“You making me ride bitch, Princess?” I wedge a boot in the stirrup and swing myself up a little awkwardly.
“If the shoe fits,” she grumbles, urging the horse forward.
Instead of grabbing her waist, I slide my arms around her petite frame and cover her hands with my own. “I’ve got it.”
For a minute, her fingers clench tight, like she doesn’t want to let go. Of the reins, or the control, or all the tension in her limbs.
But then she sighs, and I feel her body soften against mine as we both sway in time with the swinging gait of our mount. She seems out of breath, just like the poor horse we’re riding.
“What did you do? Gallop into battle?”
“Not before reaming your brothers out. But yeah, I didn’t know what kind of trouble you’d be in. If you’d need help.”
She was rushing to help me. To be there for me.
Her fingers wrap around the horn of the saddle, and the blades of her shoulders brush against my chest. And I can’t help myself. I take the reins in one hand and slide the other across her front. Splaying my fingers out over her ribs.
“How’d that go over?” I say quietly, feeling her body shake as a shiver rushes through her.
Summer clears her throat. “Well, Cade just crossed his arms and glared at me. Beau looked like a kicked puppy. Oh, and I think your dad and Luke might have peed their pants from laughing so hard.”
A deep laugh rumbles in my chest, and I feel her push back into it, her back flush against my chest now as we crest another rolling foothill. It feels really fucking good holding her in the cage of my arms. She’s relaxed with me, and I get off on that.
Without even thinking, my thumb starts to move in a gentle circle against her waist. Rubbing up against the bottom seam of her bra through the airy cotton. “I guess you weren’t lying about being able to ride.”
Her response is to reach forward and trail her fingers over my fingers that hold the reins. I suck in a breath, surprised by her sudden boldness. Her touch is pure heat as the delicate pads of her fingers trace the silver ring on my finger. But whatever hypnotic state she was just in evaporates before my eyes, and she snatches her hand back.
She sits up a little straighter, pulling away incrementally.
“Sorry. Yeah, no. I was pretty good before my heart problems worsened. It’s how I met my best friend, Willa. It’s also why I should have known riding in this dress would have pinched my thighs to shit.” She shifts in the saddle.
I lean down and whisper into her ear, “Well, your chivalry is not lost on me,” which earns me a firm elbow in the ribs.
“Your stupidity is not lost on me. If you’d been caught, I’d be the one in shit. I’d be letting people down.”
“You ever get tired of living to please everyone else all the time? Doesn’t it get boring?” I joke with a playful nip to the lobe of her ear, but based on the way Summer tenses, she doesn’t see the humor.
“Let me off.” She shoves one of my arms from where it’s resting against hers.
“What?”
“Let. Me. Off.”
“Summer, I didn’t mean—“
“I know what you meant. And it’s just further proof that you don’t understand responsibility beyond what you want and what makes you feel good.”
I move my arm away, and she swings her leg over the horse’s lowered neck and slides off easily. I even get a flash of her lacy nude underwear as she goes, but I look away quickly. She’s clearly pissed, and it seems ungentlemanlike to ogle her while she tries to storm off.
“Summer, hold up.”
She raises her hand to stop me. “Please. Just let me walk. I’m having a moment. I need to clear my head. I need space.”
“I—”
Her head shakes, and she closes her eyes to suck in a breath. “Rhett. Please. I need space.”
I don’t miss the wobble in her voice, and as much as I want to stay and scoop her up and do everything in my power to make her feel better, I don’t.
Because I am a gentleman. And I’ll respect her wishes, even when I don’t like them. I clearly struck a nerve. So, I urge my horse into a jog and offer her a casual tip of my hat on the way past.
I spend the next several minutes trying to figure out what that was. What chord did I strike with my comment? One that set her right the fuck off, that much is certain.
Back at the ranch, my brothers are nowhere to be found. They’ve skulked off to lick their wounds somewhere—something that brings a smile to my face. I wish I’d been here to see Summer go off on them. Her caretaker side is strong. But as much of a people pleaser as she might be, she has this vicious streak. This protective streak.