Sweet and Wild (5 page)

Marisol considered the question. “London.
I loved the zoo and Westminster Abby. And maybe if I can go back I’d be able to
ride in Hyde Park.”

“Now that would be an idea. Of course I
don’t think they’d use western gear. The saddles are a bit different from what
I’m used to.”

“If you can ride bareback you can ride
with an English saddle,” Craig said. “Of course you’d have to put on the
breeches, helmet and tall back riding boots.”

After he’d said it he wished he hadn’t
because the image it evoked, of her in the curve hugging outfit, sent his pulse
rocketing against his chest.

“Well, that’s up for debate,” she
replied with a chuckle. “I’m not sure London is ready for that sight.”

Craig didn’t think he was either. She
shot him a look, her blue eyes sparkling. It did nothing for his taut nerves or
rising temperature. He prayed she wouldn’t notice the havoc she wreaked on him.

Thankfully, they arrived at the Brock’s
farm, a small place that housed only three horses. The Brock’s weren’t
ranchers; their horses were a hobby, not a livelihood.

A young woman in her late teens came out
of the barn and waved them over.

“Hey Shelby,” Quinn greeted after
getting out of the SUV. “This is Craig and Marisol Lynch. They’re in the market
for a good horse for Marisol.”

Shelby looked at Marisol with a smile.
“Come on in. I just brought Sunshine out of her stall.”

Under the glint of the barn lights, the
Palomino gleamed. Even though he’d been away from horses for fifteen years,
Craig recognized the quality of this Quarter Horse mare.

Marisol breathed a “wow” and slowly
walked to the mare. Craig joined her and ran a hand down the horse’s neck and
muscular shoulder.

“This is Little Miss Sunshine,” Shelby
introduced with obvious pride. “She’s eight years old.”

“She and Shelby have been the top barrel
racing team in the state for three years straight,” Quinn added. “They’ve been
to rodeos all over the country.”

“Yeah, once you and Piper retired and
gave me a shot.”

Marisol looked at Quinn, new
appreciation in her eyes. “You were a rodeo rider?”

“Best junior in the state from the time
she was about fourteen,” Shelby confirmed. “And went on to compete in a few in
other parts of the country too.”

Craig turned his attention on Quinn as
well. She stood there, staring at her feet, almost a little awkward. When she
glanced up, their gazes locked for a long moment. Like in the SUV, he felt his
heart speed up as if their look was a secret, physical touch.

Even in the dim lights, he recognized
the blush that crept into her cheeks before she turned her face away from him.
Blush or no, she smiled, a small curve of her lips.

So, she wasn’t immune to him either.
What would he do with that bit of information? Store it with the rest of what
circled in his brain at the moment for reflection later.

“Why don’t I get Sunny saddled and you
can take her for a test drive,” Shelby suggested.

The interruption of his thoughts was a
welcome thing and Craig took his daughter’s hand to pull her away from the
horse.

In the sunlight, the mare was even more
stunning. Her coat glowed a pale, flawless gold and her mane and tail were a
clean, creamy white. Four white stockings accentuated her coloring.

Though Marisol appeared eager to try the
horse, she stood back. “Can Quinn try her first?”

Shelby shrugged and held the thin black
leather reins toward Quinn.

Quinn led Sunny into the riding ring set
up with three green and blue barrels in a cloverleaf pattern. She mounted, took
to the rail and walked the mare for one full circle before putting her through
her paces.

Except for the day before, it had been a
long time since Craig had seen Quinn ride. He was impressed. She looked easy
and natural on Sunny, though he doubted she’d ever ridden the animal before.
There was a connection between the two. Through subtle signals, Quinn moved the
horse from a steady, even jog to an easy lope. After about ten minutes, she
rode back to them.

“I’m in love,” she declared and
dismounted. “Marisol, you ready to give her a try?”

Marisol nodded and went to the mare and
laid a tentative hand on her shoulder.

As Marisol’s first lesson began, Craig
leaned against the fence and watched Quinn work with his daughter and Sunny.
Shelby joined him and while he listened to her talk about Sunny’s attributes,
he remained focused on the trio in the ring. He admired the care Quinn showed
his daughter, the complete focus in her eyes as she instructed Marisol in the
correct way to hold the reins and how to position her feet in the stirrups.

The way Marisol paid attention was a
relief as well. She took this very seriously. The three of them moved off at a
walk, Marisol tall in the saddle and Quinn vigilant, but letting the girl keep
control.

“I see a natural there,” Shelby
commented.

“I never thought she’d want to do this.”

“Sunny will take care of her, Mr. Lynch.
And with Quinn teaching her, she’s going to be a pro in no time.”

The threesome in the ring went around
twice before returning to the gate. Shelby let them out and Craig helped
Marisol dismount. She whipped around, her eyes wide, grabbed Craig’s hands and
squeezed.

“I love her, Dad.”

“I can tell,” he replied calmly.

“Please, can I have her?”

Craig smiled. He’d already decided but
he wanted to hold out that information for a moment. He glanced at Quinn, who
watched them closely.

He shrugged, gave Quinn a wink, and
looked back at his daughter. “I need to think about it.”

“Before you make any decisions this
serious, I think you should sleep on it. Who knows, you may change your mind,”
Quinn added, stepping in to play the game.

Marisol turned on Quinn and gave her a
pained frown, as if she couldn’t believe everything she wanted was at her
fingertips only to be yanked away.

Craig grinned at Quinn, sending her a
silent thank you.

“You guys! Don’t you see how good Sunny
and I are together?”

Quinn laughed and Craig joined her. He
was no good at pulling the wool over his daughter’s eyes for very long. “Why
don’t you go wait in the truck while Shelby and I talk.”

