Page 15 of Undone

“Ride with me. On Indigo. Sugar can’t handle both of us, but he can.”

My eyes went wide at the thought. “So, you want me to climb on top of the Maserati in horse form?”

Josh chuckled. “While I’m sure that Indigo would appreciate the compliment, he doesn’t have thehorse powerto beat a Maserati in a race.”

I knew he was trying to help me feel better, but I didn’t have it in me to laugh.

“You’ll be safe, I promise. I’ll put you right here.” He scooted backand patted the saddle in front of him. “I’ll still be in complete control and if at any time, you feel uncomfortable, we can take a break.”

I weighed the cost of riding Indigo with the reward of feeling Josh’s arms around me again. I took a deep breath.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

He gave me a satisfied nod. “Well, all right then. Let’s get moving.”

Josh hustled me onto Indigo before I had a chance to second guess my decision. The sensation of so much raw power beneath me sent a shiver through me that Josh seemed to sense. He scooted a little closer, so that my back was pressed against his chest, and squeezed his arms around me.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”

And I knew it was true. Even facing my biggest fear, Josh found a way to make me feel safe.

ELEVEN

JOSH

Ibreathed a sigh of relief as the trail ride ended. I couldn’t believe that I managed a full thirty minutes with Zoe’s ass rubbing against my crotch without getting hard. The number of not sexy things I was thinking about was staggering. I swung my leg over Indigo, who’d also been a complete gentleman and had kept his gait at a meander, and hit the ground feeling grateful that I hadn’t embarrassed myself. Sugar was bringing up the rear, looking happy to be home and off duty.

“Okay, let me help you down. He’s a lot taller than Sugar.” I reached my hand up to take Zoe’s.

“Yeah, you’re not kidding,” she said, her eyes going wide. “But I did it! I rode Indigo!”

The excitement in her voice was adorable, and for a moment, it felt like old times, when the two of us used to meet the world with a mutual sense of adventure. She took my hand and it was cold enough to send a shock wave through me. Despite her exhilaration now that it was over, I knew she’d been nervous during the ride home and theonly way I could think of to keep her fears from escalating was not to say anything.

When Zoe landed on the ground and looked up at me with her adorably proud expression, I lost my head for a second. Suddenly we were two teens again, full of fiery emotions we couldn’t control. It was as if I forgot myself, and before I could even think about what I was doing, I leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss, just the barest hint of my lips on hers before pulling back like she’d scorched me.

What the hell was I thinking? I couldn’t deny how amazing it felt to kiss Zoe again, but I’d sprung it on her without any sort of warning—or any indication from her that it was welcome.

Zoe’s eyes went wide as her hand flew to her mouth, and I realized that I needed to come up with the right way to apologize for what I’d done. Fast.

Just as I started to stutter out an excuse, my phone pinged in my pocket, likely because we were finally within range again. The rapid-fire voicemail and text notifications rolling in set off a primal response that made my stomach lurch. Something must be wrong. Very wrong. The last time I’d been hit by a string of notifications was when my parents’ plane went down. I hated being reminded of the awful day.

“I, uh, I better see what’s up,” I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Zoe nodded wordlessly, still looking as if she was in shock over what had just happened between us.

I scanned the texts first. Three from my youngest sister, Fiona. First, “Can you talk now?” then “Where are you?” then “Calling you now.” My heartbeat kicked up, and I felt a cold sweat break out on my brow. I’d missed two calls from her.

I started pacing, hoping that a few minutes of movement would helpto vent the swirl of stress racing around in my stomach. I was afraid to find out what had happened.

“What’s wrong?” Zoe asked. “Everything okay?”

“Fiona texted and called me a bunch of times. I’m not sure what’s going on.”

I swallowed hard and took a few steps away from Zoe to listen to the voicemails. The first was just a hang-up from Fiona, the second one started with a frustrated sigh. My heart was in my throat as I waited for her to start speaking.

“Josh,” Fiona said in the message. “Whereareyou? I’m at car dealership, and I think I talked the sales guy down to a really good price on a used Murano, but I wanted your opinion. I don’t know what to do. Call me back as soon as you get this!”

I disconnected and let out a shaky breath. Leave it to my sister to turn a car buying event into an emergency.

“Hey, what happened?” Zoe asked, walking over to where I was standing. She looked as worried as I’d been feeling.

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