Page 44 of Knight Life In Vegas

“Excuse you. I’m trying to admire.”

Charlotte’s youngest gave Applesauce a pat. “I want to run too.”

“No can do, little man. You heard what your mom said.”

He turned the most enormous puppy eyes on me with an accompanying pout thatalmostbroke me, but my worry over pissing off Charlotte was greater than my guilt of not letting her child run free.

Her eldest looked unsure on Scout’s back, but Eduardo held the horse steady and showed him the spot behind Scout’s ear where he loved being scratched.

The other cast mates looked on curiously, but none of them dared approach. Anyone with eyeballs could see Chico and Charlotte were having a moment and not a single one of us wanted to interrupt. Well, Iwantedto so I could have my own moment, but I wasn’t going to.

“Did you know your mom rides horses?”

Ollie shook his head. “Daddy doesn’t like animals.”

I slid my gaze over to the alpha hovering at the edge of the arena, keeping an eye on both boys and cradling a baby while looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. “I see that.”

Ollie turned. “That’s not Daddy.”

“Our dad had to move away,” Sammy explained. “Far, far away so he can’t come visit.”

What the fuck? Who moved so far away from their kids they could never visit? I tucked it away onto my list of questions I was eager to ask Charlotte about.

Every time she looped by on Eclipse, I got a fresh hit of her scent: lemon meringue that weaved its way into my soul, tying knots into the very structure of my being until I knew that trying to tear her out of there would destroy me. Not that I was going to be doing the tearing. She was the one who’d slipped away into the night on us and looked like she’d wanted the ground to open up and swallow her when she saw me again.

Like she didn’t want us.

Didn’t wantme.

So many mysteries we needed to uncover… Why did she run? Who was this mystery father who had abandoned his family? And who was the alpha keeping hawk eyes on her children if he wasn’t their father?

“Do you wanna learn how to ride horses?” I asked Ollie.

“Yeah!” His entire face brightened.

“I’d be happy to teach you if your mom says it’s okay.”

“Yes, please. She’s so pretty,” Ollie said, giving Applesauce a stroke.

“Hey, Mama,” I called across the arena, “is it okay if we walk the horses?”

She looked up from where she’d brought Eclipse to a halt next to Chico. “Slowly,” she yelled back.

I guided Applesauce into a gentle walk, Ollie beaming atop her back. Eduardo followed us with Scout and Sammy. Their legs weren’t long enough to reach the stirrups so they couldn’t do much besides follow my lead, but Ollie didn’t seem to mind. Charlotte watched them with a focus only a mother could have. I was already hyperaware of their safety, but that just made me extra vigilant.

As much as I wanted to talk to Charlotte myself, I could content myself with instilling a love of horses in a new generation. Maybe one day he would work here, assuming we managed to save the business and stick around that long. I liked the idea that Night of Knights would be something I could attend with my future grandkids and tell them I used to perform there. I guess I would need kids in order to have grandkids, but if Charlotte would accept the scent match, then these two kiddos would be ours.

Damn. That was a surreal thought.

I’d been so busy living life I hadn’t even noticed I was starting to get up there in age. A lot of my friends and family already had kids. I didn’t even feel old yet. Not that thirty-three was ancient by any means, but usually big milestones were at least on the radar by that point.

“Did you grow up here?” I asked Ollie. Had Charlotte been here my whole life and I’d just never met her?

He shook his head.

“Do you know where you grew up?” Was that an unreasonable thing for a six-year-old to know?

“New York, Ollie,” said Sammy behind us. “We moved last year.”

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