Page 57 of A Lot Like Love
Chapter 14
“I’ve never asked how long you’ve been riding rodeo?” Chloe said to Ryder. “I’ll bet you started horseback riding when you were a kid.”
It had been a week since they’d gotten back from Vegas and he’d finally talked Chloe onto a horse. She’d ridden a few times as a kid so she wasn’t nervous, but she wasn’t exactly confident, either. He spent his days training, working with young horses that he’d reared himself, so being on horseback was second nature to him.
“I’ve been riding since before you were walking,” Ryder said, watching as Chloe sat straighter in the saddle. “I started riding in front of my granddad when I was still in diapers.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said with a laugh, stroking her horse’s neck just like he’d shown her to do without letting go of the reins.
“My brothers were older and off riding, and Granddad said it was either put me up front on the saddle or let them go off on their own.” Ryder grinned. “I think he had it easy raising a daughter here, then he was hit with three risk-taking grandsons to deal with. Then when I was about ten I started barrel racing on my pony, entering a few local rodeo days, and before anyone knew what I had planned I was all grown up and traveling around the state competing anywhere and everywhere I could.”
They rode side by side, Ryder holding his reins on the buckle with one hand, Chloe gripping hers a little tighter.
“Do you enjoy riding for pleasure like this?” Chloe asked. “I mean, it must seem pretty tame compared to bucking broncs.”
Ryder shook his head, patting his horse’s rump. “I just love being in the saddle. Rodeo’s a thrill, an addiction that I’ve never been able to walk away from, but riding like this?” He shrugged. “I’ll never tire of just riding out over the ranch. I train horses for ranch work and rodeo, so to be honest as long as I’m on horseback or working with them I’m happy.”
“I can see the appeal,” she replied. “Of this I mean, not the rodeo stuff.”
He laughed. “Yeah, somehow I can’t see you jumping on a bull any day soon.”
“Hey, if I wasn’t so drunk I’d have been fine on that mechanical one.” Her smile lit her face.
They both laughed.
“You do realize that you kicked ass in Vegas, don’t you? I mean”—Ryder blew out a breath—“I love that you whipped all those guys. I’ve never seen a woman play like that.”
“I got used to guys I dated hating that I could always beat them. They liked it to start with, then they resented that I was the better player.”
Ryder reached out and placed his hand on her thigh. “Darlin’, I think it’s impressive. Don’t ever let me beat you, because if I ever manage it, I want to know that I deserved it.”
“You’ll regret saying that. Guys always do.” She shrugged. “Besides, I ruined my winning streak that last day anyway.”
He winked, ignoring her reference to her dad. “Not me. I like a challenge, and the harder I have to work for it the better.”
She flushed, her cheeks burning a delicious shade of pink. “Talking about cards, have you thought any more about our plan?”
“I have full confidence in you,” he told her. And he did, only the fact that his ranch was on the line made him damn nervous. “But card games are unpredictable. I know that better than anyone.”
“Yeah, but you have a tell, just like everyone,” she told him.
“You’ve already made it clear what a crap card player I am,” he said, giving her a pretend shove. “You can stop insulting my masculinity anytime now.”
She made a face, her smile hovering into a frown. “Sorry. Brutal but true.”
“Seriously though,” he said, reining back and watching her do the same. Or more like the well-trained old horse she was riding stopped when his did. “Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it. You say the word and I’ll follow your lead.”
She winked and lifted her hat. “We’re gonna win back every penny,” she drawled. “But I’d be lying if I said that losing that last game in Vegas hadn’t knocked me a bit.”
He scowled. “If that was supposed to sound like me…”
Chloe’s smile made it impossible for him not to return it. Since he’d been around her it was like she’d scrambled his hard wiring, made him soft when before he’d been tough as nails. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it, but he damn well found it amusing that the same woman who was blackmailing him was managing to turn him to putty in her hands.
“Come on, I need to get back for my shift.”
Ryder groaned. “Do you have to keep working there?”
This time the withering look she threw him wasn’t humorous. “No, how stupid of me. I could just write a check from my trust fund to pay my tuition and rent. Duh!” She slapped herself in the face. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
