Chapter Twelve
Finley rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I’m ready whenever you are,” he said. “I just need to retrieve the equipment from my mom’s garage and test it out to make sure I remember how to use it.”
Kieran narrowed his eyes. “I want to keep this between us.”
“Naturally.” Finley added a nod for emphasis. He loved being the only other person to know Kieran’s plan.
“That means not drawing any unwanted attention. If you and I just hightailed it off to Colorado Springs…”
Finley’s bubble burst a little. “Everyone would notice, and their tongues would wag.”
Word would get back to Harry, and his sister would worry about him.
He’d seen her interact with Kieran enough to know she liked and trusted him, but that didn’t mean she would want him romantically involved with her little brother.
Finley had vowed to stop seeing men who were emotionally unavailable, and Kieran was the reigning king of unavailable.
Harry wouldn’t hesitate to remind Finley of his promise, and she would probably even tattle to their mother.
Neither of them would believe Finley was just being helpful, and they would be correct.
At least partially. He wanted to help Kieran get even with the guy who’d sent him to prison.
Most people would call him na?ve and foolish for believing Kieran’s story without corroborating evidence, but they hadn’t witnessed his reaction firsthand.
Kieran hadn’t been faking his emotions on the sidewalk or in the alley, and he wasn’t bullshitting Finley in his cabin.
While he sensed there was more to the story, and there always was, Finley believed Kieran and wanted to help him, even if it cut their time together short.
He’d worry about the repercussions later.
“I don’t want the other hands thinking we’re together,” Kieran said.
“Ouch,” Finley said, rubbing his chest. He kept his tone light and playful to disguise his internal flinch.
Maybe Kieran saw through his ploy because a somber expression washed over his handsome face. “I don’t want them to think you’d lower your standards to date a guy like me.”
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you,” Finley said firmly, “but we don’t need to invite extra scrutiny.
” Kieran looked relieved when he nodded.
Then the solution hit him. Finley snapped his fingers and said, “I got it. There’s a dressage show in two weeks in Colorado Springs.
Tiny Dancer, one of our former foster horses, is performing that night.
I received an invitation from her new owners last week. ”
Kieran pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. “Won’t some of the other guys want to see her too?”
Finley grinned until his face hurt. “If it were any other equine show, they’d jump on it. They all think dressage is too prissy and fussy.”
“What’s dressage?” Kieran asked.
“It’s a specific equine discipline, judging riders and horses on a series of prescribed movements and musical freestyle.”
Kieran’s brow shot up. “Musical freestyle? Like dancing to music on horseback?”
“Yeah, it’s really awesome. The horses follow nearly imperceptible cues from their riders.
” Finley retrieved his phone from his back pocket and pulled up the video Owen had shot of him working with Tiny Dancer.
He specialized in the gaits they were required to perform.
Finley had taught the horse basic commands that her new owners expanded on to train for competitions.
“This was Tiny Dancer when I first started working with her.” Finley pushed Play, and they watched a brief clip of him teaching her how to trot.
She was awkward at first but eager to learn.
He cued up a later video where she fluidly transitioned from one gait to another.
“Wow,” Kieran said. “You’re guiding her?”
“With my knees and hands. Very slight gestures she can feel but most people won’t see.”
Kieran scooted closer to Finley until they were practically pressed together. “I want to see her dance now.”
Finley chuckled. “I don’t dance. That skill set is beyond me. I don’t have any rhythm myself, so it feels counterintuitive to teach an animal to do it.”
Kieran looked up from the phone and locked dark eyes on him. “But you trot and prance around like the horses?”
Snorting, Finley said, “Well, no, but I could with proper incentive. Dancing is beyond me.” He tilted his head to the side. “What about you? Have any sweet moves you could show someone with two left feet?”
Kieran’s cheeks colored slightly, and Finley braced himself for another revelation, but he shook his head.
What was he hiding? That he had moves or that he would share them?
Finley decided not to push. He’d made some pretty big inroads and didn’t want to blow it.
Instead, he clicked on his Instagram account and pulled up Tiny Dancer’s page.
Joy swelled in Finley’s heart as they watched clips from her most recent competition.
The horse looked so happy as she trotted and danced before the crowd.
