Page 24 of Trusting a Cowgirl

Though a large part of him didn’t think that would be possible.

They emerged from the barn as the sky was quickly shifting from blue to purple and red. Grace made a soft sound and he glanced at her, finding her staring at the sky.

When she met his gaze, she grinned. “You know, a lot of people talk about how pretty the sunrise is. How it signals a new day—a fresh start—but I prefer the sunsets.”

“Why’s that?” His stomach continued doing that dance which made him antsy. In all his fifteen years of serving in the military, the only times he could remember feeling this on edge was in the very beginning.

He wasn’t a teenager anymore. He was a grown man who just happened to hate talking about his feelings. And there was nothing wrong with that.

Grace tipped her head back, showing off her slender neck. “Because a sunset signals the end of a day and a promise that the next one will be better.”

Riley chuckled dryly. “I don’t think you’re getting that quite right.”

She scoffed at him. “Well then,mister. Why do you like sunsets so much?”

He didn’t even blink. “Because sometimes you can only find peace in the dark.”

Boy, that sounded morbid. Riley wasn’t about to take it back though. It was the truth—at least for him. When the sun went down and the world got quiet, he could let the void swallow him and let everything else fade away.

Riley avoided looking at her. She’d grown especially quiet. He’d scared her off. He should have known better than to show that side of him. Women didn’t like hearing about the dismal stuff, not even the therapists. They listened out of obligation, nothing else.

His hands gripped the reins tighter and he nudged Dolly into a trot, relishing the way the pain of his rump hitting the saddle could make him forget the strange feelings that churned inside him.

It was just his luck that he’d end up finding his therapist attractive. The one person who would be off limits was the one who seemed to have the magical powers to break through his walls.

Buster moved up beside him and Grace grinned at him. “That doesn’t really look all that comfortable. I thought you knew how to ride better than that.”

“It’s a trot. There’s no other way to ride.”

She shook her head and snickered. “You stand up in the saddle instead of bouncing against it. Movewiththe horse, not against her.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, then at least make her go a little faster. Just looking at you makes my backside hurt.”

He couldn’t help it. His lips curled into a grin as he watched her push Buster to a faster speed. The fluid way she moved was almost mesmerizing. She had this way of making it look purely magical.

Maybe he was being too hard on himself. What kind of guy wouldn’t find her attractive? What kind of man wouldn’t develop feelings for her after even one conversation?

He dug his heels into Dolly’s flanks and quickly shot forward to match Buster’s pace. Grace led them along the trail to wherever she planned to have this session take them with no complaints from him.

With the lack of conversation, his thoughts shifted back to those darker places. Someone like Grace wouldn’t want to be with a guy like him. If she only knew…

Riley shook his head sharply and focused on the darkening sky, the way the wind whipped through the horse’s mane. The way Grace’s smile could brighten even the dimmest night.

The sky continued to change colors, and every so often, he’d lose track of what he was supposed to be doing. It was probably a good thing Dolly knew what was going on. Otherwise he might have gotten lost.

Clouds moved in, making the paint pallet in the sky that much more hypnotic.

Wait. They weren’t just light, fluffy clouds.

These were storm clouds.

Just as he realized it, a flash of lightning skittered across the sky. His heart leaped into his throat and he shot a worried look in Grace’s direction. “Maybe we should head back,” he called.

She tossed back her head and laughed. “What are you so afraid of? I didn’t take you for the kind of guy who was scared of getting a little wet.”

He shook his head. “These storms are—”

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