The Comeback Cowboy

“No hands, no legs.”

“Why?” he asked.

“You don’t think you can stay seated?” Her green eyes flashed up at him.

He attached his lasso to his saddle with the rope strap. “Ma’am, I can break a green horse riding bareback and with one hand tied behind my back.”

“Then this should be a cakewalk for you.” She stepped away from him.

With a shrug of his shoulders, his hands resting on his thighs and his legs dangling, he waited for the wrangler to take off on the ATV.

“One more thing,” Adele said, the lowered brim of her cowboy hat partially hiding her face. “You have to do it with your eyes closed.”

“Excuse me?”

“Eyes closed, Mr. Boudeau.”

Was she smiling?

Ty decided to go along with her rather than put up a fight. He’d promised Dana, and besides, the students might learn something from watching him.

“Go!” he told the wrangler.

Hamm took off after the bale of hay as if it were the real thing. Because the wrangler didn’t drive the ATV very fast, Hamm’s gait was an easy lope rather than a full-out gallop, as it would be in the arena.

Ty set down deep in the saddle, adjusting himself to the horse’s rhythm. Trying to, he amended. It wasn’t as easy as he might have guessed. Not with his eyes closed and his legs dangling. As the driver zigzagged, mimicking the course a calf might take, Ty felt—really felt—the nuances of Hamm’s muscles bunching and releasing when he changed directions. Ty shifted accordingly, to compensate for the horse’s movements, thinking about it rather than doing it instinctively as he should.

After thirty feet, the wrangler slowed to a stop. Hamm also slowed. Opening his eyes, Ty used the pressure of his legs to guide his horse in a circle and back toward the group. Once there, he stopped and rubbed his neck, contemplating what had just happened.

“You look perplexed,” Adele said, studying him.

“Not that so much,” he answered.

She’d put him through a very basic exercise, one, he realized in hindsight, he should have tried himself. Perhaps if he had, the results wouldn’t be quite so startling.

Ty trusted himself as a rider. What he’d learned today was that he didn’t trust Hamm. Not entirely and not enough. His other horse’s accident had robbed Ty of that vital component to a successful rider-horse partnership, and the tiny fear that it would happen again was causing him to hold back.

“Ty?” Adele asked.

He grinned suddenly and waved to the wrangler to come back around.

“I want to go again.”

“HEY, ADELE, hold on a minute.”

Hearing her name, she stopped and turned to see Ty hurrying after her. Uh-oh. He was probably annoyed at her for what she’d pulled on him during class earlier. Squaring her shoulders, she waited for him to catch up, committed to defending her actions.

“Can I help you with something?” She smiled, pretending she didn’t notice the Ben Affleck–like perfection of Ty’s strong, dimpled chin or the fluttering in her middle that ogling his chin caused. “Perhaps a copy of the rules and regulations you obviously lost.”

“I guess I deserve that.” He returned her smile with a healthy dose of chagrin. “No more phone calls. You have my word.”

She was glad to see he didn’t take offense at her more-serious-than-humorous jest. Rules were rules, in place for a reason, and Ty Boudeau didn’t get to break them just because he was a professional roper.

“You’re allowed one mistake before we start giving demerits. Ten demerits, however, and you’re kicked off the ranch.”

His startled expression was so comical, she almost laughed. “I’m joking.”

The hint of a twinkle lit his eyes. “You’re good, you know.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice keeping unruly students in line.”

“No denying I’m one of those unruly students in need of lining out, but that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh?”

“You’re good at spotting what a person’s doing wrong. Me included.”

She knitted her brows in confusion. “I didn’t notice you doing anything wrong.”

“Maybe not exactly. But the exercise helped me understand some things about myself. Things that need fixing.”

“Not many competitors at your level would admit to that. I’m impressed.”

“Don’t be. I’m usually thickheaded. A good suggestion could be driving a Mack truck straight at me, and I’d ignore it.”

“I’ll remember that next time.”

He moved closer. “I just wanted was to thank you for the help.”

“You’re welcome.” She worried that he was going to take her hand again. Relief flooded her when he didn’t. One intimate encounter was more than she could handle. “Have a productive remainder of your day, Mr. Boudeau.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to pick your brain sometime when you have a minute.”

She debated refusing his request. In the end, she decided to grant it. He was a paying guest, after all, and part of the fees they charged entitled students to “pick her brain,” as he said.

“I’m heading over to check on one of our expectant mares. You can come with me if you like.”

His dark eyes, arresting to begin with, lit up. “I would.”

“I’m not keeping you from anything important, am I?”

He fell step in beside her. “Only the horde of adoring female fans waiting for me in the lobby.”

She momentarily faltered. “If you have to go…”

“I’m kidding.” He flashed her his heart-stopping grin.

It appeared she was just as gullible as him.