Page 40 of Dust Storm

“I bet you say that to all the women you take on midnight rides.”

“It’s hardly midnight. It’s just after nine.”

“That’s midnight for you, cowboy,” I sassed.

“You’re not wrong,” he said with a laugh. “I haven’t been up this late in a while.”

I peered over my shoulder and caught him looking down at me. “Are you sure you’re qualified to be giving riding lessons?”

He hit me with a quick flash of his smile. “I taught both my girls how to ride before they could go up and down the stairs by themselves.”

“Really,” I mused. “You taught your girls the phrase ‘posture like a princess, hips like a whore?’”

Christian’s laugh was dark. “That was the saying I was taught with. My girls got the G-rated version.” His hands pressed against my waist, and I could feel the rhythm of my hips matching Libby’s strides. “Hips like a hula hoop.”

9

CHRISTIAN

“How properly parental of you,” Cassandra said with a light laugh.

I snickered. “Sometimes it’s hard to turn off. I’ll either be swearing in front of the girls or I’ll be telling the guys I gotta go potty.”

Her hair slid to the side as she laughed.

She sounded so fucking pretty when she did that.

Cassandra and I settled into a comfortable silence as she slowly slipped into a cautiously trusting relationship with Libby.

“Relax,” I reminded her. “You’re tense.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled as she fixed her posture. But the tension never left her shoulders.

“You got something on your mind?”

“No,” she clipped.

I didn’t believe her. “Come on, Cass. Don’t bullshit me like that.”

“Nothing you need to worry about. I’m here to work for you, not the other way around. Remember?”

Evasive. Okay.

“The door’s open if you wanna talk.”

I could hear her grinding her teeth down to nubs, but I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

The stress never left her. Those elegant fingers were rigid around the reins.

“You’re doing well. Give her a little tap with your feet if you want her to go faster.”

Cassandra didn’t say anything.

It wasn’t the horse I was worried about. Libby knew this path well.

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