“Stay and ride with me, Brianna,” he said, keeping a light, disturbing hold on her hand. “We’ll be stopping for a rest and a quick lunch soon.”
Ridiculous as it seemed, with his hand lightly resting on hers, Bri had never before enjoyed riding so much, even with the ache in her rear end settling in once again.
From her position next to him Bri could now clearly see Boyo, moving in a wide area back and forth ahead of them, his head moving from side to side, searching.
“Boyo is a worker, isn’t he?”
“Boyo comes from a line of grand champion wolfhounds.” He turned to grin at her. “But he loves to hunt.”
“Hawk doesn’t show him?” She tried really hard to ignore the effects of his grin. It didn’t work.
“Hell, no.” Tanner laughed. “Can you see Hawk traipsing around a show ring, leading Boyo?”
Bri frowned. “There’s nothing wrong with showing dogs. They’re beautiful.”
“I know,” he agreed, to her surprise. “I watch the competitions on Animal Planet. But think, Brianna-can you really picture Hawk all duded up at a dog show?”
Bri tried to imagine it and soon gave up the effort. She smiled. “Not really.”
“Thought so.”
“Where did Hawk get Boyo?”
“He was a gift from Hawk’s father.”
“Is his father still alive?”
“Alive and well and raising champion wolfhounds in Scotland where he lives.” He chuckled. “He gave Hawk his pick of a litter and Hawk chose Boyo. His father was delighted because Boyo was the runt and he was certain he wouldn’t show well, anyway. Turns out, Boyo was the pick of the litter, the largest and the best, and would have made a great champion.”
“Way to go, Boyo,” Bri called, stretching her back and neck to catch a glimpse of the constantly moving dog. She winced at the pain that attacked her shoulders.
As usual, Tanner didn’t miss a thing. “Need a break?” he asked, moving his hand from hers to massage her tight shoulder.
Bri sighed for betraying herself to him. She felt like a greenhorn, a feeling she didn’t appreciate. “Yes,” she admitted, immediately adding, “I’m sorry if I’m holding you up.”
He slanted a scowl at her. “You’re not holding me up, Brianna. I could use a short break, too. And I’m hungry. That wasn’t exactly a filling breakfast this morning.” His scowl gave way to a teasing smile. “Also, I need a cup of coffee as much as you do.”
She laughed at the same time she saw her vision blur. What was she getting all misty-eyed over? She derided herself. A rush of tears just because he was being so caring and thoughtful of her? She heaved a silent sigh.
And she had asked herself if she could handle him? Dumb question, she chided herself. But then, she hadn’t expected to fall in love with him, either.
Foolish woman, Bri thought, bringing the horse to a halt in the small clearing he had chosen. Only a fool would blindly go along, falling in love with a maverick.
While Tanner unpacked the things for their lunch, Bri tried to walk out the stiffness in her legs from being in the saddle for hours. When he returned, she left him to go to the stream to wash her hands, splash water on her face.
Once again she followed the scent of coffee back to camp. But how could she smell it when he hadn’t built a fire? The answer was waiting for her at the edge of the small clearing where they had stopped. Tanner was holding a steaming cup, creamer added, for her. And there was no sign of a small fire.
“How did you make that?” she asked, glancing around the clearing.
“I made extra this morning and filled one of the thermoses,” he said, taking a careful sip from the cup in his other hand.
Duh. “I should have figured that out for myself,” she said, blowing gently on the liquid before taking a sip. He grinned. Bri felt the beginnings of that now-familiar melting sensation inside. Giving herself a mental shake, she grinned back at him. “What’s for lunch?”
“Come see. It’s all ready.” He led the way to the clearing, where they feasted on premade peanut butter sandwiches, apples and, of course, some chocolate.
They were back on the trail in less than an hour.
Bri hadn’t been back in the saddle very long before, out of the blue, she said, “I’m sorry.”
At Tanner’s invitation, she was still riding alongside him. Turning slightly in his saddle, he tilted his head to give her a puzzled look.
“About what?”
She hesitated, licked her lips, then blurted out, “I realize now I shouldn’t have forced you to take me with you, nor followed you when you left me at Hawk’s. I’m slowing you down and I know it.”
“Brianna…” he began.
She rushed on. “I haven’t been on a horseback hunt in ages. Hell, other than a jog in my father’s fields every so often, I haven’t been on horseback at all, at least not long enough to ache.” She barely paused to draw breath, not giving him time to speak, before babbling on. “Now I’m beginning to ache all over, and, and…”
“And, as I said,” he quickly inserted, “you’re really nuts.”
He smiled, so softly, so gently, she felt a twist in her chest. “First off,” he continued, “you didn’t force me into anything. Trust me, sweetheart, I don’t force easily. Secondly, we couldn’t go any faster without wearing out the horses, especially the one packing.” He smiled again, only this time his smile was sheer temptation. “And third, but most importantly, after a bit of consideration, I knew I wanted you along.”
For an instant Bri’s heart appeared to stop. No, everything inside her seemed to stop. “But you said-”
Once again he cut her off. “I know what I said. I changed my mind.” One dark brow lifted. “Did you think only women were allowed to do that?”
“No, of course not, but-”
“Wait.” Tanner brought his mount to a halt and reached out to halt her horse. “Look at Boyo.”
Bri swept her gaze around, almost missing the dog standing perfectly still in the underbrush. Even from the distance separating them she could see him quivering. Boyo spotted something and was ready to spring into action.
Ten
“Stay, boy.” Tanner’s low command told her he knew the dog was ready to bolt for whatever it was he saw.
“It couldn’t be Minnich already, could it?” Bri asked quietly. “He took off yesterday, but you had to wait for me. Could we have caught up already?”
“Yeah, but he didn’t know he was being followed until yesterday, and even then he might have thought we were just packers,” he answered just as quietly. “Why would we have spooked him?”
“Because you fired at him?”
“Maybe. But on the other hand, he saw you, apparently alone…”
“I was,” she cut in. “At least I thought I was.”
“Right, and so did he. So, yeah, it could be him. He’s deep in the wilds now, likely giving himself and the horses a rest. I’m gonna have to get closer.”
“We’re going to get closer?”
“We are.” Moving to the packhorses, he removed his gun belt from one of the packs and strapped it around his waist. Digging back into the pack, he retrieved his pistol, checked it and settled it in the holster. She couldn’t miss the pair of binoculars in a pouch on the left side of the belt. Walking back to his horse, he slid his rifle from the scabbard.
Bri turned to her horse to get her own rifle.
He frowned. “Do you really think you’ll need that weapon?”
“I’m taking it.” She allowed him a sweet smile. “But I’ll leave the pistol here.”
