The Cowboy Way by Christine Wenger Read Free Book Online

was determined not to let anything more happen to her son. She realized that she couldn’t guarantee she’d be able to keep him safe forever, but she could sure as hell try.
    â€œLet’s get back to the lesson,” she said.
    He held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll drop it.” He grinned. “For now.”
    â€œForever.”
    He moved his hat back to its usual position. “Lift the left stirrup and hook it over the horn. Good. Grab the cinch strap. Good. Pull it through. Good. You got it. Nothing to it. Now tighten it up. Harder.”
    She grunted and tightened the strap as much as she could. She wasn’t a weakling. After the accident she had developed muscles that she hadn’t known she had.
    â€œNow what?”
    Jake gripped the saddle horn and jerked it. “Not good enough. Thunder puffed himself up.”
    â€œHe did what?”
    â€œHe doesn’t like being cinched, so he swells himself up. Brace yourself with a knee against his ribs—” he pointed “—about here.”
    â€œI can’t do that!”
    â€œIt won’t hurt him.”
    â€œI still can’t do it.”
    â€œOkay.” He nudged Thunder with a knee. “Don’t make me get ugly in front of the lady, horse. She adores you. Knock it off.”
    Jake easily tightened the cinch another few inches.
    â€œGood boy.” Jake fed him a piece of carrot and turned to Beth.
    He handed her a bridle. “Go for it.”
    She stared down at the leather and metal in her hand, then at Thunder’s big yellow teeth. “I guess you can keep your boots on after all. I don’t remember this part.”
    â€œHold the bridle like this, and slip it under his chin and up over his eyes like this.”
    She tried to concentrate as he demonstrated, but instead she noticed the faint scar that started just below Jake’s ear and ran to his jaw.
    â€œThis is a split-ear bridle. It goes around each ear. The bit rests forward in the horse’s mouth.”
    He stopped as Thunder’s mouth opened. “See? Thunder’s used to it. He knows what to do even if you don’t.”
    â€œThank goodness.”
    â€œYou ready to try it?”
    â€œAs I’ll ever be.”
    â€œRelax. He’s not going to bite you.”
    His arms wrapped around her from behind. She could feel every hard muscle, every mountain and valley of his body against hers. His crotch bumped against her backside. She tried not to notice.
    Oh, sure.
    He helped her guide the bridle into place. “See? Nothing to it,” he said.
    Why am I so warm?
    She turned and found herself staring at Jake’s full lips. They turned up into a sly grin.
    He was so close, so overwhelmingly masculine, and she had a strong desire to get away from him. She stepped back.
    â€œDrop ’em.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œDrop the reins to the ground. Thunder’s a cattlehorse. He’s trained to stand still when the reins are dropped to the ground.”
    She just couldn’t think around him, and she hated to feel so out of control, so disjointed. “Oh. You want me to drop the reins.”
    She did as instructed. Thunder stood as still as a statue in a park.
    â€œReady to ride?”
    She nodded, feeling like she was a kid again. She was at the horse barn at the state fair. Only this time, the horse was hers.
    He patted the horse’s neck. “Cowboy up!”
    Â 
    Her cheeks were flushed. Jake suspected it was because he made her nervous and she wasn’t particularly fond of him. But perhaps she was just excited about riding the horse.
    She sucked in a deep breath. “I guess this is how Kevin feels. Maybe he’s more like me than I’ve given him credit for.”
    â€œAh, so you’re a cowgirl at heart?”
    â€œWhen I was a girl, I wanted a horse more than anything in the world.” She petted Thunder’s neck. “We lived in a tract house, so