Promise Canyon (Virgin River #13)(27)

Clay jumped off the fence and into the pen, but Streak didn't even seem to notice. The horse was completely under Lilly's spell. Clay moved stealthily toward horse and rider, let them pass and finally stood in the center of the pen. He let her go around a couple more times, then held up his hand.

Lilly brought the horse up easily, stopping him on a dime. For someone not into riding, she was an expert. Gifted. He wondered if Annie was even aware of her skills.

She stroked the horse's mane. "You're the best," she told Streak. "The best."

The horse? Clay thought. She was magnificent. No relationship or training with this troubled animal and she worked him like he was her lapdog! The damn horse would walk off a cliff for her! She had chemistry with him, an intimacy that Clay had only seen in special relationships between horse and rider.

Lilly threw her left leg over just as Clay reached up to help her down. She didn't need his assistance, but he wanted to touch her, however briefly. He had his hands on her waist as she slid off the horse, but he held her in place. Then he slid her very, very slowly down the length of his body. When her face was even with his, he stopped her descent for a moment, just long enough to look deeply into those blue eyes. Their faces were close and he wanted to kiss her, but he didn't dare. He had no idea how she'd react.

He let her down the rest of the way. "All right," he said. "Either you're lying and you've been on a horse every day for the past ten years or you've made a terrible mistake in being away from it."

"I used to ride every day," she said with a shrug. "Then everything changed and we moved and... I think this horse and I have a thing going on."

"Is that the true meaning of Winning Streak?" he asked hoarsely.

"It is what it is," she whispered. "I sure didn't plan it."

He couldn't help himself. "You and I should have a thing going on and you know it. Tomorrow night, Lilly. You and me. Dinner. Or something...anything. We really have to talk about horses and other things."

She shook her head. "Sorry," she said, wriggling free of his hands. "I have plans." Then she pulled the blanket off Streak's back, handed it to Clay and walked the horse into the barn.

This restlessness was not good, Lilly thought as she led Streak back into the stable. She'd been so content with her life, with her friends and her grandpa and no confusion about the opposite sex. Dane had so often warned her that someone would come along to shake her up eventually, but Lilly hadn't been worried. She frankly never believed it for a second.

Being lifted off the horse by Clay had weakened her, left her all wobbly, and she honestly couldn't remember feeling like that since... Oh, God, since her first love, so long ago--arrogant, sexy, Native boy who'd made her crazy, made her hurt, took her virginity and dumped her. She had been so young, and she'd vowed to never again be involved with his kind--young Navajo men full of hormones trying to prove how virile they were.

Clay made her feel unsafe. Vulnerable. Something she hadn't allowed herself to feel since she was thirteen! And even though she was older and supposedly wiser, feelings like that still had the power to overcome her.

She secured the horse and grabbed a brush; when you ride, you take care of your horse. He hadn't been worked hard; he didn't need much. But Clay had said he was getting used to the brush and...

"You don't have to do that, Lilly," Clay said. "You said you didn't have a lot of time today."

Well, of course he followed her into the stable. Where else was he going to go? She was the one a bit out of place; this was where he belonged. She began brushing the horse. "How old are you?" she asked him.

"Thirty-four," he said, staying on the other side of the horse. "And you?"

Rather than answering the question, she asked, "Is there a woman somewhere? Women?"

"Why would you ask that?"

She put the brush aside and walked around the horse, ducking under his secured lead, until she was on the same side as Clay. "Because you flirt and try to make a date with me in spite of the fact you've been told I'm committed elsewhere. So, who are you cheating on? Because you Navajo men have a sense of entitlement that I experienced growing up and I really don't feel like playing these games with you. I like the horse. I know your kind and I--"

He had a patient smile on his lips as he gripped her upper arm with one large hand. He lifted her chin with a finger and planted a quick kiss on her mouth. She didn't fight him. He knew he was supposed to be insulted by her little tirade, but he also sensed it was all an act, meant to keep him at a distance. "We might have grown up around all the same canyons, Lilly, and you might have known your share of Navajos, but I think you're talking about boys, not men. The idiocy of boys supersedes all tribe and race connections. I know this from experience, believe me. Boys of all races are universally stupid about women. And you obviously didn't know any Tahoma men. We don't treat women that way. My mother would come out here and beat me if she caught wind of me using or disrespecting a woman. Now, are you over twenty-one?"

Shock settled over her face for a moment, then she burst into laughter. "Over twenty-one? For God's sake," she said, shaking her head. "I have a degree! I'm twenty-seven."

He lifted one black brow and peered at her. Then he pulled her hands toward his chest, placed them there and lowered his lips to hers a second time. But this time it was not a little peck; this time he had a much more serious kiss in mind. He put his arms around her waist, pulled her closer and leaned way down--she was so small--and moved over her lips.