I wasn’t teaching her to ride because I was a good man.
I’d brought her here to pry information out of her.
Having her do something like that for me had caught me off-guard.
I was starting to realize that doing thoughtful things was just part of Reese’s nature, and that she was just inherently…kind.
I’d felt so damn guilty that I hadn’t asked her a single question that I knew she didn’t want to answer.
I couldn’t.
For some damn reason I just didn’t really want to see fear in her eyes.
I’d rather watch her smile and her joy because she was on a horse.
We could get to the difficult stuff…later.
I was starting to get addicted to her smile and maybe her happiness was contagious because I was feeling pretty damn happy myself at the moment.
That was pretty unusual for me because I wasn’t a guy who experienced a lot of emotional extremes of any kind.
Generally, I was just a cynical bastard who didn’t smile very often.
The trail widened so I pulled up beside her. “Having fun?” I asked her.
Her smile was almost blinding, and her cheeks were flushed as she replied, “The most fun I’ve had in a long time. Thank you so much for this. Luna is a dream horse, and it’s almost surreal that I’m actually riding her.”
Christ!She was beautiful.
And I was so fucked.
I’d been extremely unsuccessful at convincing my dick that she was the enemy.
Probably because I really didn’t believe that myself anymore.
However, she was hiding something, and I was determined to figure out exactly what she didn’t want to reveal.
I had to be honest with myself and admit that I hadn’t negotiated my gym for dinner with nefarious intentions.
Truth was, I just wanted to see more of Reese. During that time together maybe she’d learn to trust me and tell me what I wanted to know.
I also happened to love everything she cooked.
Win. Win.
At least it was for me.
She seemed to think she was getting a good deal, so neither one of us was unhappy with that agreement.
“You two look good together,” I commented. “I think you’re a good match.”
“I think we’re a perfect match,” Reese agreed. “You said she came from a top breeder and that she’s from a champion lineage. Was she terribly expensive?”
Luna was a special horse, and she hadn’t come cheap, but I wasn’t about to tell Reese how much my brothers and I had paid for her when we’d gifted her to my mother several years ago.
I suspected that Reese was pondering the idea of asking to buy her from me in the future when she was settled enough to own a horse.
“A good Gypsy Vanner is a little pricey,” I said vaguely. “They aren’t a common breed in the United States and it’s not easy to find a good purebred like her. But I’ve paid more for a horse.”