”
“To be honest, I’ve not really done much photography, nothing professional, you know? Just a couple of friends, christenings, one wedding. I like to go in the city and take photographs of the different buildings.”
“Well, we don’t have many buildings here, but we do have plenty of nature and landscape and animals.”
“Yeah. I’d love to see some bison and some elk and maybe even some bears.”
