Page 117 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love
“Ah, the untamed wilderness!”he exclaimed as they rode across the plains.“Just trying to pretend we’re in a cowboy film.We’re actually on private land, but don’t worry, I spoke with the owner, and he’s okay with us being here.”
Hallie smiled, and she seemed to trust that he was telling the truth, for once.“Of course, you must have worked your magic.”
“I did, plus an invitation to one of Austin’s finest private clubs.”
They soon arrived at the wranglers’ camp, which was set up near a copse of black cherry trees.
“What’s all this?”Hallie asked, taking in the cluster of tents, the truck, and the horse trailer attached.
“This is going to be our base camp,” Luke said, “From here we’ll make forays to catch the wild beast.”
“What wild beast?”
“So you haven’t guessed yet...”He grinned at her, willing her to make the attempt.
“Oh!”Hallie’s eyes lit up suddenly.“The wild horse that you rode!Please tell me you’re not going to try to ride it again.”
“Ride it?No.I’m going to catch it, tame it properly this time, and present it as a gift to your family.”
“You’re crazy!”she cried, “How long have you been planning this?”
“Since I woke up in the hospital after it threw me off.I kept thinking about this poor horse running around with a saddle on its back, all the other wild horses probably making fun of it.”
Hallie chuckled.“It’s very kind of you to think of the horse’s social status, especially after it nearly killed you.”
A young man emerged from one of the tents, greeting the new arrivals.
“Your horse has been sighted,” he said, “If you’re ready, you could ride there now.It’s about five miles east of here.I’ll follow you in the truck and get the updated location from Bert on the radio.”
“Is that Bert Daywell?”Hallie asked, “The horse whisperer?”
“The one and only,” the man replied.
“You hired him?”
Luke nodded, feeling slightly bashful that he didn’t have the horse skills to pull this off on his own.He was glad about the impression Bert’s name made on Hallie, though.“What do you say?Shall we go now?”
“I’m ready if you are,” Hallie said.“Let’s go get that horse.”
Soon they came upon a group of riders who were trailing a herd of wild horses.It was a majestic sight.Luke had never actually seen this many wild horses moving together across the wind-swept grass.
He recognized the middle-aged rider as Bert from his publicity photos, and there were two young guys with him to assist.
“So, do either of you know what you’re doing?”the horse whisperer asked.He had a gentle manner, but he got straight to the point.
“I’ll be honest, no,” said Luke.
“I’ve done some roping before,” Hallie said.
“Good,” said Bert, “We’ll do this the old-fashioned way.One of you is going to charge the stallion of the herd to distract him.”
“I’ll do it,” Luke offered.
“You just said you weren’t an expert on this,” Bert objected.
“I haven’t had much practice roping a horse,” Luke said, “but as a European championship-level polo player, I can distract one lousy stallion.”
“Okay, have at ‘er,” the horse whisperer said.“The rest of us are going to rope that mare.Now Luke, you ride fast at that stallion, and get him as far away from the herd as possible.”
