“Your cousin looks out for you.”
“He’s been there for me—I’ll give him that.”
I lowered my apple to my lap. “It’s a gift to have someone who loves you for who you are, flaws and all. Someone who looks out for you.”
After taking the apple from my hand, Archer took the last bite and then pitched the core into a nearby wastebasket. “Now you really have me curious what he said.”
I wiped my hands together, feeling the sticky juice drying on my fingers. “What are your thoughts about us? I’m not trying to push anything on you, just so you know. I’m only trying to figure out if you have any intentions or are just living in the moment.”
He scratched his bare chest, eyes downcast. “I think after what you’ve been through, you need time to figure stuff out. And that’s not something I have any say over. That guy put you through hell, and I don’t want to get in the way of your healing.”
I scooted closer. “Thank you for saying that.”
His eyes flicked up.
Not wanting to leave him confused, I put my hand on his leg. “I’m into you, Archer. I don’t know a better way to say it. It’s only been two weeks since we met for the second time, but whenever I’m with you, I feel more like myself again. You make me laugh and feel good about my dreams. You remind me of who I used to be.”
Archer put his hand over mine, and I felt that instant connection again.
I gathered my courage to open myself up in a way I never had with Noah. “I’m not really sure who you are, but I know enough that I want to learn. Maybe it’s sex. Maybe it’s friendship. Maybe it’s more. But there’s a feeling that comes over me whenever I’m near you—whenever I think about you. Last night was the firsttime in a long while that I felt like my mare wanted to come out.”
He chuckled and leaned in, nuzzling my neck. “That would have been awkward.”
I laughed. “That’s not what I mean.”
He peppered sweet kisses on my neck, tickling me with affection. Archer wrapped his arm around me, and I leaned into him. “Are you going back to work soon?”
“I’m ready,” I said decidedly. “The sooner I sell those books the better. I need the money if I want to get a place.”
“You know you can stay here as long as you need.”
“Thanks. It’s just that I’d rather stay where I belong, and this isn’t my home. I love it here, though. You’re lucky to have a pack.”
Resting his chin on my shoulder, he asked, “Have you ever thought about joining a group of horses?”
“I don’t know. Obviously I’d be safer, but I can barely talk to people in public. How do I join a group of strangers?”
“You just be yourself, Cici. That’s all you’ve got to do.”
“So I should sing my way into their hearts with a musical number fromThe King and I?”
He chuckled.
To which I responded by singing the opening lyrics to “Shall We Dance?” Then I stood and offered my hand.
Archer shook his head. “I told you I don’t dance.”
I twirled, still singing, seeing my reflection in the mirror as a free woman unshackled from fear or embarrassment for being my silly self.
When Archer laughed again, I gripped his hand and yanked him up. He stumbled over the bench, tripped, and slammed into me. I gripped the clamps on his prosthetic arm and hummed the tune as he did a twirl.
“Ow!” Archer hissed when I stepped on his foot.
Then he bumped into me awkwardly as we kept turning incircles. When I stepped on his foot again and then he stepped on mine, I started laughing.
My heel backed into a mat I didn’t know was there, and I shrieked as we tumbled onto it. The air wheezed from my lungs when Archer fell on top of me.
I stared into his eyes. “Whoopsie-daisy.”
