Page 23 of The Little Things

“You’re not gonna fall, I swear. I won’t let you, Hollywood.” His hand came up and rested on my knee, the touch was meant to be grounding, but instead, a shock of static electricity bolted through my system. When I’d shown up at the corral for our riding lesson and found him waiting for me, my heart took off at a dangerously fast gallop. It had done the same thing the day before when he showed up at the lodge just as Raylan and I were discussing my taking riding lessons.

I had hoped that the few days away, working at Second Hope, would have been enough to tamp down the juvenile high school crush I’d formed on the man, but no such luck. Being close to him made my mouth dry and my brain fuzzy. It had been difficult to focus on anything else, especially when he’d grabbed the brim of the baseball cap he was wearing and spun it around so the ranch logo on the front faced backward. I was convinced that the most evil thing a sexy man could do was twist his ballcap backward. It hit a lady right in her nether regions.

I’d been struck dumb the moment he’d done it, at least until I threw myself up onto Roam’s back. Then all my focus shifted from Zach to center on the ground that looked really hard and unforgiving from my incredible height.

“You can’t promise that. This horse doesn’t feel like he’s a fan of me being up here. What if he throws me? Human bodies bounce, Zach. They bounce!”

“Roam isn’t going to throw you, sweetheart. It’s why I chose him. And no, he’s not real happy with you at the moment, but he’s makin’ that known by pawin’ at the ground. See?”

I leaned over just a few centimeters to watch as Roam dug at the dirt with his front hoof.

“He’s communicating with you, Rae, tellin’ you to calm down and quit squeezin’ him to death.”

I let out a shuddered breath. “I’m not squeezing?—”

“With your thighs. You need to unclench.”

I tried to do as he said, but panicked when Roam shifted his big body. “If I loosen up I’ll slide right out of the saddle the first time he takes a step.”

Zach looked at me consideringly before ordering, “Move forward.”

“What?”

His eyes met mine, that decadent, rich brown penetrating so deep it felt like he was seeing every little thing I tried so hard to keep hidden. “Trust me, Rae.” It wasn’t an order or a command, it almost sounded like a plea. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” Every instinct told me I could believe him, that he meant what he said. He must have seen it on my face, because his features grew gentle, almost tender, as he repeated, “Now, move forward and take your feet out of the stirrups.”

I did as he said, shifting closer to the saddle horn until I had nowhere else to go. A moment later, Zach was lifting himself up and coming to rest right behind me, so close his body heat sank through the clothing separating us and soaked into my skin. His scent filled my nostrils. Clean cotton and leather and earth, along with something spicy and decidedly male. I wanted to twist around in the saddle and bury my face in his neck, breathing deeply until I could identify the smell.

He reached up and placed his hands on my ribs on either side, his big hands wrapping around me. “How does this feel?” I had to try really hard not to focus on the way his breath skated across my neck and stirred my hair as he spoke close to my ear and concentrate on the pressure he was applying.

“It... it doesn’t feel like much of anything.”

His grip grew a little tighter. “Okay, and what about now?”

“It feels like you’re trying to hold on.”

In the next breath, his hold grew so tight it threatened to squeeze the air from my lungs. “And now?”

I pulled in a sharp gasp. “Like you’re trying to crush my ribs.”

As fast as it came, the pressure disappeared, but instead of removing his hands completely, Zach trailed them downward until they settled in the dip of my waist. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep in the whimper that wanted to break free at his touch.

God, I really needed to get it together.

“Exactly. See how tense you are right now, Roam can feel every single bit of it. If you want to get him to trust you, you have to put your trust in him. Now, I want you to loosen your hold.” His hands came down on my jean clad thighs, causing my breath to hitch. There was no way he could have missed the shiver that worked its way through my body, but he was gentleman enough not to point it out. “Only put as much pressure as I did that second time. That and the stirrups are all you need in order to hold on.”

I did my best to loosen my muscles, easing the tension in my legs. Just like he had the last time I loosened up, Roam shifted his considerable weight, but with Zach behind me, it was easier to not be so scared.

“Good. That’s him telling you he likes this better. He’ll communicate with his body. It’s your job to listen. Now, put your feet back in the stirrups.”

“A-are you sure?”

Zach’s hands traveled around to my front, his arms surrounding me completely as he pressed his palm into my belly, bringing my back more firmly against the solid mass of his wide chest. From this position it was impossible not to feel every dip and ridge of the countless muscles beneath his shirt. The man’s body felt like it had been chiseled out of marble.

“I’ve got you, Rae,” he assured me quietly, speaking against the shell of my ear. “I’m right here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that what he said was true. He wasn’t going to let any harm come to me on top of this horse. I felt the certainty of that in my bones as I shifted my legs to hook my feet back into the stirrups.

“Good girl,” he breathed, and something about those words, the praise behind them, lit a fire deep in my belly. “Now give him a light tap against his ribs with your heel.”

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