After lunch, Cameron wiped his hands. “I’m going to jump over to my place, shower, and throw on something that doesn’t smell like snow and cheese. You two okay without a babysitter?”
“We’ll try not to set anything on fire,” Elise said solemnly, then winked at Nicole. “Come sit. Tell me all the things you can’t say in front of Cameron the Killer of Joy.”
When the front door clicked, Elise pivoted her chair to face Nicole head-on, mischief replaced by something earnest.
“This is big,” she announced.
“You riding a horse?”
“Oh, that? A dream I dare not dream,” she said, flipping her hand with exaggerated faux drama. “No. I mean him and you. Cameron doesn’t date, you know. He’s absolutely certain no one could fall in love with him because he has me, the twenty-four-year-old millstone around his neck who will never be gone.”
Well, she was blunt. And wrong.
“You’re so not a millstone,” Nicole said. “You’re…amazing. And he loves you very much.”
Elise’s eyes filled, maybe a bit of an easy crier. “I know. He saved me in a thousand ways after the wreck. But I don’t want to be the reason he misses his life. I want him to…have a wonderful life with a good woman and his own family.” She bit her lip and blinked. “If you’re part of that, then I am already your biggest fan.”
Nicole laughed and touched under her own eye. “You’re going to make me cry.”
They looked at each other for a moment, quietly connected.
Nicole sighed and leaned closer. “What about riding?”
“I’m in. I mean, if there’s a ramp, a harness, and a sainted creature with four legs who will tolerate me, then yes, I would like to sit on a horse again. Once. Twice. Whatever we can manage without making Mr. Safety’s hair fall out.”
“We can try,” Nicole said. “I’ll do what I can on my end.”
“Might take some magic, Nicky.”
Cameron came back after what felt like no time at all, freshly showered with damp hair that was just unfairly attractive.
“You two good?” Cameron asked, amused and wary of the power of two bonded women.
“Perfect,” Elise said. “Go take your girlfriend home and do whatever she tells you to do.”
He choked. “Girlfriend?”
“She’s gorgeous, sweet, and laughs at my jokes.” Elise shrugged. “I demand you keep her.”
Nicole hugged her new friend goodbye, the embrace even warmer on the way out.
“I got this, girl,” Nicole whispered into her hair, getting a grateful squeeze in response.
Outside, the air bit their cheeks and the snow squeaked under their boots. They climbed into the truck and closed the doors, the cab going instantly quiet.
Cameron put his hands on the wheel, but didn’t start the engine. “I know what you’re going to ask,” he ground out.
Nicole slid her hand across the console until her fingers found the back of his. “Let her ride my horse in the paddock, Cameron,” she said softly. “She needs that. I promise you she’ll be safe. My horse is sweet. My paddock is small. We’ll lock her into the saddle and stay with her every step. Cameron, that girlneedsto ride.”
He closed his eyes with a long sigh. “I knew this would happen.”
“That she’d find out I had a horse and want to ride it?”
He opened his eyes and turned to her, leaning in closer. “That I’d fall so stinking hard for you, I can’t say no to anything.”
She felt her lips lift in a smile, but before she could take her next breath, he covered those lips with his, kissing her with just enough pressure to make her toes curl.
“Is that a yes?” she whispered.
