FOUR
Ryder pushed his horsefaster. Thankfully, the princess still held on tight. The horse turned away from the trail that led to a cluster of houses and headed toward the woods.
He frowned and urged his horse on faster still. He would lose his job for sure if he lost the princess somewhere in the woods. Thankfully, before long her horse slowed and stopped beside a small lake.
When Ryder caught up, he saw that her expression wasn’t one of fright, but instead, she was grinning...and laughing!
“Oh, Ryder, you should see your face.” She stroked her horse’s mane. “By chance, were you worried that I couldn’t control my horse?”
Inhaling slowly, and exhaling even slower, he tried to calm his racing heartbeat. “Actually, yes. You had me extremely worried, Princess.”
“You’ll have to forgive me. All this talk of when we were in school gave me the urge to be reckless.” She swept her hand in his direction. “And you can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it, at least a tiny bit.”
He arched an eyebrow. “I would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t think you were going to get injured, onmyshift, no less.” He shook his head. “I should be very upset with you now—”
“But you won’t be,” she added quickly, “because you like me too much.”
It was hard to be upset with her when she grinned so innocently at him.
She offered a sweet smile and batted her eyelashes. “I hope you don’t mind staying here with me for a little while. The lake is so calming and pretty today.”
“Of course not, Princess. But I thought you wanted to see some of your friends.”
“Maybe later. I’m in the mood for a stroll around the lake. How about you?”
The gleam in her turquoise eyes made him curious. This was the kind of expression she wore when they were children and she’d wanted to do something that was forbidden. Then again, after that stunt she pulled a few minutes ago, he’d be on guard and watch her every move now.
Being alone with her here in the woods caused his heart to leap with excitement. Man, she was beautiful. If he tried to do something as inappropriate as kissing her, would he lose his job? Or worse, their friendship?
He dismounted and tied his horse to the nearest tree before assisting her. Reaching his arms out to help her, she leaned forward, placing her hands on his shoulders. As he lifted her down, her gaze stayed on his face. Her playful, teasing smile had been replaced with one more serious.
“I must say, Ryder, I never realized you had such wide shoulders before.”
He grinned. “I didn’t when we were in school.”
When her feet touched the ground, she slowly slid her palms down his arms. “Indeed, you are not the boy I remember from back then.”
He kept his arms around her a second longer. “And you, Princess, are not the girl I recall.”
“Will you do me a favor, Ryder?”
“Anything,” he answered so softly that his words were little more than a whisper.
“When we are alone together, please call me Clarissa. In school you always treated me as an equal, and I really liked that.”
“I would love to do that again...Clarissa.”
“Thank you.”
Her focus dropped to his mouth, and his heart hammered quicker. Did he dare kiss her?
But her expression changed back to the teasing seductress again, and she stepped back. Sashaying away from him, she unhooked her cloak. As she took off the garment and placed it across her side saddle, she peeked at him over her shoulder with that come-hither look in her eyes. Slowly, she removed her gloves.
The little minx!He wanted to laugh from her obvious cat-and-mouse game, but he would follow her lead...for now, anyway.
“So tell me, Clarissa,” he said as he caught up to her. “What are your plans now that you’re back home?”
