Cowboy for Keeps

That was until she looked down.

No one had warned her how different riding in a wagon was from sitting astride a horse. How much higher it was.

Large boulders flanked the trail, close enough to clip a wheel. If that happened, they’d careen over the edge. And what an edge it was. On the other side of the boulders, the ground gave way, ending far below in an overgrown gully.

Perhaps she should have given more consideration to this day trip.

“Pretty, huh?” Conner asked.

“Very.” When she didn’t look down.

“You’ll appreciate the view even more when we get to the top.”

“How, um, reliable is this brake?” She ran her hand over the smooth handle, finding comfort in its nearness.

Conner’s hardy chuckle allayed some of Dallas’s worries

“You don’t have anything to worry about. Once we crest the top, it’s all downhill from there.”

“Until the next one.”

“True. But the second half of the trip is mostly flat,” he added.

She let out a sigh of relief.

“And here I always figured you for having nerves of steel.”

“I do have nerves of steel.” She lifted her chin. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. I’m just more comfortable when I’m in the driver’s seat.”

“You want to take over for a while?” He started to pass her the reins.

She shook her head. “You’re doing great.”

“Seriously, if you want to try driving awhile, you can. When we reach flat ground and the girls are tired out. Less chance of a runaway then.”

Her fingers clenched the wagon seat tighter. “What exactly are our chances of a runaway?”

“Almost none.” He turned to face her. “Do you think Gavin and Ethan would have given all those people rides around the park during the Holly Daze Festival last Christmas if they thought for one second they’d have a runaway?”

“I guess not.”

Conner stared at her. At her mouth. Then his gaze traveled to her eyes, where it stayed...and stayed. “I wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger.”

She melted, inside and out, and let go of the wagon seat.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asked.

“No.” She could, she thought, go anywhere with him. “What was it like?” she asked after a moment. “Capturing Prince.”

“Not easy, I can tell you that. He’s a wily one and gave us a run for our money. Took six of us to herd him into a corner and get a rope around his neck.”

“What did you think when you first saw him?”

“That I’d met my match. I’d never worked with a wild horse before, much less rounded one up and brought him in.”

“And now you work with wild horses every day.” Too late, Dallas realized her slip. He hadn’t worked with horses every day, wild or otherwise, until he’d lost his job. Before then, it had been restricted to weekends.

If her remark bothered him, he hid it well. “Only until they’re trained. Which doesn’t usually take long.”

“You are good at it. You could train horses for a living if you wanted.” Shoot, another stupid slip. Would she ever learn? “Not that you aren’t a great systems analyst.”

Ugh! That sounded worse.

“Ethan’s the resident horse trainer on Powell Ranch. I wouldn’t want to take his job away from him.”

Like Richard had taken Conner’s job.

“I, um, was just—”

“It’s okay, Dallas. You don’t have to walk on eggshells. I got laid off. Now I’m training horses and leading trail rides, and glad to have a job. Plenty of the people I worked with at Triad Energy still don’t.”

“Something’s going to break for you soon. I have faith.”

“Glad one of us does.”

“It’s all about networking,” she said enthusiastically.

“So I’ve heard.” His grin strived for teasing—and fell short.

Had she overstepped?

Dallas kept quiet rather than commit another blunder.

Conner broke the silence first. “Do you mind if I ask a personal question? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Why did you break up with Richard?”

She took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Technically, it was mutual.”

“It still must have hurt.”

“Not really. Which says a lot. I took it in stride. Sure, I was a little lost at first. But by the end of the following week, I was ready to move on. Which says even more.”

“What happened? Between you.”

“Nothing happened, which was the problem. Whatever we had, it wasn’t head-over-heels, can’t-live-without-you love.”