Page 55 of Make Me Shiver (Oil Barrons 2)

Thirteen

Laney

Of course Archer would take to camping and trail riding all day like a fish to a fresh bowl of water.

Archer and Bolt got along as if they’d grown up together but hadn’t seen each other until a ten-year reunion. Bolt was a nine-year-old gelding. While the horse was still in his prime, Papa was not. Ma sometimes rode Bolt, used him to get the occasional roaming cow back into the pasture, but other than asking Bolt for the occasional spin, the pace was easy. Bolt had pent-up energy and loved expending it. I often raced him to Liam’s and back when he was being a little asshole to the other horses. Kane used to use him more often, but he’d stayed off the horses since his injury. He hadn’t said, but I thought he didn’t want to give Ma false hope.

“I can’t believe how pretty it is.” I glanced behind me. Archer gawked around him, unashamed of looking like a rugged cowboy. To be fair, he couldn’t ditch that look right now if he tried. He’d produced a tan Stetson hat from the trunk of his car when he’d arrived at my place.

Archer was scanning our surroundings, abject awe on his face. We were crossing between two buttes. The trail ran alongside one, the sheer face of the butte rising almost vertically above us. The ground sloped down, less steep, but enough that you had to put full trust into your horse. We were surrounded by dirt, rock, and prickly brush.

“I mean, look at those colors.”

I nodded but didn’t respond. He’d been gushing about the scenery the entire trip. From how the scraggly brush managed to grow in the shale faces of the buttes to the various shades in each layer of rock in the exposed canyon. When we’d driven here, I’d been glad I drove. If it’d been him, we’d have veered off the interstate going through Painted Canyon.

Each time I saw Painted Canyon, I acknowledged how stunningly unique and beautiful it was. But it was like experiencing it for the first time again with Archer. Exposed canyon for miles. Shades of pinks and purples, even grayish blue, layered in the sides, dotted by green brush. Put that against the clear blue sky and it was breathtaking. One of the words Archer used.

Riding through the state park on a horse wasn’t the same visual experience. We were down in it. Buttes towered above us. They were more than hills with a ton of character, but it was pretty, all the same. And technically challenging for a ride.

Target knew the drill. Bolt kept wanting to edge past us and be in the lead, but Archer kept him under control, like he’d grown up on a horse, which he had. As if he needed to be sexier.

He’d willingly walked away from the life, while I’d been pushed away. And he had that other existence waiting for him in another state.

I shouldn’t be getting grumpy on such a beautiful day. I should be elated. I was in Medora on a horse again. I hadn’t done this since before I left for college.

But this day was only showing me we paired well together, and not just in the bedroom. Unfortunately, I wanted to make my home in North Dakota, and the way I lived here was what he hadn’t wanted in Texas.

This ride was supposed to be relaxing, but all I could think about was why in the world he wouldn’t want to stay. He enjoyed ranch work. Yes, he loved his job, but were the small-scale farms and ranches in North Dakota that much of a downgrade?

The answer I came back to was that I wasn’t enough. Again.

I twisted in the saddle. “Ready to head back?”

When his gaze switched to me, I was captured by the pure joy in it. I’d seen a lot of expressions on Archer. He’d tried to remain in perfect control of his emotions—bad for business otherwise—but I’d been his wife.

I’d seen him upset, irritated, calm, content, and even happy. I knew what he looked like when he came inside me, or when his head was tipped back and my mouth was around him. I knew those expressions. But joy? No. Not even when we’d said our vows. He’d been satisfied, his eyes full of promise when sealing our nuptials, but not joyful. Not elated.

“We’re riding again in the morning, right?”

I snickered. “If your ass can take it.”

“My ass is ready,” he growled, as if I was the one who might be sore in the morning for completely different reasons.

I had no business thinking about those reasons on a horse with my hot husband riding next to me. “I may have even mentioned to Kennedy and Aspen we’d be camping. We might get company for the evening.”

I had no shame about telling my friends to come out. It took my mind off sharing a tent with a guy I told myself repeatedly I couldn’t think clearly around when we touched.

What had I been thinking? Two nights in a tent. Forget the sexy times. Having my irresistible husband right next to me after I’d sweated all day and smelled like horse?

Way to win him over, Laney.

“Liam too?” he asked.

I didn’t miss the hope in his voice. I wasn’t sure how he’d react to my next bit of news. Turning back to eye the trail, I spoke loudly enough for my voice to carry over the creaking saddles and swishing of the horses’ tails. “Yes. And the boys.”

He laughed. “Good thing we bought way too much lunchmeat and those cookies.” Once we were on ground where the horses didn’t have to concentrate so much, Archer started the conversation again. “Did you expect me to be a dick about Liam’s kids?”

“I worried you’d be upset I invited my friends on your first major camping trip.” Would he figure out I was afraid to spend the entire weekend with just him? But also, I liked hanging out with him and with people I also enjoyed being around.

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