“I plan to stick like glue.” He matched her brisk pace as they crossed the clearing.
“And let’s keep talking to a minimum. The more noise we make, the less wildlife we’ll see.”
“Understood.” He fell in behind her on the narrow trail and focused on keeping her in sight. It wasn’t a chore. He enjoyed watching her confident strides as they walked along the path.
Speaking of walking, or hiking, a word that made it sound more like a manly sport, he concluded it wasn’t his thing. There were reasons cowboys didn’t hike and he was discovering them all today.
The mountain air smelled piney and fresh like he was used to, but there was something missing. He finally figured out it was the scent of oiled leather and horse sweat. He heard birds twittering like normal, but there was no clop, clop of hooves and the occasional snorting and blowing.
Another thing about this hiking business—it was slow as molasses. It took them forever to wind through the forest, cross a meadow, pick up the trail on the other side and work their way through the trees again. A horse could have made it in less than half the time.
Besides, the view from the ground was terrible compared to the vista he was used to. Elevated by a horse about sixteen hands high, he’d have a much better idea where they were headed and probably catch a breeze easier, too.
He adjusted the straps on the backpack again. It wasn’t that heavy, but it was cumbersome. If he had a horse, the equipment could be strapped behind the saddle or tucked into saddlebags.
He suspected trail rides weren’t allowed in the refuge, though. Bringing domesticated horses in contact with wild ones might not be a great idea. That didn’t keep him from longing for a sturdy mount and his totally broken-in saddle. He’d shipped it over to New Zealand and shipped it back. It was just that important.
But he’d gotten himself into this situation because of the fine-looking woman walking ahead of him, her glossy dark ponytail bobbing with each step. He didn’t regret asking to go along on this trip considering he had a good chance of seeing wild horses and spending quality time with Drew.
But he could say with complete assurance that he was not, and probably never would be, a hiker. She was, though. Maybe if he had boots like hers, with all that tread—nah, wouldn’t help. He’d still be walking instead of riding.
His mom used to say she felt a little closer to heaven on the back of a horse. So did he. A little closer to her, too, now that he thought about it. He couldn’t remember his first ride because she’d held him in front of her before he was a year old. He had pictures to prove it.
A soft flapping noise and the way his shoe was slipping made him glance down. Great. One of his shoelaces had come untied. He was out of practice wearing running shoes and he’d forgotten to tie an extra knot.
That was one of the things he loved about cowboy boots—no laces. They always looked good, too. Even old scuffed ones did because they had character. Old running shoes just looked nasty.
He dropped to one knee and called out to Drew. “Hang on a sec. I need to tie my—”
“Shh.” She stopped walking but didn’t turn around. “I hear them. And they’re close.”
He stopped tying his shoe to listen. If he’d been paying attention he would have heard them, too. His breath caught when he spotted dark shapes walking through the trees, pine needles crunching and branches cracking under their hooves. He estimated the mustangs were only about thirty feet ahead of them and closing.
“We need to move away,” Drew said in a low voice as she edged off the trail and to the right. But she had her camcorder pointed at the dark shapes threading their way through the forest on their left. “We’re supposed to maintain a one-hundred-foot distance.”
“Did anybody tell them that?” But he backed off, too, all the while keeping an eye on his dangling shoelace. If he tripped and went down, all hell would break loose. Even trained horses might bolt at a sudden loud crash.
The dappled shade made it tough to identify color but he thought they were mostly bays. Maybe a buckskin or two. There was a gray bringing up the rear. He counted ten but might have missed some. His heart hammered. He’d been around horses all his life but he’d never seen a wild one.
These animals had never felt the weight of a saddle, let alone the weight of a person. Instead of human rules, they obeyed the rules of the herd in exchange for protection and companionship. They ate what they could forage. They mated and gave birth with no interference from humans.
Seeing them in their natural state affected him on a gut level that likely would make a difference in the way he thought about horses for the rest of his life. Now that he’d had his first glimpse, he’d be back and he’d have on good hiking boots. If he’d been riding instead of walking, the experience might never have happened. Even if it had, it wouldn’t have been nearly this elemental. Maybe hiking wasn’t so bad, after all.
Drew didn’t switch off her camcorder until the gray horse bringing up the rear was out of sight. “They might be headed toward the meadow we just left.” Her voice trembled with excitement. “At first I thought I recognized some of them, but now I think this is a band I haven’t filmed yet, which is awesome. We might catch them grazing if we backtrack.”
“Let’s do it. Just have to tie my shoelace.” He quickly made a double knot and did the same with the other one. “Okay. Go.”
Instead of immediately taking off down the trail, she paused to gaze up at him, her dark eyes gleaming with anticipation. “Cool, huh?”
“Very cool. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Thank you.”
“I was hoping you’d love them.”
“I do. They’re amazing.”
“I know.” With a quick smile, she turned and started off, her ponytail swinging.
