My lips curved up, but I tried not to laugh since he was obviously serious about not riding horses. “I completely get the other two, but I don’t understand your aversion to horses. I could ride a horse almost from the time I could walk. If you know what you’re doing, they’re not dangerous.”
“I was five when my parents decided I needed a pony ride,” he drawled. “I fell and split my head open. It was so traumatic at the time that I still remember it, and I’ve never gotten on a horse since. Luckily, there are other modes of transportation that are a lot more comfortable than a horse.”
I smiled back at him. “You have no idea what you’re missing. There’s nothing more relaxing than riding. Especially in a place with beautiful scenery.”
“You obviously miss it,” Wyatt observed.
I nodded as I took a sip of my water and swallowed it. “I do. But it’s not exactly practical to own a horse in the city. One of the things I loved about moving back to Montana from Chicago was the fact that I got to ride a lot more. But I’m starting to love San Diego, too. It’s nice not having to deal with the brutal winter weather, and being near the water is incredibly relaxing. There’s also a much bigger variety of things to do here.”
Wyatt shrugged. “It’s not like we can’t visit other places, Shelby. I can take you anywhere you want to go without much effort. If you want to see your family more often, we could just hop on my jet and go. They’re a fairly short plane ride away.”
He’d do it.
I knew that.
It wasn’t the first time he’d offered to jet me off somewhere on a moment’s notice.
God, that was one of the really seductive things about Wyatt.
He wanted to make me happy, and he was willing to do almost anything to make it happen.
I couldn’t remember a time when a guy had given a shit about my well-being, and now that I had one, I realized what had been missing in my previous relationships.
“I’m already totally spoiled, thank you very much,” I retorted. “And the picnic is next weekend. I’m a little nervous, but I’ll be happy to see my family and people in town who want to see me.”
Wyatt immediately reached out, took my hand in his, and entwined our fingers. “Enjoy seeing the people you want to see, and ignore the rest of them. They’re not worth your anxiety about it. Everything will be fine, Shelby. Honestly, I am a little worried myself, but not about the town gossip. I don’t like you going there without my security.”
I’d heard him express those concerns several times over the last few weeks. Even though nothing had happened, Wyatt still had his security on my ass everywhere I went when he wasn’t with me.
He had a concealed carry permit, which was difficult to get in California, but it didn’t surprise me since a guy like Wyatt probably needed personal protection. He rarely used his own security personnel for himself or when we were together, but he was always armed with a Glock when the two of us went out anywhere.
According to Tori, Wyatt was an expert marksman, and I had no reason to doubt that claim considering his background in special forces.
However, I was starting to wonder if, after so much time had passed, we could back off on my security.
I’d insisted on not taking his security with me to Montana because I wanted some alone time with my family. His team was good at blending in when they were in the city, but they’d stick out like a sore thumb in Crystal Fork, Montana.
The police had gotten nowhere, and I was now willing to accept that the break-in was just a random incident.
Unfortunately, Wyattwasn’twilling to accept that yet, and because I didn’t want him to worry, I hadn’t protested about his security tailing me all the time. I’d actually gotten so used to it that it really didn’t bother me that much anymore.
“I’ll be on Kaleb’s jet on the way there, and you’re coming to pick me up,” I reminded him. “I’m staying with Kaleb, and he’s not going to let me go anywhere alone. Nothing is going to happen to me, Wyatt. It’s been a long time, and nothing else has happened. I think we have to assume that it was a one-time incident.”
“Assuming anything is dangerous, Shelby,” Wyatt answered, his tone deadly serious now. “It really hasn’t been that long, and this wasn’t a typical burglary.”
“The police are at a standstill with the case,” I said softly. “No one can find anything, and nothing has happened. It makes sense to assume that it was done by someone with a really bad sense of humor.”
“It wasn’t amusing,” Wyatt growled. “We’re still working on it, and we’ll eventually figure it out. I’m not going to be comfortable with you going anywhere alone until we do. My gut is telling me it’s not safe.”
While there was a part of me that loved the protective, alpha male part of Wyatt, I also didn’t want him to worry about my safety.
There was probably nowhere safer than Crystal Fork.
If someone really wanted to hurt me, they probably would have tried something already, security or no security.
“I’ll be fine, Wyatt. Are you going to worry the entire week that I’m alone in Montana?” I queried gently.
“Probably,” he said gruffly as he reached out a powerful arm, wrapped it around my waist, and bodily pulled me into his chair until I was on top of him.