Page 29 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

It could take several hours before the foal would stand up and start nursing. I slumped to the ground, all of the energy dissipating from me. Fear, followed by exhilaration and relief, had taken its toll on me physically.

Rafe sat down next to me. “That was ...”

I was too tired to turn my head. “What?”

“I always knew you were incredible. You are generous, kind, smart, funny, such a hard worker. Everything about you is amazing. But I didn’t comprehend how amazing until this very moment.”

His words sent a light, bouncy feeling through me, fluttering in my heart and my stomach with glittery sparkles. Without thinking, I reached for his hand. He grasped my hand in return, our fingers intertwined, his warmth seeping into mine.

It was what you would call “a moment.” And from the way he was studying my lips, it was about to turn into a whole different kind of moment, and all this euphoria I was feeling told me that was a super idea.

I bit my lower lip in anticipation, and he sucked in a breath sharply, his eyes dark and fierce. My nerves went taut, like my skin had been pulled too tight. He pulled me close, hugging me against him. Some part of my brain thought,A hug? Really?But it was so nice to be held after everything I’d just gone through. That physical contact made me relax, and it made me feel better. Even lighter and happier.

He makes me feel safe.

His arms went slack, and I pulled back slightly. He’d said he wouldn’t kiss me.

But I wanted him to.

My body was totally intent on sabotaging my brain and my heart. I thought I’d had enough time to get over it, to move past this attraction, but it turned out I was wrong. Before I could do anything to ratchet up my current stupidity, we were interrupted by Dr.Pavich and Chuck Montgomery. I got to my feet quickly, as did Rafe. I brushed the dirt off of my jeans while I told the vet what had happened and what I’d done. Both men looked in on the foal.

“Do you have a name?” I asked, trying to ignore Rafe and the way he’d just made me feel.

“Summer Breeze,” Mr.Montgomery said, behaving like a proud father.

“You go on with your boyfriend and get back home,” Dr.Pavich said. I started to protest that Rafe wasn’t my boyfriend, but he continued. “I’ll take over from here and finish up with everything.”

“If something goes wrong, you’ll text me?”

“I will,” he promised. “But I don’t think I’ll have to. You did a great job.”

Leaving behind the supplies, I followed Rafe back to the car. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other. A heaviness settled on top of my chest. A lot had happened today, and I was feeling wiped out. He opened the door for me again, and I got in. When he entered on his side, I suddenly started to cry.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his concern evident.

“This is so dumb. I don’t even know why I’m crying,” I said, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

“That was a very emotional experience,” he offered.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“Did it make you think about Marigold?” He seemed to have a sixth sense where I was concerned. He knew what I was feeling when I felt it, and why. I used to love that deeper connection we had, but now it made staying upset with him really difficult.

Other than my best friend and Aunt Sylvia, Rafe was the only person who knew about my horse and what it had cost me to lose her.

It had been the first big group date onMarry Me. After our first meeting, I had been outside running laps around the backyard, since we weren’t allowed to leave the grounds. Rafe had been out there too, and when he saw me, he joined me. We had another fantastic conversation, and I told him all about my farm and how I wanted to be a veterinarian. He told me how he wanted to design software and applications, and again asked me not to tell anyone. It should have been a red flag, but he was too cute and too fun and that was all I could think about.

When we arrived at the horse ranch, I was beside myself with excitement. It had been so long since I had last gone riding. Lemon and I were the only ones who knew what we were doing, and I spent a lot of time helping the professionals keep the girls in a group. The horses could tell that their riders were clueless, and a lot of them just did what they wanted.

I chased after Emily, whose horse had gone pretty far off course toward a small creek. When I reached her and grabbed for the reins, I saw that Emily had her eyes squeezed shut and her fingers knotted in the horse’s mane. I spoke gently to both of them and showed Emily how to make the horse do what she wanted. It seemed to help, and when a ranch hand came by to gather her up, she gave me a grateful smile as she followed behind him.

My horse, a little black-and-white Arabian named Dolly, took an interest in the creek and lapped at the water.

Rafe emerged from the trees on top of a blue roan stallion, looking like he’d spent his entire life riding. There was no hesitation or discomfort, and he had total control over his horse. It surprised me because I would have pegged him for a city boy.

“That was kind of you,” he said, pulling up alongside me. Dolly sidestepped, intimidated by the bigger horse. I let her go where she wanted, patting her on the neck.

“Purely selfish, actually.”

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