When we got to the rail where Ford was finishing up his love song, I snapped my fingers at him. “Take her.” I pointed to Charlie.
It was one of the few times I’d seen him sober in the last few months. He’d gotten good at faking happiness, but there was a sadness in his eyes that told me he was anything but. He climbed down the fence.
I motioned for Tally to come. “It’s time for you to take a ride with a real man.”
Ford rolled his eyes and laughed. “Fine by me. Chuck and I are buddies, aren’t we?” He reached up for her.
“It’sCharlie,” she squealed as she fell into his arms.
I looked at my brother. “I was thinking of taking Tally to see the little house.”
His brows flicked up. “Yeah?” He grinned and for the briefest of moments, the sadness disappeared. “Okay.”
He grabbed Charlie’s hand and looked down at her. “You wanna come with me? The little house fridge is stocked full of root beer.”
She cheered and they laughed as they jogged for the open gate.
“We’ll meet you there!” he called over his shoulder. Then they hopped in his side by side and took off.
Tally watched them go, a nervous look in her eye. “He knows how to take care of a kid, right?”
“He helped raise Anna. He’s actually really good with kids.” He was. Probably because he was a little boy in a man’s body. The man loved his toys.
The worry slipped from her face and her expression brightened. “This is going to be a slow, calm ride, right, Cowboy-Professor-Collab Partner-Friend? So many hats, I can’t keep them straight.”
“That’s because a real man is versatile. And yes, we’ll take it easy.” Tally was skittish about a lot of things. Cautious. “Youneed a Ford detox. I think all his fame is starting to go to your head.”
She blew her lips in apfft. “Not a chance. That man is on TV and in the news way too much.”
“Oh.” I raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t hear anything about how he’s not your type or ‘not handsome enough to tempt’ you.”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s plenty handsome and he does have that voice. And he’s loaded. Don’t even try to compete with that, Professor Dupree. Use the strengths you do have.”
“And what might those be?”
“Please. Stop acting like you don’t know you’re a ten. All you Duprees are. But you’re a tenandyou love books. Which makes you the best Dupree of all.” Then she stood on the second highest rail of the fence and reached for me like she hadn’t just blown my mind.
I’m a ten?
I helped her get settled in front of me. As I reached around her for the reins, her coffee-scented shampoo went straight to my pheromones and hit my heart like a cannon blast, exploding in my chest. I exhaled slowly before squeezing Maisy gently with my thighs to make her go. But Maisy was a runner and any chance she got, she broke into a trot, like now.
Tally tensed, sitting straight up, and dug her fingers into my knees. Waves of heat shot up my legs. I let out an embarrassing gasp. Geez, I was a mess around this woman. Maisy must’ve felt our nerves because she went even faster.
I tugged on the reins. “Easy, Maisy.” The horse quickly slowed to an amble. “Remember, she can feel it when you’re nervous. It makes her nervous and that makes her run.” I was saying it for myself too.
Tally released her grip on my knees. “I’ll remember if you remember that you’re still my professor.”
“Says the woman who asked her professor out.” The tipsof her ears went red like they always did when she was embarrassed. I chuckled to let her know I was teasing. “We’re just taking a simple ride. Don’t worry. No lips involved,” I added because I was pretty sure my mad kissing skills were what frazzled her. “Putting on my professor hat right now.”
Now that we were out of the arena, I gave more of the reins to Maisy. “I d-dunno,” her voice trembled. “This feels awfully informal. I don’t think I’d do this with any other professor.”
“You better not.” A growl purred in my throat. “And we were friends before I was ever your professor.”
“Were we though? We didn’t get to know each other until I got to JRC. I didn’t really see you after the day I met you, when we argued about Jane Eyre. It was like you stayed away if you knew I was going to be at the ranch. I saw you once in passing the entire time my mom and I lived at Sophie’s.”
I grinned at the back of her head but coolly I said, “I didn’t realize you noticed.”
“I did.”
