"All right. Here's your headwear." He handed the black riders' helmets to Brady and Julianne and then quickly plopped the third one in the doctor's hands.
Her eyes widened instantly. He saw the word no form on her lips. He took the helmet back, spun it in his hands, and placed it gently on her head.
"Yeah! Aunt Megan's going to ride!" Julianne did a little jig at his side.
He reached for the buckle that went beneath her chin. His fingers brushed the softness of her skin, and he froze.
Megan's hands came up, but his tangled fingers blocked her, preventing her from pulling the helmet off.
He got caught in her eyes. Bright and intelligent and scared.
He cleared his throat, trying to break free of her tractor beam but not quite able to do it. He kept his voice low. "You don't want them to be afraid, do you?"
He could feel the kids watching them, but he still couldn't look away. Waiting to see what their aunt would do. Chicken out? Or accept his dare?
The cowboy was playing dirty.
There was no way she was getting on a horse. But she couldn't say no to a dare.
And he'd dared her good.
"Fine," she whispered through trembling lips.
He smiled, though it wasn’t smug. In fact, it seemed almost as if he were... proud of her. He tapped beneath her chin with one finger.
One of the horses blew, and it seemed to startle him out of the moment. His eyes were shadowed as he backed away.
Megan buckled the helmet as she followed the trio to the corral and the three horses that waited there. When they'd driven up, she'd stupidly thought that he meant to ride with the kids.
Not her.
She'd wanted to call the whole thing off the entire drive out, but every time she'd glanced in the rearview mirror, she'd seen Brady’s face. She hadn’t seen this level of happiness since before Emma's death. Ever since she’d told them about the riding lessons, he'd been steadier at home. Maybe this was what they needed.
Even though she had serious reservations, she couldn't take this away from him. Surely the cowboy wouldn't put her kids in danger.
She'd been reassured when he'd handed out the helmets. Until he dropped one in her hand.
The corral had two rails and the cowboy ducked through the open middle, motioning for the kids to follow.
Megan hung back.
"Coming, doc?" Dan asked.
She sighed and slipped between the rails.
Up close, the horses were even bigger than she'd expected. They all had reins draped over the corral railing. Were they even tied off?
"This is Tad," Dan said to Brady. He rubbed the neck of a huge blond horse with a dark mane and socks. "He's a buckskin."
He was huge, almost twice Brady's height.
Megan wanted to call her nephew back. The words stuck in her throat as Brady held out one hand. The horse didn't move at first. Dan whispered something to Brady that she couldn't hear. The boy was as still as a statue.
Several moments passed. And then the horse took a cautious sniff of Brady's hand. She watched as Dan helped Brady feed the animal a carrot, gave him some additional instructions, and then took Julianne's hand in his big one to introduce her to Peanut.
"She's so pretty," Julianne whispered. The horse was white with big brown splotches. Or maybe brown with big white splotches.
"She's what's called a pinto."
Julianne wrinkled her nose. "Like the bean?"
"Just like that, kid."
The mare snuffled Julianne's T-shirt.
Before she was ready, the cowboy strode toward Megan.
His eyes took her measure, and apparently she wasn't telegraphing her terror adequately, because he took her elbow and walked her over to the huge brown beast that remained without a rider.
"Relax," he whispered. "What's the worst that could happen? You fall off. And get back on."
"Lots of things could happen if I fall off," she said. Were her teeth chattering? She eyed the horse standing still at the railing.
"A twisted ankle. Sprained ankle. Broken ankle. Sprained wrist. Broken wrist. Concussion. Spinal cord injury."
She tore her eyes from the horse and looked at the cowboy.
The corners of his mouth were twitching. She should probably be thankful he wasn't outright laughing. "That's quite a list."
"I wasn't done. I worked in an ER before we moved here."
Something shifted in his expression. She didn't know whether it was a good or bad reaction. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes—not like before.
"You got that carrot slice? Come and meet AC."
"Girl or boy?"
"He's a gelding."
He nudged her forward when her feet didn’t want to move. Stayed at her side as they approached the horse's head. She could almost feel his big, warm body walking just behind her.
Dan took her hand in his, his warmth shocking against her ice-cold extremities. He put the carrot in her palm and raised it toward the horse.
"What if he bites me?" she whispered.
"He won't."
He was right. The horse lipped up the carrot with the gentlest whuffle she'd ever experienced.
Slowly, almost like they were dancing, Dan moved her hand to the horse's cheek. His palm covered her hand, pressing it into the horse's coat.
Her heart rushed in her ears.
It was maybe the most intimate experience she'd ever had. Dan was good at leading.
She couldn't resist turning her head, meeting his eyes.
He seemed to realize just how close he was standing because he quickly backed off.
"Ready to mount up? Doc goes first."
She wasn't ready at all, but he boosted her into the saddle anyway, taking time to adjust her stirrups.
She clutched the saddle horn. Why had she ever agreed to this?
"What does AC stand for?" Her voice sounded high and far away, as if she were having an out-of-body experience.
