Her frazzled nerves calmed a fraction at the sight of Raz sprinting toward her.
“Sebastian,” the man called to the boy, who had dutifully stayed by her side. “Ride ahead. Your friends are at the bottom of the hill. I’ll help Libby with Plum.”
“Righto, Dad,” the boy answered as Raz slipped his hand around Plum’s bridle.
“Wham, bam, where you headed in such a hurry, ma’am? This is some real speed racer action,” he cooed, peppering the air with his infuriating wham-bams as he ran alongside them.
“Are you talking to Plum or me?” she got out between sharp breaths.
“The question’s for both my girls. I didn’t think my plums would be so desperate to see me. I’ve only been gone a few minutes,” he teased.
And, hello, this was not the time for making jokes!
“We could use a little help putting on the brakes. A butterfly caught her eye, and I can’t get her to slow down,” she bit out as tents with the words Jumbo Hot Dogs and Kids’ Crafts emblazoned on the sides grew closer by the second.
They could not collide with a hot dog booth.
The last thing she needed was another viral video containing her and cock-shaped items.
“All right, old girl, ease up. Take a breath, inhale the peaceful mountain air, and exhale your butterfly mania,” Raz cooed—actually, cooed. “Focus on your breath, donkey. Balance your chi. Clear your subconscious. The donkey knows,” he purred, rattling off the yoga-infused burro speak. But it wasn’t his words that mattered. It was the pleasing cadence of his voice. It washed over her, steadying her pounding heart.
And she wasn’t the only plum affected by Raz’s voice. The burro whinnied as he whispered sweet donkey nothings in her ear. Plum’s swift gallop slowed to an easy walk as she gave Raz a saucy little bray—the flirt.
“There we go,” Raz said, scratching between the donkey’s ears.
Libby stared at the intact tents and breathed a sigh of relief as the adrenaline in her veins had begun to recede. “You certainly charmed Plum.”
“I guess that makes me a plum charmer,” he tossed back.
The man wasn’t wrong.
“You see,” he began with a cocky glint in his eyes. “I’ve been studying yoga. That’s where I got those fancy words to calm the beast.”
“Is that so?” she replied, playing along.
“The teacher must be rubbing off on me,” he added, flashing a panty-melter of a grin.
She cocked an eyebrow. “She must be some teacher to rub off on a beast like you.”
“She’s the best thing that’s happened to me in ages.” He looked away. “I mean, I’m glad you’re all right. You’re okay, yeah? You didn’t twist your ankle or stub your toe?” he asked, dropping the cheeky cocky act.
“I’m fine, thanks to you.” She tried to get a read on him when a familiar voice called to her.
“Wow, Libby, you can really move with that donkey!” Phoebe Gale called, skipping toward them with a hot dog in each hand and another tucked under her arm. “You were running faster than Raz and that golden-haired guy.”
“Debatable,” Raz uttered, trying to play the role of the self-assured joker, but he couldn’t hide the look in his eye that gave him away. The man was shaken, even off-kilter. He’d flown in like her white knight, but now something was off.
“And who got to town first, Phoebe? The golden-haired guy or Raz?” she asked.
In the runaway donkey melee, she’d almost forgotten about the impromptu battle of the donkey beasts.
“Go on, Phoebe, tell Libby what you saw,” Raz said with a slight shake to his voice.
She looked him over. “Are you okay?”
He nodded as Phoebe waved the hot dogs.
“Here’s what happened. I was eating my third hot dog,” the girl whispered, then glanced around as if the hot dog police might jump out at any moment. “And then, I looked up and saw them. They were zooming down the trail super-duper fast like they had rockets hooked up to the donkeys.”
“And…” Raz coaxed.
“And Raz was the first one off the trail.”
If she wasn’t shaking from the donkey catastrophe, she would have done cartwheels across the square. Instead, she adjusted Plum’s bridle. “I see. And where’s Doug?”
“He needed to get back to the donkey rescue since Maud and Bob are helping with the festivities,” Raz answered.
“Did you part on good terms?”
Raz shrugged.
That was a no.
“Raz was smiling when I came up to him, and he let me give Beefcake a hot dog bun.” Phoebe’s expression darkened. “And then he looked up and saw you and got really scared.”
“Did he?” Libby asked, studying the man.
“Yeah, he was happy, and then he turned the color I turn when I eat too many cookies. But Raz didn’t throw up like I always do. He started running up the trail.”
Raz cleared his throat. “It wasn’t quite like that.”
Phoebe took a bite of the hot dog. “Yeah, it was, and you said more. You said, I’m not losing my girl again. And I said, Libby’s not your girl. You have a boy named Sebastian.”
My girl?
She glanced at Raz. He was doing his best to hide it, but the runaway donkey situation really frightened him.
No, it was more.
The thought of her in harm’s way had scared him.
“Where is everyone, Phoebe? Where’s your uncle and Sebastian?” she asked, drawing the focus away from Raz.
“They’re with Beefcake, over by the place where there’s water and stuff for the donkeys. When Sebastian zoomed down on his bike, he saw Oscar and rode over.”
Libby checked the donkey corral and spied Sebastian, safe and sound, with their friends. The group had missed the excitement and were chatting with Maud and Wobbly Bob.
“Would you like to lead Plum over to them, Phoebe?” she asked, needing a moment alone with her beefcake.
Phoebe stuffed the rest of one of her hot dogs into her mouth to free up a hand. “Yeah, I can do it,” she answered as she chewed.
“We’ll be over in a minute,” she said, handing the child the leads, then turned her attention to Raz. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m fine, plum,” he said, shifting his stance.
He didn’t look fine—not even close.
He cleared his throat. “Be careful, all right? I can’t…”
“I’m okay,” she said, trying to meet his eye, but he kept his gaze trained on the ground.
“What would have happened if I didn’t see you? It’s dusk. It’s getting darker here in the shade of the mountain, and it’s even darker on the trail. I can’t be everywhere, Libby Lamb.”
“I know,” she answered, pressing her palm to his chest. His heart thundered beneath her touch.
Her beefcake released a heavy breath. “Plum, I couldn’t take it if—”
“Look who decided to show up,” Mitch called, cutting Raz off.
She glanced past Raz. The group was headed their way. She dropped her hand from Raz’s chest. With his back to the crowd, no one could have seen her touch him. And she didn’t want to give Sebastian the wrong impression.