As he followed her, the warm emotion gripping him had a little to do with sexual attraction but a lot more to do with friendship. He and Drew were bonding over their shared appreciation for these mustangs. He let out a slow breath. At last he had the freedom to connect with a woman without thinking he was liable to mess up her life.
Chapter Eight
Because the lighting had been funky when Drew had tried to get footage of the horses moving through the trees, she didn’t think she had much of value. But if the herd stopped to graze in the meadow she and Austin had just hiked across, she might get lucky.
Adrenaline pumped through her system, partly because these weren’t the horses she’d been expecting. Filming old friends was great, but having a chance to get shots of a different band would be more exciting. Assuming she got some worth looking at, she’d show them to the experts at the Pryor Mountain center in Lovell. Those folks had named and could identify nearly every mustang in the area.
She was also sharing Austin’s high following his first encounter. She hadn’t realized this trip was a litmus test. She couldn’t be friends, let alone lovers, with someone who didn’t respect and admire these wild mustangs, which symbolized freedom to her. His dazzled expression had told her all she needed to know.
When they were within ten yards of the meadow, she paused, turned around and motioned him closer. “I need to unload my tripod and my larger camera before we leave the cover of the trees,” she murmured. “If they’re out there, the less we move and make noise, the better. The breeze is blowing in our direction, which helps.”
He eased the pack from his shoulders. “Take what you need.”
Maybe if he hadn’t said it so softly she wouldn’t have had a sudden, vivid image of those words uttered in a different context and a different place, like in their shared tent. Heat scorched her body and she knew her cheeks must be red. “Thanks.”
She kept her head down as she slowly unzipped the backpack. The rasp of the zipper took on erotic meaning in the X-rated movie playing in her head. Wrapping her hand around the tri
pod did, too.
Good grief, why did she have to be blindsided by lust now? She’d made it through the drive here and the tent setup, although she’d had to walk off some tension after that activity. Yes, the thrill of seeing the horses moving through the trees so close to them had stirred her blood.
But she’d fought and won the battle with her libido, which had urged her to kiss him afterward. Why had her mind betrayed her during this critical moment when she needed to focus?
He leaned down so his mouth was close to her ear. “Are you okay?”
His warm breath sent her pulse skyrocketing and she gulped for air. “Sure. Why?”
“You’re panting.”
More warm breath tickled her earlobe, which she’d never realized was an erogenous zone. “Just excited.”
“I get that, but you’re shaking, too. Did you eat today?”
“Yes.” She pulled her tripod out of the backpack and nearly dropped it on his foot. She fumbled it like a football and eventually he gently took it from her.
He lowered the backpack to the ground and laid the tripod on top. “Let’s go where we can talk.” Taking her by the hand, he led her back down the path.
Every step of the way she wondered what in the world she could say to him that wouldn’t make things worse.
When they were a few yards away from where they’d been standing, he grasped her shoulders and gave her a searching glance. “Something’s wrong. I don’t know if it’s low blood sugar or what, but you’re not okay. Whatever it is, I want to help.”
She managed to hold back a bubble of hysterical laughter.
“You’re turning red as a lobster. Don’t be embarrassed. Just tell me.” His grip tightened. “Do you need medication of some kind? Is that why you went back for the first aid kit? Are you allergic to something out here?”
She took a shaky breath. “It’s you.”
“Me?” He let go of her and stepped back, frowning. “Is it my aftershave? That can’t be right because it’s the same one I had on last night.”
“It’s stupid, but suddenly all I can think about is...kissing...you.” She was thinking of way more than that but she’d decided against a full reveal.
Slowly his frown disappeared and he began to smile. “I don’t call that stupid.”
“Yes, it is. The horses are probably out there in the meadow, posing for their close-up, and I’m fantasizing about having sex with you.” She clapped a hand over her mouth.
His smile widened. “More than kissing, then.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. That won’t help and I really want to get some good video of those mustangs.”
Hooking his thumbs in his belt loops, he took a long, slow breath before gazing at her, all teasing gone from his expression. “I want you to get that footage, too. If my being here ruins it for you, that’s not good.”
“It’s not your fault.” The concern in his eyes helped settle her down. He didn’t want to be a distraction, and that counted for a lot. “Let’s try it again, only I’ll be in charge of the backpack and the equipment from now on. That should work better.”
“Maybe I should cut through the trees and pick up the trail on the other side of the meadow. I’m sure I can find it and then I’ll be out of your way.”
“But you want to see the horses, too.”
“I’ll gladly give that up if I can solve your problem by leaving.”
“I don’t want you to leave. Maybe admitting my issues was half the battle because I’m calmer now. But FYI, if you need to communicate quietly, don’t murmur in my ear. Apparently, that gets me hot.”
His mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile but was working hard not to. “What should I do, then?”
“Touch me on the shoulder and mouth the words. I’m pretty good at reading lips.”