His eyes misted over when she stood proud and tall as the audience clapped for her at the end.
“I think she’s amazing,” Kieran said.
“I’m a little fond of her myself.” He set his phone down and looked at Kieran. “Some performances are stuffy, but most riders use modern music and show a playful side. There are a few horses in the stable who might be a good fit for dressage.”
“Nellie?” Kieran teased.
Finley laughed. “Maybe if you were sitting astride her.”
“I’ve never been on a horse before, so you’d have to teach me the basics before I could teach them to Nellie.”
“Deal, but you’d probably want to start with a more docile horse.”
“She’s a marshmallow,” Kieran countered. “But I will cede to your expertise.”
If Kieran wanted the other guys to believe he was interested in dressage, he’d have to show it with his actions. So that’s how they would spend nearly all their free time together leading up to the horse show.
Finley chose Loretta, a stunning Tennessee Walker with a shimmering brown coat and an indulgent personality.
Like all the other animals on the ranch, she was smitten with Kieran and all too eager to help him train.
They spent the next few nights going over riding basics that any beginner needed to know before progressing to intermediate skills.
“You’re a natural,” Finley told Kieran when they graduated to dressage basics.
The thing Finley liked most about Kieran was that he soaked up the new skills like a sponge, never hesitating to ask questions if he needed additional direction.
Though he caught on quick with verbal instructions and cues, he worked best with hands-on guidance.
He was a doer, which meant Finley didn’t just have to tell him how to work his knees and thighs.
He had to show him. Finley saddled Dolly and joined him in the indoor arena to demonstrate how to press his knees and thighs to guide her movements.
Loretta’s stunted movements signaled Kieran was sending mixed signals.
The horse could do the maneuvers in her sleep, so Finley needed to rethink his approach.
“I think you’re going to need a different approach,” he told Kieran after a few more attempts.
Kieran’s lips hooked into a smirk, something that came more easily since he’d arrived. Finley still hadn’t seen a genuine smile, but then again, his heart might not survive it. “How handsy do you need to get?”
Finley laughed and shook his head. A flirty rejoinder was on the tip of his tongue, but he let it dissolve there instead of letting it fly. “I didn’t say handsy.”
Not ready to let it go, Kieran followed with, “Where do you plan to put your hands, then?”
“How about you dismount and come over here so I can show you on my body?”
Kieran’s cheeks flushed, and his lips parted. “You want me to come over and watch you touch yourself?” He looked around the barn and met Finley’s gaze. “Here?”
Heat engulfed his body, and Dolly pranced as if she felt the tension rising in the arena.
“You’re deliberately twisting my words into something dirty.
” God, he loved it and was dying to give it right back—physically and verbally—but he remembered the shame he’d felt after their alleyway kiss.
“The alternative is for me to come over there and show you how to use your body to get what you want.” Kieran’s eyebrow shot up because, yeah, that didn’t sound suggestive or anything. “I mean, how to guide the horse.”
“Okay.”
Finley just blinked. Was that a ghost of a smile that flashed on Kieran’s lips? Did his obsidian eyes darken? Probably just wishful thinking. “To which option?” he asked.
Kieran raised his hand and crooked his finger.
Finley nearly got his foot caught in the stirrup in his haste to dismount.
He hadn’t pitched to the ground face-first since he was a kid, and he didn’t want to ruin his streak in front of Kieran.
He took a calming breath and told Dolly to stay, then crossed to Loretta.
She neighed and rubbed her muzzle against him when he greeted her.
He took the time to shower her with affection before shifting his gaze to the man sitting astride her.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Finley asked before moving closer.
“Positive.”
Finley patted Loretta’s sleek neck one last time before stepping closer to Kieran. His thighs tensed when Finley placed a hand on his knee, and Loretta pranced in place. “I need you to relax and…um…spread your legs a little.” Kieran nearly choked on his next breath, but he did as Finley asked.
“Perfect. This,” Finley said, moving his hand to the inside of Kieran’s knee, “presses here.” He used his other hand to indicate where on Loretta he should push and when to use those cues before lowering his arms and giving the horse and rider some space.
Kieran repeated back to him and demonstrated. “Like this?”