The cowboy grinned at her right knee. "I don't think you want to know."
She swallowed hard. "Tell me."
"Same thing AC stands for at your house."
Air Conditioner.
"Because he likes to be pampered?" she murmured.
"Nope." Another one of those grins. They were lethal in their potency.
He held up the two thin leather strips, offering them to her.
She couldn't pry her hands off the saddle horn, and he seemed to realize she was at the end of her abilities. He touched her knee even as he wheeled the horse away from the corral railing.
She left behind her balance and weaved left before it caught up again.
They were just plodding along. It could barely be called a walk.
He squeezed her knee, one point of comfort. "So you worked in the ER, doc?"
She breathed in noisily. "Four years, not including my residency."
"Did you like it?"
She took her eyes off AC's ears to look at the horizon as her memories helped with the answer. "Yes. There were quiet times, but mostly it kept me on my toes."
"Lots of different kinds of cases?"
"Yes." The sun was dipping behind the horizon, casting the sky with layers or orange, red, and pink.
"Bet it was a lot different than practicing in Taylor Hills."
"In some ways. There are a lot of good things about practicing here. And it was necessary."
The sudden lump in her throat surprised her, and she cut her gaze to the cowboy, who was gazing up at her. His Stetson shadowed his eyes, and she couldn't get a good read on him.
Once again, he was putting that careful distance between them. He'd been doing it since they'd met. She still didn't know why. It didn't diminish her attraction, only added an air of mystery.
"You did good, Doc."
And she realized they'd turned a complete circle in the corral and were approaching the kids, waiting by their borrowed horses.
"Who's next?"
"You can
call me Megan, you know."
Dan looked over his shoulder. The kids were on the outside of the corral, saying goodbye to their new best friends. Fast friends after only ninety minutes.
Dusk was falling.
He was hauling the last of the three saddles, plus bridle and blanket, back to the barn. He'd kind of hoped the doctor wouldn't feel as if she had to say goodbye and if he delayed long enough, she'd be gone when he exited the barn.
But she was following him. Jogging to eat up the distance between them.
Dread sat in his gut like a sinking weight.
He stopped and faced her, kept the saddle in his arms like a shield. He needed protection from her, from this attraction he felt for her. An hour and a half together, and he'd memorized the curve of her smile, the slight dimple in her right cheek. Now, fireflies twinkled behind her. They couldn't help noticing her, too.
"You keep calling me doc, but I'd like it if you called me Megan."
Her expression was so open that it made him ache to his bones. She didn't know about his incarceration. He didn't know for sure, but after about the fifth admiring glance she'd sent him tonight, he figured she couldn't.
He'd gotten too close.
"I don't think that's a good idea," he said.
She drew up short, several yards between them. "Why not?"
She didn't beat around the bush. One of the things he liked about her.
He gritted his teeth against the bile roiling in his throat. He didn't want to watch her face close down when she found out.
But like everything else since his release, he faced it head on. What else could he do?
"I'm a little surprised Rene or one of your other patients hasn't told you about me."
She looked perplexed, and he took a deep breath, one that rattled his insides. "I'm an ex-con. I spent three years in prison. For theft."
She flinched.
He hadn't thought his gut could fist any tighter.
His voice shook as he finished it. "You're better off staying as far away from me as possible."
Twilight was falling, and it was hard to read her expression. There was a beat of silence, then she spoke quietly. "If that's how you feel, why give us riding lessons at all?"
"My boss ordered me to do it." It was true, but it didn't explain the joy Dan had experienced being around the trio. He’d experienced more peace tonight than he had in years.
The itch had even disappeared for a time, though it was back now with a vengeance.
"I see." But there was something in her tone he didn't recognize. "Thank you for the lessons."
She turned and walked toward her car, calling for the kids.
He couldn't watch them leave, so he turned to take the last saddle to the barn.
He blamed the hay dust for the burn in his eyes.
Megan and those kids were special. And they'd just walked out of his life. Probably forever, now that she knew.
Chapter 6
Megan wasn't surprised that she found Julianne huddled beneath Brady's sheet with him, a flashlight shared between the two of them.
Tonight's riding lesson had been the highlight of their entire summer.
"Rules," she reminded them.
Brady only mocked her a little, and both kids complied.
Megan kissed both kids a final time and sent the girl back to her room. She confiscated the flashlight for good measure.
But when she settled into her own bed, neither the book on her bedside table nor the late-night TV show could hold her attention.
She'd showered, washed away the scents of the ranch. But not the memory of the cowboy.
I'm an ex-con.
She'd flinched away from Dan's words and the message they carried. She'd been shocked. Hadn’t known what to say, what to do.
He didn't seem like a criminal. Didn't act sleazy or secretive.
Wouldn't someone who intended to continue in criminal pursuits keep it a secret instead of telling her outright?
Some of the things that had puzzled her had clicked into place. How he'd flinched from her touch. That his tetanus vaccination was current, though it hadn't been on his chart. The shadows in his eyes.
