If that’s what he wanted? What did that mean? Didn’t she want to get away from him, too? They’d spent more time together in the past two days than they would have during two weeks of college. They’d spoken way more words. Stared at each other way too much.
Shared more than he thought himself capable of.
“What do you want?” he asked. He had no idea where the question came from.
She straightened her back and shifted to the edge of the couch, hands pressed into her lap. “Okay, don’t laugh, but I had a dream last night.” When he didn’t respond, she continued. “I was riding a horse!” She grinned.
He raised his eyebrows. That didn’t tell him much.
“It wasn’t a real horse.” Now this was getting interesting, and he couldn’t help the slight curve taking over his mouth. “It was a horse on a carousel. I think I was at an amusement park or something. But the thing is, I hate carousels. I fell off one when I was four and broke my wrist and I’ve been afraid of them ever since.”
He still failed to see where this was going and how it concerned him.
“So…I think this means I’m supposed to get ‘back on the horse.’”
She gave him a cautious smile this time, and hell if it didn’t stir some protective, give-her-everything-she-wants instinct in him. Not that she wasn’t perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but as much as she liked helping people, he did too. He just did it far more quietly. And preferably without notice.
Not that much went unnoticed in Windsong. He’d left ten bales of hay for Texas Tom before the sun had risen a few weeks ago, and by midmorning the old man had driven over to thank him. The bales had been unexpected, so Maverick had no idea how he’d known it was him.
“Roosters talk,” his grandmother used to say. He’d started to believe her.
“You want to go horseback riding?” he asked.
“Not really, but I think I should.”
“I think want trumps should in this case, but if you’re dead set on it, we can see if Hunter has some time today.”
“Oh.” She dropped her gaze to the hardwood floor. “Okay.”
“If we hurry, we should be able to catch him at the barn.”
She nodded, and a minute later they hopped in his truck, made a pit stop at the bakery, and pulled up to the barn at seven a.m. on the dot. As Maverick cut the engine, Hunter ambled out of the barn looking like he had a fight in him—Maverick was late this morning—until he saw Kennedy slide out of the truck with a wave in his direction.
Then Hunter’s face practically split in two. “So this is how it’s going to be the rest of the week,” his brother said.
Maverick had no idea why he kept getting himself in these situations with Kennedy and nosy members of his family. He knew better. “No, this is how it is this morning only. You have time to give Kennedy that riding lesson you mentioned to her?”
Hunter looked between him and Kennedy, deep in thought—too deep for Maverick’s liking. Which meant his younger brother was about to say something wildly inappropriate or try to bargain with a chore or two, and Maverick wasn’t in the mood for either.
“Actually, never mind,” Maverick said. “I’ve got this.”
“Awesome,” Kennedy said, chiming in before Hunter could say anything. “Let me just take my doughnuts to my room and do a quick change of clothes and I’ll be right back.”
“I hadn’t meant—” Too late. She moved to the truck to grab her food and then toward the inn like she was trying to shave several seconds off her time. He hadn’t meant right now, but she’d made the decision for him.
Hunter slapped his thigh and laughed. “She’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“You are even more clueless than I thought if you can’t see she likes you and you like her.”
“There is no liking.”
Hunt put a hand on Maverick’s shoulder. “There is a lot of liking and I’m glad. It’s past time you allowed yourself some fun.”
He shrugged off his brother. “We’re not having fun, either.”
“Well, whatever you want to call it. Nicole has been gone for three years and you’ve been living like a monk ever since. You’re leaving in less than two weeks to fulfill the promise you made to her. From now until then, have some non-fun with a gorgeous, smart woman who is under your skin whether you admit it or not.”
Maverick scrubbed a hand over his jaw. His brother didn’t know everything. He’d had hookups here and there, just nothing more than one night.
“Don’t think too hard about it. Go with your gut. That’s what you’ve always told me. What is your gut telling you right now?”
His own words coming back to bite him in the ass didn’t feel very good. Because the truth was he did like Kennedy. She challenged him in a way no one else ever had, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it until she’d stood in front of him with heels sinking into the grass and a fiery expression on her face.
“Right now it’s telling me to get her on a horse.”
“A horse?”
“My horse. You got things covered for the next couple of hours?”
“Absolutely.” Hunt sauntered away but turned after only a few feet to add, “I’ll let you know what you owe me later.”
The damn guy had already won the puppy pool with a guess of six; what more did he want? “You do that.” Maverick wasn’t too worried. His brother forgot to collect payment more often than not. He owed the lucky skunk at least a dozen wagers.
Stepping inside the barn to greet Magnolia and outfit her, he rubbed down her neck. “Morning, girl. We’ve got an extra passenger today. You cool with that?” Her tail lazily swished back and forth, telling him yeah, she was good with that. He’d never admit it aloud, but he looked forward to taking Kennedy on her first-ever horseback ride.
She kept surprising him. Kept him on his toes. Kept him wondering what she’d say or do next. When had the enemy become something unique and different?
“This is her first time on a horse,” he told Magnolia a few minutes later. “So we’ll take it nice and slow.”
“Do you always talk to your horse?”
Maverick startled at the sound of Kennedy’s sweet voice but kept his back to her while he finished getting Magnolia ready. “I do.”
“Does she understand what you’re saying?”