feel strongly about this.”
“Yes, I do. Your family needs us to help, not hinder.”
“Then maybe we can work out a compromise with my mom. We’ll offer to tackle a few jobs together in the morning, and then as a reward we’ll pack a lunch and take off on a trail ride. She might go for that, especially if you tell her you like to clean.”
“All right. We’ll try that approach.”
“Great. Now, let’s get these critters out to the pasture.”
“Will I get to see them run?”
“Linus will run, for sure. Sometimes he convinces Hematite to play chase with him. But let’s start with Navarre and Isabeau. Want to help me lead ’em out?”
“Yes!”
So he fetched a couple of lead ropes from the tack room. She took to the process as if she’d been doing it her whole life. When all the horses had been turned out, he leaned shoulder to shoulder with her at the gate as they watched Linus and Hematite kick up their heels.
She followed their movements, laughing as they bucked and spun, gold and ebony coats gleaming in the sunlight. “So beautiful.”
He studied her profile—the high, intelligent forehead, deep-set eyes and determined chin. She’d chosen to wear glasses instead of contacts, and he thought that suited her straightforward personality. Her smile dimpled her cheek and a breeze coaxed strands of her hair out of her ponytail to curl at her nape. “Yes, ma’am,” he murmured. “Beautiful.”
She glanced over at him, her green eyes filled with happiness. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
“It’s not flattery. It’s the truth.”
“Thank you, Matt. I feel beautiful when you look at me like that. I also want to kiss the living daylights out of you.”
“I’d be fine with it if I didn’t see my dad and Cade coming out of the barn.”
“I thought they might be, which is why I didn’t lay one on you.” She pushed away from the gate. “Let’s go have some of that breakfast Lexi’s so keen on. Where is she, by the way? I can’t imagine her sleeping in.”
Matt took her hand as they walked back to the house. “Cade said she’s updating her website. She never seems to find the time, and she’s added some new features to her riding clinics.”
“Clinics, huh? Obviously there’s more to her job description than just riding teacher.”
“A lot more. She gives clinics all over, even out of the state. Sure you don’t want to take a lesson from her before we go on a trail ride?”
“Let’s do the trail ride as planned. If she’s so busy she doesn’t have time for her website, she might have trouble working me in.”
“She’ll make the time.”
“I know she will. She doesn’t seem like the type who reneges on a promise, but a simple trail ride sounds easy enough unless you think I can’t handle it.”
“You can and it’ll be fun.” His body warmed with anticipation. She might be focused on discussing their PR problem on that trail ride, but he had some ideas that had nothing to do with business. Cade had brought a box of condoms down to the barn this morning. Matt had hidden it in the tack room behind some old blankets, but not before he’d pocketed a few.
He’d planned to take her over to his ranch, but he didn’t know what he’d find there. Last night, desperate for private time, he’d thought a trip to his recently purchased ranch would be perfect. In the light of day he couldn’t picture making out in dusty, empty rooms.
A trail ride had all kinds of things going for it, though—fresh air, wildflowers and grassy meadows. If he wanted to do a subtle sales job on Wyoming, a trail ride to a picturesque clearing he knew about and a picnic on a soft blanket should do the trick.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” she said, “but being around horses feels very natural to me. Maybe that’s because of all the movies I watched, although somehow I never imagined that I could ride. My life was crammed with lessons aimed at making me a performer. My mom would have considered riding a hobby, like knitting or scrapbooking. I didn’t have time for hobbies.”
“How about now?”
“What a thought! I’ve been concentrating on building my business, but why not have some hobbies?” She glanced at him. “Do you have any?”
“Not yet. But I figure my ranch will qualify once I get everything set up.”
“Oh, it will. I imagine it as a place to de-stress and get back to basics.”
“That’s exactly my vision. You just nailed it.”
“Matt, I have the best idea.”
“What?”
“Your ranch is nearby, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. I wanted to be close to my folks.”
“That’s perfect, then! We can ride to your ranch and have lunch there. Your first meal in your new home. Can we do that? I really want to see it.”
“Uh, okay, but I don’t know what shape the place will be in. The house is empty of furniture, far as I know, and I’ll bet there’s dust an inch thick on—”
“I don’t care about that. We can open the windows to let in fresh air. I’ll bet Rosie has a dustpan and whiskbroom we could take along. We’ll clear a spot and spread a blanket on the floor. I would be so honored to be the first person you entertain at your ranch.”
“And I’d be honored to have you.” So much for his picnic in the meadow, but maybe this would be better.
“I think everyone needs a place to get away from the pressures of a job, but judging from my experience, actors may need it more than most.”
“I wouldn’t have thought so, but now I do.”
“Do you regret getting into the business?”
“Never. I had some bad moments after the story broke, but it’s my life. I love what I do.”
“I’ve never asked why you chose this kind of work.”
They’d reached the steps and he paused to glance at her. “No, you haven’t.”
“Is it the wrong question to ask? I can withdraw it.”
He could smell bacon and coffee. He was hungry and wanted nothing more than to head on inside to enjoy the breakfast Rosie had prepared. But he and Geena were making a connection, and this would come up eventually.
“No, don’t withdraw it.” He held her gaze. “Just know that none of this can ever go in a press release.”
“I would never repeat something you told me without your permission.”
“Then I’ll make it short, and then we won’t have to talk about that anymore, either.”
“Okay.”
He took a deep breath. He hadn’t told this story in a while. None of his new friends in LA had a clue he was a foster kid. “I never knew who my dad was and my mom didn’t enjoy having me around.”
Her green eyes clouded. “That’s hard to imagine.”
“Don’t worry. Rosie got me counseling and I’ve accepted that it wasn’t my fault. I was in the way of her delusional plan that a guy would come along and sweep her off her feet. Maybe it happened. One day she was supposed to pick me up from school and she never showed.”
“Oh, Matt.”
“I finally got a friend’s mom to give me a ride home and I found a note that said she’d gone