Not Fake for Long by Weston Parker

8

KEIRA

Every once in a while, I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure that Hailey was still on her horse. Ashton was helping her though, and it seemed like they were getting along well enough.

Besides, that left me with Harrison and I definitely couldn’t complain about that. Especially not when I was getting to chat with him while also taking in the natural beauty of the landscape.

Just as he’d said, it was really starting to get hot. The sky was bright blue, the sun climbing higher as we neared midday.

The path we were on was wide enough for two horses to walk comfortably side by side, the ground crunching beneath their hooves. Trees and greenery surrounded us, and every now and then, I caught glimpses of streams that apparently led to the dams they had on the property.

There were also times when we could see their fields, and Harrison filled me in on the fruits and vegetables grown on the farm. It was an entirely different life out here, and it was difficult to believe that we were really only two hours out of the city.

It was even more difficult to believe that Harrison was so easy to talk to. I was even getting used to looking into his stunning, green-gold eyes whenever I glanced at them. Hazel eyes had always intrigued me because no two people with that color ever had the same eyes. His were brown and green, not an unheard of, or even uncommon, combination, but the way the two colors blended and faded into one another was truly unique.

The muscles in his arms rippled with movement as he controlled the reins, but he barely even had to move his hands. It was almost like his horse could read his mind.

I’d known that watching someone ride a horse could be sexy—there were enough ads with people riding in them that it was obvious—but I hadn’t realized just how sexy it would be in real life.

Then again, he was just sexy. So maybe it was all him and had little to do with the horse.

Who even knows anymore?

The surprising part was that he was also nice. Sure, he was effortlessly confident like I’d thought before, and I’d also been right that he definitely had the intense, alpha thing going on, but we were genuinely getting along much better than I’d have thought.

“Are you excited for the wedding?” he asked once I ran out of questions about their farming operations. “You must be a committed maid-of-honor to take a whole weekend to learn how to ride when you’re only going to have to be on a horse for a few minutes. The venues usually even have people to lead the horses in.”

“I didn’t think to ask about that, but I don’t know if Hailey would want us to be led in anyway. She’s kind of big on attention. I doubt she’d want someone else there that people might look at instead of her.” I frowned and slapped one hand to my forehead. “God, I sounded like a real bitch there. I’m sorry. I really wasn’t trying to be mean. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

“I understood what you meant.” The corners of his lips twitched, but he didn’t quite smile. “I might not know you very well, but you don’t strike me as being a bitch.”

“I’m not. It’s just so easy to talk to you. It’s like I’ve known you for a lot longer than just a few hours, so it kind of popped out. But you don’t know me, so I’m sorry if it came across in a terrible way.”

The smile finally broke free. “Like I said, I understood. It’s kind of nice to be spoken to like someone has known me all my life. It doesn’t happen much these days.”

Before I could respond, he glanced off into the distance but I knew he was speaking to me when he asked his question. “You got a boyfriend who needs to learn how to ride before the wedding as well?”

A very girly giggle burst out of me. “You don’t need to be coy. You could’ve just asked if I have one, but the answer is no. There’s no boyfriend. Not one who needs to learn how to ride or otherwise.”

He laughed, which made my heart skip a beat. I was quickly starting to like the sound of his laughter more than I should’ve. It was deep and rich and always sounded like he was little surprised that it was coming out at all. “I should’ve come right out and asked. You’re right. I was just curious.”

“Well, I’m a curious person too. Have you got a girlfriend who rides as well as you do?” And now I’m officially flirting with him. Look at me go.

Angling his upper body to face me, he smirked when he caught my cheeks heating. “Nope. No woman will put up with me for very long.”

“Bullshit,” I blurted out before I frowned and hung my head, shaking it at myself. “I’m sorry. There’s that feeling like I’ve known you for longer than I have problem again.”

“That’s okay. It’s actually kind of nice,” he replied, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “I usually only get to talk to that grouchy old dog—or to Dottie.”

I burst out laughing and pressed a hand to my chest. “You’ll hurt Ashton’s feelings if he hears you talking like that.”

“No, I won’t.” He chuckled. “He’s known me for a long time. We’re used to each other. In fact, I think me giving him shit is keeping him young.”

“The old dog’s still got good hearing,” Ashton’s gruff voice called from behind, and I blushed again when I wondered how much of the rest of our conversation they’d heard. “Hailey here is getting tired. I think it’s time to turn back.”

“Roger that,” Harrison said, demonstrating to me how to use the reins to tell the horse to turn around. “We’ll fall in behind you this time.”

