He rolled his eyes.
“The truth is, my great-grandfather had to come up here after a rogue cougar.He shot the cougar, but not before the cougar almost killed his horse.”
T.R.looked uneasy.“Are there any still living up here?”
“A few.”Her conscience prickled her.“But you’ll probably never see one.They usually keep away from people.”
“Fine with me.”He glanced back at the pond.“What if the ranch wanted to tap into this pond?”
“Why would we?”
“Say you wanted to put in more landscape plants, maybe a greater area in grass.”
Freddy gave herself a mental slap for softening toward this dude.He was an Easterner, and the first thing most Easterners wanted to do was green up the desert and make it look like the Boston Common.For all she knew, the guy had plans to build the True Love Golf Course out behind the corrals.“We try to keep our watering needs low by using plants that don’t require much moisture,” she said.“Ready to go?I want to show you the Forest Service land where we summer the cattle.”
“Lead on.”Only the faintest flicker of his eyelashes betrayed his pain as he settled himself in the saddle once more.
ChapterFive
By five o’clock, T.R.wondered if he’d ever walk normally again.By six, he wondered if he’d ever walk again, period.And his feet weren’t the problem.He wasn’t a tenderfoot, he was a tenderass.He envisioned Duane and Curtis lifting him from Mikey’s broad back with his legs frozen in a permanent bow.He’d have to order a custom-made chair for his office in New York, one with inches of padding and a spacious enough seat to accommodate the new wide-open configuration of his thighs.
They’d climbed for most of the afternoon.Cactus and sage had given way to something he recognized as belonging to the oak family and a type of evergreen with a fragrant bark, probably some sort of cedar.He supposed it was beautiful, if he could only give a damn.Who would have imagined that riding around the ranch could take this long?Surely they’d have to turn back soon, although he didn’t relish the idea of riding downhill and trying to keep his aching private parts from sliding forward against the saddle horn.
He could hardly believe he’d begun this ride having sensual thoughts about the woman in front of him.He couldn’t imagine ever using his bruised equipment again.She’d not only crippled him, she’d ruined his future sex life.The crisp jeans that had made him feel like such a stud this morning now felt like chainmail wrapped around his genitals in an imitation of a medieval chastity belt.
One image kept him going, one reward beckoned at the end of this torture trail.He pictured the Jacuzzi he’d seen beside the swimming pool, pictured himself being carried to it, eased into the water and left there for days.The image almost made him weep with longing.
He was so engrossed in his suffering that he didn’t notice Freddy had stopped on the trail and he nearly ran Mikey up Maureen’s backside.Mikey realized the problem, snorted and backed up a step.
Freddy swiveled in her saddle and smiled at him.“How are you doing?”
Dammit, he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing the truth.“Fine,” he said.
“Time has gone by so quickly this afternoon.”She gazed out across the mountain slope.“I doubt if we could make it back before dark, so I thought we’d just camp over there, against that cliff.”
He tried to clear the haze of pain from his mind.He could have sworn she’d said they were about to camp.No Jacuzzi.No bed.Sleeping on the ground.How could he do that if he couldn’t even get off his horse by himself?Would she notice if he quietly stayed on his horse and slept in the saddle?
“T.R.?”
He focused on her with effort.“What?”
“Are you okay?”She looked concerned.
He felt his machismo slipping.“Depends on your definition.”
“It has been a rather long ride, at that.”
“Really?I hadn’t noticed.”
“Follow me,” she said, a gentle note in her voice.
Mikey followed.T.R.had lost the ability to guide Mikey several hours ago.
“Stay there,” she said as she swung down and tied Maureen’s reins to an oak tree.“I’ll help.”
Pride asserted itself.“I’m fine,” he insisted, and in one brave movement hoisted his leg over Mikey’s rump.Somebody yelled, and as he stumbled to the ground, he recognized his own cry of pain.Freddy caught him before he went all the way down and lowered him to a seat on a fallen tree.
“Sit here,” she said.“I’ll set up camp.”
