Page 78 of The Backup Bride Proposal

They went inside and she gasped at these beautiful creatures. Various colorings, but all majestic.

“And then there are the racehorses. They take some special care.”

“The ones with the armed guards.”

He laughed, but also somewhat uncomfortably scratched the side of his nose, making her wonder if there was, in fact, someone armed watching over these beauties with a rifle.

He finally cleared his throat. “Let’s just say no one’s going to pull a trailer in here in the dead of night and run off with them.”

“Oh, I believe you. And I’m happy remaining ignorant on how they’re protected.” She reached out to run her hand up and down a filly’s forehead. “They’re sweet creatures, aren’t they?”

“Wild and spirited, for sure. They need someone with a confident hand.”

The filly gave an abrupt shift of her head, letting out a loud whinny. “She feels insulted, don’t you, baby?”

Kane let out a short laugh, then walked over to the horse, smoothing his hand over her crest. “Yeah, you’re fine, aren’t you, Annie?”

“Her name’s Annie?”

“Her owners named her Run Run Rhianne. Everyone calls her Annie for short.”

She couldn’t get enough of touching Annie, who seemed to love the attention.

There were more horses, each one more beautiful than the last. Except for Annie, of course. Mae had taken quite a liking to her.

There were so many training arenas and tack rooms and barns and storage areas that it seemed like they walked a mile back to the house. Her throat was dry from the walk and all the dust swirling around in the wind.

They walked inside, immediately assailed by the most incredible smells coming from the kitchen and from the smoker outside. There were pots on the stove, water boiling, and Donna was peeling potatoes. Mae took off her hat and hung it up. She waited to see if Kane would pull off his dusty boots. He didn’t, so she didn’t, either. Instead, she went over to Donna.

“Smells amazing in here. Can I help you?”

“No. You’re a guest and guests don’t cook around here. Besides, this is my job and I love my job.”

The one thing Mae knew about was not interfering in someone doing work they loved. “Okay. Mind if I get some water?”

“Of course. Help yourself.”

“I’ll get it,” Kane said, walking over to the cabinets to grab two glasses. There was a pitcher in the fridge and hepoured water out for both of them, then they took it over to the living area and took a seat.

“Tomorrow we’ll saddle up and take a ride,” he said. “Then later I’ll walk you through the trails.”

She laughed. “Trying to make sure I get my exercise while I’m here?”

“We don’t have to do any of that if you don’t want to.”

“I’m teasing. I can’t wait to do all of it. I want to see and experience everything. This place is massive and gloriously beautiful. Can we do a sunrise ride tomorrow morning?”

He gave her a wide smile. “Yeah, we can.”

She smiled back at him, ready for this adventure. “Great. Let’s do it.”

Chapter

twenty-two

Kane had toadmit that he thought Mae was mostly joking about the sunrise ride, especially since they’d been up late last night. She’d showcased her lingerie, and one thing had led to another, and then another, followed by another. He barely remembered falling into an exhausted sleep sometime around one. So he figured the idea of getting up before the sun was probably not going to happen. But Mae had left the bed before him, and was already dressed with coffee waiting for him when she woke him up. The coffee was just what he’d needed—that and the beautiful, dark-haired siren leaning over him.

“Let’s roll, cowboy,” she’d whispered, pressing her lips to his. “Sunrise is coming.”

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