Page 44 of Head Over Spurs

A strong, warm hand closed over her knee. “Jules,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”

“She just ran from everything. And I must take after her, because in the end that’s all I’ve been doing too. I mean hell, with her showing up like this, I want to make a run for itnow,” she replied with a hollow laugh.

“We can, you know. I’d run with you.” He looked up at the mountains stretching across the horizon. She followed with his gaze. There was such freedom out there, freedom she hadn’t experienced since starting here. Suddenly, she had a desperate urge to do just that.

Looking back towards Riley, her mouth pulled into a reckless smile. The same smile he shot her in return. For a moment, they were just two wild fools that managed to understand the other without having to say another word.

The thunder of racing hooves filled the air. In a full gallop, they charged along a plateau overlooking the ranch below. From up here, everything seemed so small. Including the worries she vowed to leave back at the compound.

For now, it was just her, Riley, and the geldings carrying them. Cooper had volunteered his Appaloosa to her, insisting he’d hold his own racing Riley’s horse. And as she looked down at Checkers below her, she wondered yet again why this all felt easy and familiar. As if she’d known these people, and horses, forever.

Following Riley and Atlas as they veered away from the ridge line, the wide open basin and weaving river disappeared fromsight. Instead, they were moving down a grassy slope lined with dense pines. Jules loved how many different places she could experience at one ranch alone. The expansive plains, the crystal clear river, rolling hills and treacherous mountain switchbacks had all been a part of her experience on this ride alone. And she loved every second of it.

Slowing to a canter, they fell into place side by side. She stole a glance at the cowboy beside her, his dark golden mustache twitching with a smile as he turned to her as well. He sat with such balance and control, perfectly centered as if he was simply an extension of his horse. He belonged in that saddle.

As she smiled back at him, the gesture carried appreciation, relief, and joy. The feeling of freedom coursing through her was typically something she achieved only through her travels to a foreign country. The further she ran, the freer she felt. But here she was, only a few hours from Denver—chased down by what she was running from—and she was on cloud nine.

You’re allowed to be wild here. Riley’s words from her first day of work had been persistent in her thoughts this whole ride. Maybe that was the key, allowing herself to feel free. And she did—when she was with him.

“If I let myself, I think I could completely fall for you,” she blurted out.

“Whoa.” Without missing a beat, he brought his horse to a halt. He waited for her to do the same, turning Checkers to face him.

“We never talked about… and I?—”

“So why not let yourself?” he rasped.

“I think I’ve started to.”

It was easier to be honest out here. Away from the worries she left back at the compound. But she was still terrified of returning to everything waiting for her after this admission. She hadn’t thought this through.

Riley brought Atlas forward until they were side by side. He reached his hand out for hers, and after a second of hesitation, she accepted it. Lifting it to his lips, he murmured against her skin, “You’ve started to. And tell me, has it been so bad?”

“It hasn’t been bad at all. That’s the problem,” she whispered in return.

“Why is it a problem?”

Her fingers twitched around the reins. Her brain yelled at her to run, to protect herself. People leave. Homes fall apart. And she couldn’t have the rug ripped out from under her a second time.

Understanding swirled in his gaze as she remained silent. As if he could read every thought she couldn’t say. He saw her—and had told her as much recently.

“I just need more time.”

He nodded. “I’m the kind of man that’ll wait when something’s meant for him.”

Forget butterflies, her chest felt like a fleet of meadowlarks just took flight in it. She blinked back at the cowboy that had just taken her breath away, greeted by that damn crooked smile of his. With a twitch of his mustache, he dropped her hand and spurred Atlas on.

“It’s about time you chase after me,” he called over his shoulder as he rode away, amused confidence in his tone.

His ability to be undeterred was frustratingly charming. Yes, she was already falling indeed.

Riley

If I let myself, I think I could completely fall for you.

What kind of frustrating, intoxicating, and utterly magnificent woman had he fallen for? Because he had. Somewherebetween that first night under the Texas sky and these last few weeks of being granted a peek at what it was that she carried on her heart, he had fallen.

Jules was real and raw and unapologetically passionate about things that matched his own drive. Yet she was still soft in there. He wasn’t fooled by her fire.

---