Page 32 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to sneak up on you, darling.”
“Darling?” Julie laughed.
“You’re in cowboy territory now. That makes you a darling.”
She laughed again. He loved the sound. It made him want to say one charming thing after another. To charm the pants right off her. Literally.
He gestured to the barn. “You’ve been teaching me yoga, and showing me what makes you feel better. Now I want to show you my idea of stress relief.”
She offered a slight nod. “Okay. Let’s do this. Do I look all right?”
His gaze ran down her body as he suppressed a groan and fumbled for the right words. She looked more than all right. He’d always had a cowgirl fantasy and right now Julie was pretty much fulfilling it. “Yep” was all he could manage. He turned and headed toward the barn, opening the stable doors and exciting the horses inside. The smell of hay and animals invigorated him. So did the beautiful woman who stepped up beside him.
He grabbed a saddle from one of the hooks on the wall. This had seemed like a good idea when he’d dreamt it up at lunchtime, telling himself he was just being friendly, taking Dr. Pierce’s advice and letting someone in on his feelings. Dr. Pierce had also advised him not to get romantically involved right now, and suddenly this felt like he was in direct opposition to that advice.
“How many horses do you have?”
“I don’t have any here. Mine are back home in Texas. Beth has two. Jax is hers. Bon-Bon belongs to Sabrina.”
“Sabrina has her own horse?” Julie asked, as surprise lifted her brow.
Lawson grinned, unlocking Bon-Bon’s stall. “She doesn’t really ride, but Sabrina likes to come out here and feed her apple slices.” He rubbed his hand over Bon-Bon’s sorrel-colored muzzle. Leaning in close to the horse, he whispered loud enough for Julie to overhear. “Want to take a ride with me, Bon?”
The horse made a gentle nicker.
Lawson looked at Julie. “She says yes.” He started preparing the saddles.
“Wait,” she objected at his side. “Wait.”
Lawson turned back to her, noticing her wide eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know how to ride,” she confessed. “I mean, I’ve been on a horse before, but it’s been ages and I basically just walked around on a lead. I really don’t think—”
“Relax.” He continued fastening the saddle on Bon-Bon’s back. “No thinking necessary. I’ll take care of you.” Carrying the other saddle toward Jax, he mentally reprimanded himself.
I’ll take care of you?
A few minutes later they were standing outside the barn with both horses.
“You can ride Bon-Bon.”
Julie nodded. “Okay.” She lifted her leg, securing her foot in the stirrup, and tried to pull herself upward. It didn’t work. She tried again, then again. After several unsuccessful attempts, she sighed and turned to Lawson.
“Can I help?” he asked, praying she’d say yes. Because helping her meant being close to her, touching her. And he couldn’t think of anything better than that at the moment.
—
Julie blew a breath toward the lock of hair that had slipped out of her ponytail. She really wished she didn’t need to say yes to Lawson’s offer of help, but mounting Bon-Bon was proving to be impossible. “Please,” she said, releasing a breath of frustration. So far Lawson’s claim of stress reduction with horse riding was falling flat.
He took a step toward her and her entire body stiffened. Then he leaned in close. “I’m going to have to put my hands on your leg, Julie. Is that all right?”
The thought set her skin ablaze. “Mm-hmm.” She nodded, anticipating his touch. Wanting to run just about as badly as she wanted to match every movement he made toward her.
“Okay, bend your left leg,” he said. “I’m going to grip underneath your knee and lift, while you use your right leg to push up off the ground. When I do, I want you to use your arms to hold on to the saddle and pull your body up.”
She swallowed and nodded her agreement.
“Here we go,” he said. “On the count of three. One…two…three.”
