Page 37 of The Rancher’s One and Only

“It’s very very soft dirt.”

“I’d really like to go down and see it.”

“We can do that. We can ride straight down, and you can get a look at them up close.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s one of my favorite places on the ranch. I want to be able to take tourists down to see them, but I don’t want them walking on the mounds. It leaves behind deep footprints. I think what would be best is to build a raised walking platform through them.”

“Oh. That would be great.”

She loved how he seemed to care so much about the natural surroundings. That this place mattered to him. Her curiosity about him felt like a deep well. One that she was never going to reach the bottom of. She wanted to know about him. To know what he thought about different things. To fully understand where he came from, and what had brought him here. She was more interested in him than she was in half the characters in her favorite books, and that really said something.

He led the way, and the trail was a bit steeper, headed down toward the hills. Her heartbeat picked up just slightly, as her horse navigated down the path with sure footing.

“This is okay?”

“It’s fine. They’re sure-footed.”

“I hope so.”

“You’re pretty sure-footed yourself.”

“That’s different. That’s me navigating the terrain, with total control over my footing.”

“You have total control over your footing. A rock could slip under your foot too.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like I’m in control.”

“Okay then.”

Well, she had made him think she was weird with that.

She held on to the horse’s reins and focused on the moment. On her breathing. Not in the most anxiety-free way, but she was trying. And then they got down to the bottom of the mountain, the russet-colored mountain standing so much taller than they were. The color vivid and almost unreal. The white and black were such dark stripes in the middle of it.

“People will say this is AI,” she said.

“Yeah, except you’re standing in front of it, looking at it with your eyeballs,” he said.

“It’s an internet thing.”

“Yeah. I know,” he said.

He got off his horse, and she looked down at her hands, where she was gripping the reins. And realized she wasn’t exactly sure how to dismount.

“I’ve got you,” he said. He walked over to the left side of the horse, and looked up at her expectantly.

“How do I…?”

“Hang on to the saddle, sling your leg over toward me. I’m not going to let you fall off.”

She gripped the saddle, and followed his instructions, but she did slip. And that was when she found herself being grabbed by strong, masculine hands. He put his hands on her waist, and lifted her slowly down to the ground like she weighed nothing. Like she was effortless. She was so small next to him, her face barely coming up to the middle of his chest. She looked up, and her eyes clashed with his.

It was like a lightning bolt. Like a sudden flash of understanding. Like a complete unmaking of herself and everything she thought she knew.

Everything she’d ever thought about herself.

Physical.