“Got it.” Ashton helped Hailey to turn her horse around, but Sargent ended up seeing Ashton’s horse turning and did it all by himself.

My sister smiled proudly anyway, though. “Would you look at that? I’m practically ready for the rodeo.”

Ashton barked out a laugh. “Not quite yet, missy. Give it a couple more days.”

Once they started back, I didn’t even have to nudge Molly to follow. Her ears perked forward, and she suddenly had a spring in her step. I glanced at Harrison to find his gaze already on me. That kept happening, and I couldn’t say I didn’t like it.

“What’s with that?” I asked. “She seems different.”

“There’s a reason for that expression about horses smelling their stables. She knows we’re on our way back home, and she’s happy to be going.”

“Ah, I see.” I reached down to pat her thick, soft neck. “That’s okay girl. At least we didn’t give in first, so we’re still in the clear.”

Harrison laughed and looked me square in the eyes, making my heart skip a beat or two again as I gazed into them feeling like I could melt. “You can always stay with me once we get back. I want to set up some poles for you to practice control this afternoon. We don’t know what it will be like at the wedding, but if you’re going to be riding in by yourselves, you might have to maneuver around a few obstacles. At the very least, you’ll have to be able to get the horses from wherever you mount them to the ceremony. Unless you’d like to take a break after all?”

“Nah, I’m good.” I inhaled deeply and smiled as I closed my eyes for a moment. “To be honest, I’d much rather be outside as much as possible while we’re here. I think I’m falling in love.”

“Already?” He waggled his brows at me. “I didn’t realize I was that good. You only met me this morning. I’d say that’s got to be some kind of record.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I meant I was falling in love with nature and the outdoors,” I said, fighting to suppress another overtly girly giggle. “You’re okay and everything, but you’ve got nothing on this place.”

He slammed his fist over his chest and pretended to sag down with his front over the horse’s neck. “Has anyone ever told you that you know exactly how to go for the jugular?”

“No, but that’s your heart you’re holding. Not your jugular.”

“Smartass,” he retorted as he sat back up. “So you want to help with the poles once we get back or what?”

“Absolutely.” I nodded at Dottie, who had stuck close all the way but went off on her own from time to time. “Aren’t you worried about losing her?”

“Nah, she’s known this place since she was a puppy. She’ll always find her way back home. Do you have any pets?”

“If I could have an entire zoo, I would. I love animals, but my apartment isn’t pet-friendly.” I continued giving him far too much information all the way back, then told Hailey to go ahead and that I would stay outside.

“I have to go call Nick,” she said when we walked back to the house. “I also definitely need a shower and to change my clothes. Are you sure you’re going to be fine without me?”

“A hundred percent,” I assured her, feeling Harrison’s heat on my bare arm closest to him where he walked beside me. “We’re going to set up some stuff for us to practice later.”

She flicked her gaze from mine to his, then shrugged before she went inside. Harrison swept his arm out to the left once the door shut behind her. “It’s this way to the paddock where we keep the poles. Are you still sure you wouldn’t rather go take a nap or something?”

“And miss out on seeing more of this place?” I shook my head. “Never.”

The paddock was enclosed by wood fencing and the poles he’d been talking about were just that—plain old poles a few feet long that he carried and laid out in seemingly random patterns. I tried helping, but it turned out that the things were a lot heavier than they looked.

Settling for playing with Dottie instead while he did the heavy lifting, I started when I heard his voice behind me, much closer than he had been just a minute ago. “I’ve never actually seen her playing like this with anyone.”

“That’s because she’s never met me before,” I said, holding up the stick she’d been fetching for me above my head. “We’re bonding. It’s really cute the way she licks the back of my hand every time she brings this back.”

“She does?” He dropped his chin in surprise, his mouth hanging slightly open. It drew my attention to his lips, which made me wonder what it might feel like to press mine against them.

I really, really needed to stop staring at him the way I undoubtedly was, but it had been a very long time since I’d last been this instantly attracted to a guy. If ever. My self-esteem also wasn’t so low that I was even going to try to convince myself that he wasn’t flirting and staring right back.

He was, but that still didn’t mean it was a good idea. The man lived hours away from me, and it wasn’t such a leap from attraction to attachment.

“Yeah, she does,” I said distractedly, turning to Dottie to toss the stick once last time before I glanced back at him. “Hailey’s been gone for a while. I should go check on her.”

“Sure thing,” he agreed. “It’s not a bad idea to get some lunch while you’re in the house. The fridge should be stocked with the groceries you ordered. I’ll meet you out front in about an hour?”

“We’ll see you then,” I promised.

And when we do, I’ll have found a way to stop wanting to lick you. I promise that, too.