Page 52 of Opposites (Never) Attract
Ethan joined us on a sleek, black beauty with a white stripe down his nose. Carter mounted a massive brown horse that looked like he could take both Ethan’s horse and Shirley in a battle with one leg tied behind his back.
I leaned over and patted Shirley, assuring her she didn’t need to be worried about any bullies on my watch. “Don’t let that big horse intimidate you. Size doesn’t always matter.”
“You sure about that?” Tag asked, with a playful twist of his lips.
“Do not tease me. I’m sitting a thousand feet up in the air on a wild animal right now,” I scolded him. “Consider me out of my comfort zone.”
“This might not be your comfort zone, but you look good.” I could not even dream of stopping the blush on my cheeks. “It’s in your blood. I’m guessing you’ll take to it like riding a bike.”
“I’ve never ridden a bike either,” I admitted.
Tag gaped at me.
“I like to be in control,” I said, defensively. Then dropped my voice a little lower and admitted. “Accept when I don’t.”
Tag said nothing, but our eyes connected, and it was…electric. The sun shone hotter over us and everything else – the pasture, Ethan and Carter, the swallows and grasshoppers – retreated. It was just Tag and heat and me.
“You coming?” Carter asked, and I blinked, jerking my gaze away from Tag.
“Gently nudge her hind quarters with your heels and she’ll go, ” Tag said quietly, giving me the direction I needed. “Gently pull up on the reins and she’ll stop.”
“What if she starts galloping at full speed?” I asked.
“She won’t,” he said.
“You promise?”
“Who are you asking? Me or the horse?” he laughed.
“Both,” I said, but I rubbed Shirley’s neck to let her know I really meant her.
“She’ll naturally want to follow Gus, so just go with it.”
“Which one’s Gus?”
Tag pointed over toward Carter. “That big boy.”
“Does everyone have their own horse here?”
“Of course. Seth keeps Margaret with him in a trailer when he travels. But she’s a professional.”
“Professional horse?”
Tag shook his head. “I better take you to the rodeo while you’re in town.”
The blush came back and I turned my face away, feeling something I never felt. Or at least hadn’t felt in a very long time – bashful. He made me feel young, but in a good way. Not the way I’d been young. The way young looked in movies.
“You coming with us?” I asked Tag.
He shook his head. “Got work to do, darlin. It will give you time to bond with your brothers.”
I looked over at Carter, riding his giant beast of a horse down a dirt trail that led out to the open valley. Shirley twitched beneath me, wanting to follow Carter’s horse.
“They probably won’t like me,” I said, and was annoyed by the doubt in my voice. What did I care if they liked me or not? And why was I talking to Tag about it?
“Then fuck’em. I like you. Here, put this on.” He pulled a baseball cap with the ranch’s logo on it from his back pocket.
“I’m not wearing something that says Swinging D on my forehead,” I told him.