Marisol narrowed her eyes in suspicion
and looked from him to Quinn but did as told with one long last look at the
horse.

Craig looked at Shelby. “I guess I have
to buy her now.”

Within ten minutes, he and Shelby
reached an agreement that included Sunny’s tack. Shelby would bring the mare to
the Shady H in three days, giving her a little more time with her beloved
horse.

By the time he got into the driver’s
seat, Marisol was nearly bouncing off the wall. Quinn, who’d been waiting in
the SUV as well, was more patient but gave him a questioning raise of her slim
brows.

“Well, it’s harder for Shelby to let go
of Sunny than she thought,” he began, his voice full of regret.

Before Marisol could look too defeated,
he smiled at her. “So we have to give her three days before we can have her.”

The SUV nearly rocked with Marisol’s
screech of joy.

“That will give us the time we need to
get one of the stalls ready. I have a feeling that mare is used to a little
more comfort than the stock horses.”

From behind, Marisol wrapped her arms
around Craig’s neck and chanted thank yous into his ear in between smacking
kisses on his cheek.

“To help pass the time, Long Knife Creek
is having a big barbeque tomorrow. I’d love for both of you to come over and
join it,” Quinn invited. “Believe me, these barbeques are not to be missed.”

“Can we, Dad?”

Craig turned his attention to Quinn,
took in the half smile on her lips. He tried desperately to search for the
little girl he had been used to, but she was long gone and nothing could be
done to change that. Quinn’s smile was a woman’s smile and it sent flames
licking through his veins. Quickly, he reined himself in. This was not the place
or time. “I don’t think we’d be good neighbors if we missed it. I’m sure the
Shady H will survive for a few hours without us.”

“You’re the best,” Marisol sighed and
rested her cheek against his shoulder.

Craig glanced away from Quinn and smiled
at his daughter. He didn’t think he’d had such a perfect moment in well over
two years and he longed to savor it.

***

Quinn didn’t show her excitement about
Craig accepting her invitation with more than a smile, but there was a hell of
a lot more enthusiasm brewing inside her mind and belly, along with a good case
of the butterflies. Marisol settled back in her seat and buckled, and suddenly
Craig’s proximity seemed closer, made her nerves edgier. She felt as if she’d
asked him out. Not that this was a date or anything. He’d probably spend more
time with Jacob. They had a lot to catch up on. She couldn’t deny or ignore,
though, that something happened between them, subtle as it was. A moment.

There wasn’t any way she’d imagined
those few long looks that had captured her and stopped her heart. Could she
have? She’d given up on those romantic dreams of him years and years ago so
there was no way it had been wishful thinking.

As he pulled out of the Brock’s drive,
Quinn studied Craig’s profile. It was clean, neat, with a high forehead and
straight nose. A dark curl fell across his forehead and she longed to reach
over and push it aside. But her fingers wouldn’t want to stop there. His dark
waves begged to have fingers run through them. His whole appearance was casual,
not careless. She appreciated that. For the past four years, she’d been
surrounded by college guys who’d been more concerned about their looks than
what they wanted to do with their lives. Craig was a refreshing change. A real
man who didn’t dress to impress.

“You’re going to wear holes in the side
of my head if you keep staring like that,” Craig said softly.

The surface of the sun couldn’t have
been any hotter than the heat that rushed into her cheeks. Good God, the last
thing she needed was to be caught gawking at him like some starry-eyed
teenager.

“It’s just…I was thinking that you don’t
look too much like Robby. It’s strange.”

Craig glanced away from the road and
gave her a smile. “That a bad thing?”

“No, of course not.”

Craig turned his attention back to the
road. The smile died a little but didn’t disappear entirely. It was as if
something amused him but he didn’t want to share.

Marisol leaned forward and rested her
chin on the seat between Craig and Quinn.

“Robby is cute,” she said, looking at
Quinn. “He told me you two used to be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“A long time ago. Not anymore,” Quinn
replied, mortified that her voice was so tight.

“I know. He said maybe you’d be his
girlfriend again.”

Quinn was torn between wanting to
disappear because she was so embarrassed by the thought of Robby discussing her
around Craig and Marisol, and outrage that he planned to get back together with
her. And discussed it with his brother and niece.

She shook her head. “Not that I’m
planning,” she muttered and looked out the window, watching the prairie go by.

No one spoke again until Craig pulled up
in front of the main house at Long Knife Creek. Quinn said a quick goodbye and
got out of the vehicle; grateful to be into the fresh air and away from the
emotions she couldn’t escape when in such close quarters with Craig.

Craig climbed out of the SUV and before
Quinn could reach the stairs to the house, he took her arm to stop her.
Everything inside her seized up, her breath, her heart, the adrenaline, it all
gathered up like a tight fist. She glanced at his hand on her bare skin. It was
already a rancher’s hand, tan and rough. It hadn’t taken long. He’d been gone
from that life for so long, but had slipped right back into it. Then she lifted
her gaze to his frank, blue eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.

What’s wrong? How can anything be wrong
when I’m standing close enough to smell your cologne? That I can’t even look at
you without wondering what it would be like to kiss you or feel your arms
around me?

She slowly released her breath.

“Nothing.”

“It’s not ‘nothing’.” His voice was as
gentle as his touch. He didn’t let go of her and she didn’t pull away. It might
be the only touch she’d ever get from him. She wanted to savor it.

“I don’t like Robby talking like that.”

“You two aren’t planning on getting back
together?”

Quinn drew in a quick breath and held
his gaze. All she could do was shake her head.

“Good.”

That one word did more to make her heart
speed than any kiss ever had.

Craig’s hand slid away and dropped to
his side. “Thank you for coming today.”