“From college,” she said on a laugh. “You have a lot of those.”
“We ‘bama boys stick together,” he said. “But seriously, I wanted to solve that problem for you. And about all the things I suggested last night? If I could go back and smack myself upside the head, I would.”
“You’re a doctor,” she said faintly. “You should know smacking yourself upside the head is never the answer.”
He laughed, then looked very serious. “I’m sorry, Elise. I am so, so sorry. I don’t want to fix you. I want to make your life better. A ramp? Easy. A harness? Simple. My heart? It’s…yours.”
She stared at him as a tear slipped free and warmed her cheek as it trickled down. “It is?”
“If you’ll take it.” He held her gaze with one so steady and sincere, it took her breath away. “I want the chance to spend however long you’ll have me moving obstacles, not because you’re broken, but because I’m crazy about you.”
Copper shook his head as if he heard—and liked—every word. Elise reached to stroke his neck, needing something solid under her hand.
She could push Wade away. She could tell him the risk was too big, that long-distance residences and careers and the unpredictability of her own body made this a bad idea. She had built a life on being practical, on adjusting to what was left after the accident, on not asking for too much.
But here she was, up on a horse by herself on Christmas morning because this man refused to let her fear be the only voice in the room.
“Okay, Dr. Reynolds,” she said, steadying her breath. “Climb up.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“Is there room for two in this contraption?”
He popped off the fence, landing with a thud. “There is now.”
“Then let’s ride…cowboy.”
He chuckled, secured his hat, slipped her foot from the stirrup and replaced it with his own. In one graceful move, he swung his leg over.
He settled carefully behind her, keeping most of his weight off until he was sure the saddle could take it. It did. Copper stoodsolid, as if two people riding him on Christmas morning was the most normal thing in the world.
Wade’s chest warmed her back. His thighs framed her hips, his arms coming around either side to lightly hold the reins with her.
It was the first time they were body to body, the first time she felt the whole of him pressed against her. It was…dizzying.
“Tell me if this is too much,” he murmured near her ear.
“Too much what?” she joked, leaning back into him deliberately, feeling the way he sucked in a breath. “Too much goodness? Too much perfection? Too much Wade Reynolds? I honestly don’t think there is such a thing.”
Laughing, he kissed her hair.
“Now, Dr. Fix-It, let go of the reins,” she ordered. “I’ve got them.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and there was more than a little awe in his voice as he rested his hands lightly on her waist instead.
She clicked her tongue and flicked the reins, and Copper started walking forward. They paused at the paddock gate and he lifted the latch, letting her lead them out for the first time she’d ever left the enclosure on horseback.
The first time she ever felt a man against her. The first time she fell in love.
Lots of firsts for Elise Hale this Christmas morning.
She let out a giddy giggle, looking up at the clouds in the sky to thank whoever ran this world. He’d just worked a miracle.
“Hey, Elise?” Wade said quietly in her ear.
“Hmm?”
“Will you be my girlfriend?” The question was simple, almost boyish, threaded with humor and something very real. “Officially. So when people ask why I’m hanging around Utah grinning like an idiot, I can give them a respectable answer.”
