Chapter 20 #2
“Remind me to have you wear a riding habit the next time we come to the stables.” I shook my head. “Your dress is not the most suitable for this activity.”
“You’re right. But then I will have to endure Nora’s gloating. She was the one to pack my habit when I certainly would not have.”
Nora must be her maid’s name. I had forgotten it. Their relationship was unique. Miss Lewis seemed to care about people more than anything else—a trait I could not help but admire. I handed her the brush. “Start with his mane and brush in the direction of his hair.”
She took to the task quickly, smoothing Champion’s sleek fur until it gleamed. The care and attention she gave nearly made me jealous of my horse. He was utterly relaxed, and I leaned against the stall wall beside Miss Lewis, enjoying the picture.
Champion reached his head over and nudged Miss Lewis. The touch made her shriek with terror. She threw the brush in the air and launched herself at me. Her hands came up around my neck in the very same fashion they had in the pond when we had been swimming for our lives.
My hands instinctively wrapped around her back. I looked down at Miss Lewis’s frightened brown eyes accentuated by the most luscious of lashes. Heavens, she was beautiful. I could feel her heart pounding in her chest against mine. And I wasn’t certain which of ours was beating faster.
“It’s all right,” I soothed, my hand moving of its own accord in a small circle on her back. “He isn’t trying to hurt you. When Champion nuzzles you like that, it is his way of thanking you.”
She stole a glance at Champion, pushing into me to create more space between her and my horse. “You’re joking!”
The last thing I wanted was to make her more nervous of horses than she already was. “I swear it. Horses loved to be groomed. It’s a form of bonding. They will even groom each other out of affection.” My hand suddenly stilled on her back. It felt too much like its own form of bonding and affection.
“I don’t know if I believe you,” she breathed. She slowly lowered her arms off my neck, dragging them down my chest.
My heart stuttered.
Sudden desire warred with my commitment to safeguard my heart. This was about the horses, about the challenge, not about whatever weakness I was developing in Miss Lewis’s presence. A horse in the neighboring stall whinnied, and Miss Lewis’s head turned toward it.
I took the moment to catch my breath. I summoned a casual smile to hide the myriad of feelings pulling at me and addressed her mounting concern toward the animals. “Horses respond to touch much the same we do,” I said, my words careful. “They’ll scratch each other’s back with their teeth.”
“I had no idea.” She cleared her throat and stepped away from me, her eyes darting everywhere but my way. “Forgive me for throwing myself at you . . . again. I don’t know what overcame me.”
I nearly teased her and told her that I had that effect on women, but that was not the impression of myself that I hoped to portray. “You were scared. It was understandable.” I picked up the brush by my feet and handed it to her.
She swallowed and plucked it from my hand, starting again with her grooming—hesitant but determined.
“I’m not used to being in situations where I’m frightened,” she explained. “I am used to a safe, structured world that I do not deviate from.”
Had I pushed her too hard? Glancing around, I realized that I had basically trapped her in a small space with an animal she was afraid of, and a man who should not enjoy her throwing her arms around as much I did. I was a cad. “Forgive me. We can return inside if you are at all uncomfortable.”
“No, I want to be here. I like a challenge.”
Champion behaved for her until she finished his other side. I did not insist on a full grooming because I wanted to try something else.
“How do you feel about greeting a second horse? A mare that you could work up to riding?”
She smiled, and the sight left me a little breathless. What was coming over me?
“Unless Augusta wants to ride with me, I don’t think it would be appropriate.”
“Augusta rides often, but her newly found attention to her studies have kept her busy. I would not be surprised if she asks you to ride with her soon.”
“In that case, which horse do you suggest?”
“One a little less spirited than Champion,” I said, leading her from the stall. I latched Champion’s door and pointed to a tame mare. “This is Duchess.”
“What about this horse?” Miss Lewis passed Duchess and stood in front of a second shorter mare. “She looks lovely. What is her name?”
“Ah, you found Nana.” I stepped up beside her and rubbed her pale, creamy nose. “Interesting choice. You have claimed the oldest, fattest, and ugliest horse we own.”
“I have?”
“She’s called Nana because she is the grandmother of the stables.”
“Nana . . .” She cleared her throat. “I am exceptionally good at picking the perfect names. I did not think it would extend to horses.”
I could only guess at what she meant. “She’s a Welsh cob. I assume you prefer her shorter height.”
Miss Lewis lifted her hand to greet Nana. “I suppose I could try Duchess, if you think she is a better choice.”
I motioned Miss Lewis over to a stall. “You can be the judge.”
Miss Lewis greeted Duchess this time. I leaned back and let her take her time deciding.
Nothing on my agenda seemed as important to me right now as helping Miss Lewis select her horse.
She did not need me to rescue her now, or even persist at staying by her side, but there was nowhere else I wanted to be.
Even though I had no business spending time with her, I wanted to help her find her safe world again—one that did not include smothering high walls but room to breathe and try new things.
I had had the smallest glimpse into her past, and I had invested myself in her cause without asking.
How could I turn away from those beautiful brown eyes and her innocent, charming smiles?
Or perhaps she was the one aiding me. I felt more content beside her than I had for as long as I could remember.