Page 99 of Hidden Memories

She smirks. “Guess you’ll have to try harder, cowboy.”

I put myself into her one last time. A slow, torturous drag that has her head falling back, a soft whimper slipping past her lips.

I growl. “Meet me back here at ten-thirty.”

She purrs, “You think you can wait that long?”

“Oh, I’ll wait.” I scrape my teeth down her neck. “But you’re not walking straight tomorrow.”

A soft breeze stirs outside the stables. The dust swirls, carrying the scent of leather, horse sweat, and faint traces of Kat’s perfume. In the distance, the pastures are a rolling sea of gold and green.

I convinced Kat that riding today would be a great way to take everyone’s mind off the impending doom hanging over us.

Theo carries a saddle to the stall, laboring hard because they’re heavy and it’s a huge hunk of leather in his tiny hands, but when I asked if he wanted help he gave me a firm no, so I let him prove he can do it.

He walks lopsided, occasionally releasing one of those one-syllable laughs of his when Keeper or Mila bump into him. The dogs are best friends now, they play without any notion of personal space. The sight fills me with a deepsense of satisfaction— as if the pieces of something broken are starting to come together.

When Theo gets closer to where one of our only two ponies at the ranch, Oakley, is hitched up outside, Owen takes notice and eases Theo’s load by grabbing the saddle and hoisting it onto Oakley’s back. I bought the ponies when we started mentoring with the charity organization, hoping to help out some young kids and bring them comfort through horses like I always found when I was younger. The way my chest swells watching Owen and Theo work together as a team has me thinking I’m some sort of expert at manifesting.

Kat stands beside me in the barn, watching Theo, wistfully. She’s leaning against the tack room door, her arms crossed loosely over her chest, but her posture isn’t guarded. Not today.

“He’s settling in,” I say, breaking the silence.

She nods, her gaze never leaving the boys. “Owen is so patient with him.”

“I wouldn’t say Owen is normally the patient type. I think this friendship is mutually beneficial.”

I reach for a saddle, the leather creaking softly in my hands. “Owen has the boys covered, Hector is all tacked up, and that just leaves you, Kat. You’ll like Fuego. He has all the get up and go Ares used to have but without the attitude.”

Her expression falters just slightly, and she bites her lip.

I reassure her. “You’ll be great. It’s in your blood. It’s like riding a bike…”

She cuts me off. “It’s not the riding. Are you sure it’s safe to leave the ranch?”

My mind wanders to the ranch offices, where Enzoand Ava are holed up. They’ve been picking apart the mess Kat landed in, hunting for angles, for weak spots.

It should make me feel better. But it doesn’t. Because I know what’s coming. It’s only a matter of when.

I pause, setting the saddle on Titan’s stall door. “Baby, this place is built like a fortress. The trails are all just around here. We’re not going far.”

She hesitates, her fingers brushing the edge of the stable door. “I know. I just… I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Then we won’t.” I use the same tone as when calming a nervous colt. The same way I wish I could calm her. “If you’d rather stay, we can figure something else out.”

Her eyes lift to mine, searching. I want her to find certainty there. I want her to know that if she falls, I’ll catch her.

“What if we stay on the property?” she asks finally. “Maybe a race on the track instead?”

The racetrack? That I have always, always reserved for my stud and training business. I don’t even takemyhorses on it. Neither do my brothers. When I first built it, I told them there would be two things I’d never share with them—women and that racetrack.

Her chin lifts. A glint sparks in her eyes with an old, familiar dare.

I hum, considering her challenge. “You think you can take me?”

She shrugs, but I don’t miss the way she sizes me up. Calculating. “Probably not. But that wouldn’t stop me from trying.”

Fuck, I love it when she’s feisty.

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