Thunder Canyon Homecoming / A Thunder Canyon Christmas. RaeAnne Thayne

her seatbelt, so he reached across to release the clasp for her.

      “This isn’t a good idea,” she said.

      “Why not?”

      “Because I already missed work today. I don’t want to miss tomorrow, too, because I’m in a body cast in the hospital.”

      “You can’t ride?” He deliberately infused his tone with both surprise and disbelief and a hint of challenge.

      “Of course, I can ride,” she said, then added, “waves.”

      “Waves?”

      “I grew up on the coast, not in cowboy country,” she reminded him.

      The mention of surfing had distracted him with thoughts of Erin clad in a skimpy little bikini, her hair slicked back, her skin wet and glistening as she balanced on a longboard. He knew it was more likely that she wore a wetsuit and figured she’d probably look just as enticing in a full bodysuit of neoprene that hugged her feminine curves, but a man was entitled to his fantasies and Erin in a bikini was definitely one of his. Peeling the little scraps of fabric from her damp skin was another.

      “Well, you’re in cowboy country now,” he said, forcing the all-too tempting images from his mind.

      “I’m aware of that,” she said, just as Russ came out of the barn.

      The rancher came over to shake hands with Corey and Erin.

      “Thanks for accommodating us,” Corey said.

      “Always a pleasure,” Russ assured him.

      Erin remained silent, wary.

      “I’ve got Lucifer and Jax all saddled up and ready to go, but you just let me know if you need anything else.”

      “Will do,” Corey promised.

      And Russ disappeared into the barn again.

      “Lucifer?”

      Corey pointed out the spirited black stallion in a nearby enclosure. “And here—” he guided her to a closer paddock “—is Jax.”

      She hesitated a few feet from the fence.

      “You’ve never ridden before?” He couldn’t imagine going through life without experiencing the exhilarating freedom of racing over the open fields on the back of a horse.

      “No, I have.” Her gaze flickered cautiously toward the horse again. “Twice.”

      “When you were a kid?”

      She shook her head. “A few weeks ago.”

      His lips twitched as he fought a smile. “What happened?”

      “Haley convinced me that I couldn’t live in Montana if I didn’t know how to ride, so I decided to take some private lessons.”

      “And you had two?”

      “I suffered through each one and decided the bruises on my butt were never going to go away if I kept them up.”

      Corey shook his head. “You don’t strike me as the type of woman to give up so easily.”

      “You don’t know me,” she reminded him.

      “I’m working on it.”

      “And accepting that something isn’t working doesn’t equal giving up.”

      “It sure sounds like giving up to me.”

      “If you came here to ride, go ahead,” she said. “Don’t worry about me.”

      “And what will you do?”

      “I can watch.”

      He curved an arm around her shoulders and guided her closer to the docile bay gelding. He whistled softly, and the horse ambled over to the fence.

      Erin looked at Jax.

      It was an innocuous-sounding name, and the animal seemed well behaved, but he was just so big. Okay, not quite as big as Lucifer, and certainly not anywhere near as menacing as the powerful stallion that was pawing impatiently at the ground and tossing his head from side to side, but still pretty intimidating. But there was something about those big dark eyes that encouraged her to trust that, though he was big and strong enough to toss her around like a rag doll, he wouldn’t.

      She started to reach toward the horse, testing herself as much as the animal, then hesitated.

      Corey caught her wrist before she could withdraw and guided her hand the rest of the way, until her palm was flat against the horse’s neck. She felt the muscles quiver beneath her touch, and the gelding blew out a quiet breath that sounded distinctly like a sigh of pleasure.

      Corey’s hand dropped away, but he remained close while she continued to stroke the animal.

      “I think he likes me,” Erin told him.

      He smiled. “Of course he likes you. He’d like you even more if you took him out for the run he’s saddled up for.”

      Still, she hesitated.

      “It’s okay if you’re afraid.”

      Her shoulders stiffened. “I’m not afraid.”

      His lips curved, just a little, and she knew that she’d fallen straight into his trap. He vaulted easily over the fence, then put one foot in the stirrup and swung himself into the saddle, then he held out his hand to her. “Come on.”

      Erin remained rooted where she was. “I thought you were going to ride Lucifer.”

      “I am,” he said. “We’re just going to take a walk around the paddock together, until you’re comfortable with Jax.”

      Still she hesitated. “You expect me to get up on that horse with you?”

      “You won’t fall off,” he promised.

      “Won’t we be too heavy for the horse?”

      “We’re just going to take a few turns around the paddock. He can handle it.”

      Erin remained skeptical.

      “Trust me, darlin’, I know what these animals are worth and I wouldn’t do anything to risk harming any of them.”

      “Maybe I’m more worried about harm to me,” she told him, but climbed up onto the fence—keeping a wary eye on the horse—and over.

      “I won’t let anything happen to you.” He smiled. “Not anything that you don’t want to happen, that is.”

      It was as much an enticement as a warning. She felt her cheeks flush but chose to ignore the innuendo.

      She thought she was going to fall off before she ever managed to get on, but eventually she managed to climb up, straddling the horse’s back behind the saddle.

      “Put your arms around me and hold on,” he told her.

      She did so, all too aware of his solid warmth and masculine strength. His jacket was unzipped and she could feel the ripple of his muscles beneath the soft fabric of his shirt. Her mouth went dry—although whether it was from fear of the horse or awareness of Corey, she wasn’t certain.

      He nudged Jax into motion, and as Erin felt herself starting to slide, she fisted her hands in Corey’s shirt and held on for dear life. He only chuckled. As the horse made its way around the paddock and she realized how easily he was controlling the powerful animal with the hard muscles of his thighs, her grip on the flannel gradually loosened.

      Her own muscles felt watery; her limbs were weak. And her heart was pounding so hard inside her chest she was surprised he couldn’t hear it. The rocking motion was somewhat familiar, and the familiarity made her tense. Her butt was definitely going to be sore tomorrow, and the knowledge made her wish that she’d never responded to Corey’s knock on her door. She really did want