You'd better stay away from me.
But the barn light had been shining on his face from one side, and his expression had been almost... desperate.
There was a part of her that did want to protect the children. But she didn't think Dan was dangerous.
She was sure there were folks in town who’d be happy to gossip about him. She could find out whatever she wanted to know if she asked around. But that made her feel sleazy.
And anyway, whatever he’d done, he’d paid for. And it seemed as if the man needed a friend.
Which was ridiculous, wasn't it? He was a grown man. He had a steady job on the ranch. He was surrounded by cowboys.
But when she’d stitched him up for the second time there’d been plenty of tension between him and Nate.
He'd been kind to Brady and Julianne.
Challenged Megan to ride.
Had them laughing and comfortable in the saddle in an hour.
And he was an ex-con.
A knock on Dan's door roused him.
It was dark outside.
He'd just been dropping off to sleep, but now his heart was pounding as if one of the prison guards had come to drag him from his cell.
Light from his nightstand clock glared in his eyes. He rubbed his face, trying to clear away the cobwebs.
Someone knocked again.
"Yeah?" His voice emerged rough.
"Call for you on the house phone." Matt's voice came through the door. "You can take it in the office if you want."
He kicked his legs out of the bed and opened the door. Matt was still standing there, a questioning look in his eyes.
Dan raised his brows, and the other man shrugged, turning to go upstairs. Which left Dan to pad down the hall to Matt's office.
Previously Gideon's office.
And the scene of Dan’s crimes. He hadn't been in here since he'd returned to the Triple H.
He hesitated on the threshold, eyeing the phone lying off its receiver on the desk.
Who was it? One way to find out.
He slipped into the room and picked up the receiver. "'Lo?"
"Hi, Dan."
Her voice was warm and sweet through the line, and he had to close his eyes against the rush of emotion.
"Hi, Doc. What can I do for you?" He steeled himself for we won't be continuing our lessons or we'll have to reschedule.
"It's Megan."
Megan. Not Dr. Fuller.
A hot knot rose in his throat.
"I just wanted to call and confirm that Saturday still works for our next lesson."
Seriously?
"Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked, unable to keep the words in.
"Are you kidding? Julianne's already snuck into Brady's room twice tonight. They're pumped."
The kids. But what about her?
There was an awkward pause.
Then, "We're new in town," she said with a soft catch in her voice. "And we can use all the friends we can get. And I was thinking... maybe you could use a friend, too."
Friends.
He wanted that more than he'd let himself want anything since the sheriff had shown up at his door three and a half years ago.
And that scared him. He had a history of being a screw-up.
But he found himself saying, "Yeah," through a thick throat. "I could use a friend or three."
Chapter 7
The kids had taken to riding like fleas to a dog. A month after that first lesson and they were racing across the fields.
Today Megan had taken the afternoon off from the clinic—and relaxed her rules, just this once.
She was still working on trusting in the training, trusting the horses like Dan seemed to.
If she blinked for too long, she could still see the imagined images of Brady or Julianne falling from
a galloping horse and suffering irreparable harm.
Today Dan had surprised them by bringing Miles and Scarlett Markson—Carrie Hale's daughter—who was Julianne's age. The two additions to the party had been saddled up and waiting for them for Brady and Julianne’s first long out-of-corral ride.
Now the four children were outpacing Dan and her badly, but Dan seemed content to stay beside her.
She wouldn't say she'd made her peace with AC, but she wasn't as afraid of the animal as she had been.
She liked the man much more than she should.
The surprise he'd planned for this afternoon ride was only one example of his consideration.
"That was real nice of you to visit Kelsey," he said.
Megan smiled. "I always like to meet new patients. Emmalei is adorable." Kelsey's delivery had been two weeks early, but mom and baby were healthy and back home on the ranch. Megan loved well-baby checkups, and since Kelsey and Matt were first-time parents, guessed she'd see them in the office frequently.
"It won't be long until you're giving her riding lessons."
He snorted.
"Did you visit in the hospital?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Had to hold down the fort here."
She couldn't remember a time he'd mentioned leaving the ranch, going to town or anywhere else.
Brady wheeled his horse away from the other three and started back toward them.
Her pulse spiked. Was something wrong?
She must've goosed AC by accident, because the horse picked up speed, making her bounce in the saddle.
"Whoa, there." The cowboy beside her didn't get ruffled at all but reached out with one long arm and snagged the horse's reins under its chin, drawing him back to a walk.
"AC wants to gallop," Dan said.
"Let him." Her heart was racing from the terrifying jolt. "I can wait here. You can pick me up on your way home. Or I'll walk."
He grinned, and her stomach flipped. "Then you'd miss the surprise." He patted one saddlebag.
"Another one?"
He only kept that grin in response.
Brady circled around and joined them, comfortable on his horse like she could only dream of being. "Miles said he still needs a roping partner for the rodeo next month. D'you think you could teach me, Dan?"
Melting Megan: a Cowboy Fairytales spin-off (Triple H Brides Book 5) Page 5