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‘Because I promised I wouldn’t touch you unless you asked, and watching you ride is the next best thing.’

‘What?’

TJ shrugged. ‘You’re sexy as hell on horseback. And if I can’t touch, I sure as hell am gonna look.’

She knew that he was trying to distract her, but goddamn him, it was working, because now all she could think about was the fact that TJ thought she was sexy. And it mattered.

‘Did that help?’

‘No. I think you made it worse.’

‘Why?’

‘Because now I not only have to get it right but try to look sexy while doing it.’

There was a perfect beat of silence before TJ threw his head back and laughed. The sound filled the truck, wrapping Skye in warmth and diffusing the worst of her anxiety. Even though she didn’t want to smile, she couldn’t quite stop it either. ‘You’re ridiculous,’ she accused, raising her voice to be heard over the sound of his laughter.

TJ swiped at his eyes and gave one last deep chuckle before giving Skye his attention again. Only, the moment he did, he saw that while he had distracted her, that anxiety still rode just beneath her smile.

He hadn’t expected it. If he were honest with himself, and he always was, he’d thought he was being so smooth, signing her up for her first barrel lesson. So, having her on the verge of a panic attack wasn’t something he’d prepared for. ‘Nobody’s going to be there except you, me and Tia.’ He didn’t drive the truck forward; instead, he added, ‘I really think you should try, but if you’re set against it, I won’t be offended. We can haul the horses home, maybe go for another ride around the farm?’

‘It’s not that I don’t want to try,’ she insisted. ‘I’m just afraid of getting it wrong, of wasting her time.’

‘Tia’s being paid. So, even when you get it wrong, she’s been compensated for her time.’ He thought about how he could get through to her, but nothing came. He’d never met anyone with such a deep and irrational need to be perfect at something new. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’

She shook her head.

‘Tell me. I want to know.’

‘I’ll ruin my first ever date because you’ll see that I’m nothing. A disappointment.’

He hadn’t expected a reply, let alone one so specific – or heartbreaking. ‘I knew you were special before we even met.’ When she just stared at him blankly, he leaned forward and, resting his arms on the steering wheel, looked out the windshield. ‘Sheri called, said she had a friend who was working her way west with a horse and trailer. She said she was worried about you because you didn’t have much experience and might need some help. And I thought: now, what kind of woman travels across the country alone, towing a horse, when she has no experience? And you know what I concluded?’

‘She must be batshit crazy?’ Skye drawled.

‘It takes a little crazy to do what you’re doing,’ he ceded. ‘But no. I thought: she must be something; I can’t wait to meet her.’

Skye groaned and let her head fall back on the headrest.

‘You can be scared, Skye. You’re allowed to be scared. But if you expect to be perfect all the time, you are going to routinely disappoint yourself. Nobody else. Yourself.’

She seemed to mull over that for a moment. ‘Do you promise you won’t judge me?’

‘Promise. I won’t even watch if you don’t want me to.’

‘Okay.’ She nodded once, but he noticed that she didn’t release her death grip on the door. ‘Let’s do it.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah.’

TJ shifted the truck back into drive and continued towards the big, covered arena up ahead.

In the passenger seat, Skye was quiet, her body tense. He almost hated pushing her, but he knew, absolutely, that she would have fun once she let herself relax a little. And he wanted that for her. He wanted to be the one to give her this particular first.

By the time they pulled to a stop in front of the arena, Tia had come out of the barn to wait for them. She was a small woman in her early forties, only an inch or two taller than Skye. Beneath her Stetson, she wore her long black hair in a braid that fell down her back. Twenty-five years of Marlboros had lent her voice smoke, so that it sounded warm and husky when she said, ‘I saw you come in. Was starting to worry you’d changed your mind.’

TJ walked around the truck to where Skye had gotten out. ‘We were just having a little pep talk. Skye’s nervous.’