Page 6 of Rein in the Night

An hour later, sore but loving every second, she was on Annabel’s back. Keena trotted the animal around the arena with Ryan riding a massive black stallion at her side. Everyone else had long since left, and they were alone except for a few ranch hands she caught sight of as they hurried off to some task. The day had turned warmer again, but a breeze kicked up to cool Keena’s heated body.

Ryan hadn’t smiled once in all the time they were together, but she felt comfortable with him. Somehow, she thought it might be because he didn’t speak unless he had something to say, and he didn’t try to come on to her either. Not that she thought she was his type if the skank was with her platinum blonde hair, her fake boobs, and her size-three body. Keena was a size twelve, and her breasts were average. She wore her hair in braids most of the time, having gone natural three years ago.

She didn’t know if Ryan was into black women, but she didn’t put too much stock in race since Aunt Delores had been close friends, as she liked to call it, with Mr. Creighton forever, and he was white. Steven’s mother had been white, and his father Hispanic. Keena was one hundred percent African-American and proud of it, but she didn’t limit her dating range—or hadn’t when she was in the market.

She frowned, realizing where her thoughts had wandered. Ryan was not dating material, and she was not interested in him that way. The man was attractive in a rough cowboy way that could make a woman beg for his touch, but that was any other woman, not her.

In the near distance, a bell rang, startling Keena. Ryan reached across and grasped her reins, slowing them both to a stop. “That’s the dinner bell. I should have ended this sooner so you could get cleaned up, but I’m sure Mirabelle will hold something for you if you hurry.”

She nodded, grinning despite herself. “Thanks. That was amazing.” Embarrassment made her look away. She didn’t want to acknowledge that he was a good teacher, but he was. “You’re a good teacher.”

He flared his nostrils.

“Will you be here tomorrow?” Right away, she felt him back off. Damn, sh

e’d sounded too eager.

“I have other duties to attend to. All of the trainers are skilled. Someone can help you, and since you did so well, you might consider going out on the trail with a guide.”

“Sure. Thanks.” Annoyed, she jumped from the saddle before he could help her and hurried on a painful ankle to retrieve her chaps and head back to her cabin. She heard him ask if she was okay, but she ignored him and kept moving. His reserve was good for both of them, so she could avoid opening herself to yet another man who would do nothing but stomp her heart into the ground.

Chapter Four

Keena didn’t spot Ryan anywhere around the ranch for the next couple of days. She continued her lessons in riding with another trainer and was soon ready to head out on a short ride along the trails with Jerry, the ranch hand she’d seen the first day she arrived, and one other man. The Turners, the older couple who rode in the airport van with her that day, also came along. Three other guests who Keena met at dinner the night before joined them, but she didn’t remember any of their names. All of the others were more experienced than she was, and soon Keena had dropped to the rear of the group.

Jerry loped over to her on his horse with a gentle, yet slightly interested smile on his face. “How you doing, Keena? Okay? Do you need us to slow the pace a little?”

She shook head. “No, I’m all right. I don’t want to ruin it for everybody else. Just a little sore from all the lessons.”

He chuckled, and Keena noted how his gaze dropped to her hips and thighs. The man was attracted to her, that was for sure, but she didn’t get the slightest spark for him. In fact, her lack of interest in this man who was fine, if a bit young—he couldn’t be thirty yet—renewed her faith in her resolve to swear off all men.

Jerry leaned out and rested a hand over hers, which covered the saddle horn. “Be careful to keep your reins centered so you don’t throw yourself or Annabel off-balance. You don’t want to take a tumble.”

She lowered her gaze to where his hand was. The touch was an excuse. Her trainers had drummed it into her head, and she might not keep herself from slouching in the saddle as much as she should, but the centering of the reins, she had down pat. With a gentle squeeze of her thighs that she hoped Jerry didn’t notice, she coaxed Annabel into a faster trot. Jerry’s hand fell away when she moved ahead.

Keena grinned with Jerry behind her. Maybe he’d get the message. If not, she’d tell him straight out to back off. She wasn’t out here to find a new man. She needed to get her head on straight, center herself, and set some new goals for her life. When those were done, she could return home. She lifted her face toward the warm breeze darting through the trees and basked in the sunshine. The birds chirping calmed her, allowed her thoughts to flow free.

Perhaps she would buy a home of her own. Aunt Delores had offered Keena to live with her for as long as she liked, had suggested they could be two happy old maids, before Keena had met Steven. Back then, she laughed because she was sure she’d never be an old maid, still clinging to her dream. Now, she would be more pathetic since Aunt Delores wasn’t exactly an old maid. She had refused Mr. Creighton’s offer of marriage a hundred times over the years, but he was still in her life, even if Aunt Delores did insist he was just a friend. For the first time, Keena began to consider whether her aunt had been holding out until Keena was settled. Guilt assailed her at the thought of her sweet aunt putting off her life for her.

“Well, that’s one goal set,” she muttered, having decided on finding a home of her own when she returned to New York.

“What’s that?”

Keena jerked in the saddle when Ryan’s voice invaded her thoughts. She was surprised to find he had ridden up alongside of her on his horse without her noticing. “Where did you come from?”

She glanced over her shoulder to find Jerry gone.

“Eyes ahead,” Ryan instructed in his deep, but calm, tone. “Jerry was needed at the ranch, so I replaced him. You have a problem with that?”

She tried not to notice how his jeans hugged his thick, muscled thighs, and faced forward like he told her. “No, I guess not. We were hitting it off earlier. He was so helpful to me, that’s all.”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed on her face. She tried not to smile. Okay, here she was teasing this brooding man she didn’t know, who gave off a sense of danger, and she had been convinced moments ago from Jerry that she was dead inside. Unbidden, the thought came to mind of whether she would get any physical reaction to Ryan laying his hand over hers.

There she went again, thinking about Ryan in the wrong way. Did it mean that she didn’t love Steven anymore? She frowned. No, the pain surfaced just thinking of him. Loving him, hurting over him didn’t make her desires and attraction to other men nonexistent. She needed to keep control, nothing more.

“Stop.”

She looked at him. “What?”

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