Page 15 of Since Day One

He shrugged his shoulders and glanced forward. “If you don’t want to tell, it’s not my place to pry.”

“But everyone pries.” I looked at him in disbelief.

“If you ever want to share, I’m all ears.”

“Do you see me differently because I don’t want to talk about it?”

He shook his head. “Why would I? We all have our secrets, Princess.”

“Even you?” I quietly asked.

“Even me.”

We continued on in more silence, sitting comfortably in each other’s presence. A feeling I hadn’t shared with many people before. There was nothing but the sound of hoofbeats crunching across the frozen ground, weaving along a path previously trodden. It circled back around, and the horses began the return trip to the barn.

“Have you ever left the ranch and lived somewhere else?” I asked, breaking the stillness with my curiosity.

“Nah. This was, and always will be, home. I never dreamt of being anything but a cowboy, and luck would have it that I was good at it. Being raised here was a blessing because I grew up in the life I always wanted.” He smiled.

“Not everyone has that.”

“Like you?”

“What gave me away?” I flashed him a smile, and his chest vibrated with a chuckle.

“Several things,” he started. “To begin with, I was told to go pick up a girl flying in from Texas. Your family also knows nothing, yet you have your wild rag, that hoof pick, and your boots have scuffs in all the right places—not the kind that the manufacturers apparently can put on them now.”

My mouth dropped open. “They sell fake scuffed and worn-out boots?”

“Yes.” He chuckled. “Something I learned about from your cousin Marissa. She’s got a pair on.”

I grimaced. “Yikes. Anyway, go on.”

“Plus, when you swung onto Luke this morning, I knew then that you at least had some experience. Now, watching you ride Whiskey, it’s become pretty clear you know more or less what you’re doing.”

“So, what you’re saying is you’ll let me ride your amazing cutting horses now?”

“I said more or less, Princess. Don’t let it go to your head anytime soon.”

I frowned, turning away, and he laughed. “How rude.”

“You think pouting and those puppy dog eyes are going to get you everything you want?” he asked.

We steered our horses out of the trees and back into the open pastures just as the sun began to set along the horizon.

“It’s worked so far,” I answered with a grin. He shook his head and nudged Luke into a lope. I quickly urged Whiskey to do the same and caught up to him. “Running away because you know I’m right?”

Gunnar raised a brow and smiled, dimples pressing into his cheeks. “It’s cute that you think you’re right.”

“But you know I am.”

“What happened to being silent the entire time or I’d send you back to the bunkhouse?”

I mimed zipping my lips and throwing away the key as he laughed, and we rejoined the rest of the group, who all had already dismounted and headed toward the lodge. My stomach growled in protest, knowing that dinner was waiting as some smoke curled into the air from the Lodge’s chimney. My fingers worked quickly to tie my horse to the hitching post and, out of habit, loosened the cinch.

Gunnar led his horse toward me. “Mind helping me turn out all the horses? Rob’s obviously helping us, but a third person will make the job go faster.” He gestured at the hand that had led the trail ride, and I smiled.

“Wait, does that mean you trust me enough to let me—“

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