Page 25 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

“Whatever you say.” She chuckled. “Thank you for agreeing to come with me today.” Maybe she should have taken Paisley up on the offer to ride with the group of teens she’d be taking out this afternoon instead of pushing Graham. Fact was, she preferred Graham’s company.

That was the transference syndrome or whatever it was called rearing its head again. It was too soon after Paul to actually fall for someone else. And Graham wasn’t the kind of guy she’d normally go for, so the interest she felt couldn’t be real.

She’d keep telling herself that.

* * *

And she told him to relax.

How on earth could he stay in the saddle if he relaxed? He’d probably slide right off like a sack of potatoes if he didn’t focus on his balance and keep his heels down and his reins positioned properly.

And then there was Weston’s dig about bears. Thanks a lot.

But it was a lovely morning. Cadence had been right about that. The sun angled through the aspens at this elevation. A rainstorm had come through last night, and the air smelled fresh.

Not as sweet as Cadence smelled, not that he was about to mention it. Sitting on a horse kept him from leaning in a little to sniff her floral fragrance. He’d noticed her aromatic preferences on the road trip west and been hyper aware of it since the dance a couple of weeks ago.

Today she’d smell like horse.

That wouldn’t be a turn-off, actually. There was little he could imagine about her that would do that to him.

And he needed to rein in those thoughts. He’d been trying to do that for the past few weeks, but with little success so far.

Cadence breezed through the office several times a day, distracting him from the spreadsheets and workbooks that filled his screen and usually kept him well occupied. She had a small desk angled into a corner of the office, a nook she’d made her own with photos of the ranch sticky-tacked to the wall. He was in a couple of them, but he wasn’t going to read too much into that, since many of the shots had other people in them.

Graham managed to lift his gaze from the trail directly between his horse’s ears and take a deeper breath. Maybe he could adjust his body to the rhythm. He well remembered how stiff he’d been last time after fighting it the entire ride. But how did one even do that?

He glanced at Cadence.

She beamed back at him. “Isn’t this fun?”

Fun. He wouldn’t put it that way. But with her? “Sure.”

“You’re lying.” She giggled, the sound like tinkling bells.

Man, he was a goner. He should never have invited her to Montana when he knew her presence would only fan the flame he’d managed to douse years ago. But he couldn’t have left her there to pick up all the pieces when he had solutions for every single one of her challenges. The result? He had the privilege — he snorted quietly — of ignoring the attraction that had flared to life since that evening in Chicago.

“What are you thinking?” Her quiet question seemed genuine.

“Uh…” He couldn’t let on what he thought of her. What if she regretted everything? But it didn’t seem like it. “Heard anything from Paul?”

“I blocked his number weeks ago.”

“He doesn’t have your email?”

She sighed. “Yeah, he does. He’s emailed a bunch of times, so I finally set a filter to send them straight to trash.”

“You haven’t even read them?” Graham shouldn’t allow his hopes to dance. “He might be genuinely sorry.”

“It’s too late. Much, much too late.” Cadence offered him a wry grin. “That was a super close call. Thanks again for the rescue.”

“Anyone would have helped.”

“I doubt it. He had nine other groomsmen, but only one called him out. I owe you everything.”

She didn’t mean it the way his stupid heart wanted to take it.

“Uh, how are your parents doing? Is your mom still guilting you?”

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