He ducked his head and cleared his throat. “Got it.”
“I don’t blame you for wanting to laugh. It’s pretty funny.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He looked up. “But in a good way. Ready to go?”
“Yes. I’ll lead.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She walked briskly toward her backpack and took out what she needed before closing it up and sliding the straps over her shoulders. Once she’d adjusted them, the familiar weight of the pack helped her feel more in charge. She glanced at Austin. “Let’s see if they waited for us.”
He smiled and mouthed okay.
At the edge of the trees, she eased out into the open and sucked in a quick breath. The mustangs were peacefully grazing about forty yards away a little to her right. The light was perfect, bringing out the gem-like green of the pines to form a nice background, especially for the gray horse. The breeze blowing toward her carried her scent away while delicately ruffling a mane here, a tail there. She was in video heaven.
Mounting her camcorder with as little noise as possible, she crouched down and panned slowly across the herd. The gray stopped eating, lifted its head and surveyed the meadow. She identified him as the stallion and that was confirmed as he began to circle the herd. He’d seen her.
Slowly she picked up her tripod and backed toward the trees. She’d become the uninvited guest at the dinner hour. They deserved to eat in peace.
She’d barely stepped into the shade when Austin tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and he pointed to her right, at the edge of the meadow. She’d been so focused on the horses and so certain that she was the harmless intruder that she’d missed the threatening one.
Creeping toward the herd, using low bushes as temporary cover and the breeze to hide its scent, was a cougar. Drew quickly removed the tripod and trained her camera on the cat. Excitement over her first sighting vied with dread for the horses, especially the small buckskin that seemed to be the cougar’s target. As an observer of nature and a friend to all creatures, she couldn’t intervene. The cougar had to eat and the mustang was prey.
Restlessly circling the herd, the stallion obviously sensed danger but couldn’t identify the source. Then the breeze shifted. The stallion’s nostrils flared and he trumpeted a warning. The cat leaped and missed the buckskin. Before the cougar could gather itself to try again, the herd took off at a dead run, their thundering hooves making the ground shake as they crashed through the trees on the far side of the meadow.
Drew recorded their flight. After they were gone, she panned the area for any sign of the cat and found nothing. Not surprising.
Austin stood next to her, gazing out at the empty meadow. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Quite a drama.” She glanced over at him. “Which one did you root for?”
“The animal most determined to succeed.”
How like him to answer that way. She really was starting to know who he was. “I’m not sure which one qualifies. The cougar had it won and then the breeze shifted.”
“Yes, ma’am, but that stallion was on his game. He might not have smelled that cat but he knew something wasn’t right.”
“Because I was out there.”
“I don’t think you were an issue. I was watching him and he wasn’t paying much attention to you. Some animals seem to know when they’re in a protected area. He might not have let you walk right up to him, but I don’t think humans worry him.”
“I thought my being there was why he started circling the herd.”
Austin shook his head. “Maybe, but that’s not how I saw it. The cougar showed up right after you went out there. As it started stalking the herd, the little birds that had been flitting around in the bushes got quiet and then they flew away.”
“I didn’t notice that.”
“I’ll bet the stallion did. He gets my vote as the most focused. The cat lost its advantage by being too cautious in the approach and waiting too long to spring.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He flashed her a charming, Austin-style grin. “Every cowboy identifies with stallions.” He paused. “So what next? Want to track them? Shouldn’t be too hard with the way they tore out of here.”
She glanced up at the sky. “We’re losing light.”
“That’s a fact.”
“And when I was packing the food I noticed you brought another bottle of the New Zealand wine.”
“That’s another fact. Are you saying you’d like to go back to the campsite and settle in?”
“I’m saying exactly that. But, Austin...”
“What, pretty lady?”
“About the way I reacted a little while ago? I don’t want you to get the idea that I’m some desperate—”
“Whoa, whoa. I don’t see desperate. I see sensual and giving.”
“Thank you. I like that description.” She unzipped her backpack. “Let’s get going. We need to haul in our food before it gets dark.”
His gaze was warm. “Looks like it’ll be a pleasure camping with you, ma’am.”
“Ditto, Austin.” She liked the way they could talk things out. Her small meltdown in the forest could have become a big deal if he hadn’t gently put her back on course.
After she’d loaded her equipment into the backpack, he offered to carry it and promised not to murmur in her ear. Smiling, she turned over the pack. She didn’t need to be in charge of the expedition anymore.
She had some video gems, though. She wouldn’t use battery life to review what she’d taken but no question she’d struck gold. Although her meltdown had caused a minor delay, she’d been on hand to film a cougar’s failed attempt to kill a mustang.
If she’d appeared in the meadow ten minutes earlier, everything could have been different. She’d worried about Austin being a distraction. He was, but she couldn’t fault him for it any more than she could fault him for being gorgeous. He also might be her good luck charm, someone who helped make things happen.
Do You Take this Cowboy? Page 7