Page 62 of Not the Billionaire

His eyes settled on Genevieve—another beautiful creature—just as she looked back at him. “Catch up,” she told him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, giving Buddy a little tap with his heels to get him to trot past her.

“Hey!” she cried.

He heard her laugh, and then she was beside him with Charisma, trotting along the path.

“I told you I’ve done this a few times.” He gave her a smile as he sat firmly in the saddle and signaled with his legs for Buddy to change his gait to a walk.

Genevieve did the same. “I’m impressed. You’re either a natural or you’ve ridden more than you’re admitting, because it usually takes practice to get a horse to make such a smooth transition for a beginner rider.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

Her nose scrunched up like it so often did, and he was beginning to understand that it meant she was annoyed or disappointed.

“What?” he asked.

“You do that a lot,” she said.

“Do what?”

“I’m trying to get to know you, and whenever I ask you something about yourself, you dodge the question or shrug it away like you just did.”

“You didn’t ask me a question. If you want to know something, ask.”

“How long have you been riding?”

“Since I was a kid, but my parents sold my horse years ago, and I haven’t ridden since.”

“How come you didn’t tell me that earlier, before I babbled on and on about how to ride a horse?”

“I wanted to hear you tell me how to do it. I like the sound of your voice.”

A blush colored her cheeks as a shy smile spread across her face. “Was that so hard?”

“Anything else you’d like to ask me?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Are you originally from Grand Rapids?”

“Yes. Born and raised.”

“Did you keep it there?”

“Keep what where?”

“Your horse. In GR?”

He was amused by the way she jumped from subject to subject. “Yeah. We boarded it at a stable.”

She smiled. “I got Charisma when I was eight. She was just a filly then.” She touched Charisma’s side. “We’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we, girl?”

“How about Buddy?” he asked.

“Buddy’s been around for about twenty years. My sister, Rhonda, didn’t take to horses like I did, though. But I was getting all this attention barrel racing, and she liked being the center of attention, so she begged for a horse and riding lessons. It didn’t last very long. She wasn’t devoted to it like I was. Poor Buddy didn’t get much of her attention either.”

“So, now your Mom takes care of the horses?”

Genevieve laughed at that. “Mom wouldn’t be caught dead mucking out stalls. Since dad passed away, Amish neighbors and their kids have looked out for them. But lately,”—she nodded her head toward a nearby farm—“the neighbor girl, Luna, has been coming several days a week to take them out and exercise them.” She got a sad expression on her face as she looked down at Charisma. “I miss it. I miss her.” She took a deep breath in and sighed, then turned to him with a playful grin. “Wanna see what she can do?”

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