Page 43 of Kissing Kayley
Kayley brightened up at that. “After dinner, let’s do some more in the room!”
I knew she wasn’t a Little, but her eager anticipation made me smile because we both damn sure needed something to smile about. “We can absolutely do that.”
She ran her fingers over the fading ligature marks on her legs from the last tie I’d done on her. “I can see where this would quickly get addictive,” she noted. “If I had this much fun in a basic class, I’m guessing the more advanced stuff is even better.”
Tucker nodded. “It can get that way. But remember, never try suspending someone without proper training and lots of supervised practice,” he said. “If you don’t try to force limbs out of sockets or leave someone tied up too tightly or in a bad position, you can, for the most part, safely do basic ropework with what you just learned. Just use common sense and always err on the side of caution. We have a few classes on the TV you can follow along with, too. Stick to the beginner ties and you should be fine.”
I stashed our new rope and safety shears into a small canvas tote bag that came with the rope and which bore the Rawhide Ranch logo. Then I climbed to my feet, held my hand out to Kayley, and we headed back to our room to change.
“That was amazing!” she said on the ride down in the elevator. “I honestly went into that thinking okay, it’ll be fun, but not realizing…” She stared up into my eyes. “That wasfun,” she said. “I think my brain turned off.”
I reached up andboopedher on the nose with my index finger. “That’s kind of the point,” I observed. “It’s very soothing for some people.”
She leaned against me, her head on my shoulder. “I think it’s safe to say I want to do more rope.”
“Good. Me, too.”
Inside I struggled not to let my nearly manic grin bubble to the surface. If she was already enthusiastically throwing herself into this, it gave me hope we were on the right path to a beautiful future together.
We changed clothes and decided to try the Mexican restaurant. I hoped that the food there would be as good as everything we’d eaten so far, and I wasn’t disappointed.
This wasn’t fast-food restaurant crap—it was authentic Mexican cooking.
For the second time today, I found myself staring at my plate and wondering if I could flag down a wheelbarrow to just roll us back to our room.
On the other side of the table, Kayley looked equally stuffed. I’d had a light beer with dinner, just the one, but she stuck tohorchata. Which was delicious, but too sweet for my tastes as a side beverage. Like diabetes in a glass.
“What next?” I asked Kayley once we’d finished.
She sighed and I loved that she looked… happy.
Relaxed.
“Not sure,” she said. “I might need you to carry me back to the room.”
I laughed. “I was hopingyou’dcarryme.”
“They sure feed us well here.” She glanced out the window, at the deepening purple shadows slowly engulfing the landscape. “As much as I’d love for us to go back to the room right now, I’m afraid if we do, I’ll just fall over and collapse in a horchata coma. How about a slow, easy walk?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
We soon found ourselves down by the stable, where a young woman with curly red hair was grooming a large Clydesdale.
She smiled. “Welcome! I’m Wren.”
“Vic and Daphine,” I said. “We haven’t explored here yet. It’s our first day.”
“Did you want to go for a ride? It’s getting too dark for the trails, but you can ride in the paddock.”
“No, not tonight,” I said. “We needed to walk off our dinner.”
“Can we pet him?” Kayley asked.
Wren brightened and waved us over to the horse in the cross-ties. “This is Atlas,” she said, holding her hand out, palm up, for the horse to nose. “Just do that and let him sniff you.”
We did, Kayley even giggling as he gently blew warm breath against our hands. “He’s really big,” she said.
“He is,” Wren agreed, pointing toward another stall where a similar looking horse’s head poked out and watched us. “So’s Hercules.”
