“I don’t know.” Humor flashed across Jake’s face as he looked at Carter. “Should we make her walk, or should she ride with me?”
“She should ride with you,” Carter said, his eyes solemn and sweet.
Jake nodded back in some sort of manly code.
“Are you serious?” I looked up at his horse. He was tall and of good stock, but he was getting older in years. The weight of the two of us couldn’t be too comfortable for Jimmy. “Will we hurt him?”
“We’ve only got an hour or so left until we make camp. He’s carried me and Dusty for longer than that. He’ll be alright.”
“You and Dusty shared a horse? How cozy,” I teased.
“It was under duress, kind of like right now.” He studied Jimmy a moment. “I am going to take his saddle off, though. We can sit closer together without it, and I don’t want him to have too much of my weight on his back end. We’ll grab the saddle on our way back through tomorrow.”
I watched as he removed Jimmy’s saddle and hid it partially under a bush, barely visible from the trail.
Then he turned to me. “You remember how to ride bareback, Tuck?” Humor flashed across Jake’s face as he looked at me.
“The last time I rode bareback with you, I almost broke my neck.”
“Let’s hope you’re a better rider now.”
“What if an outlaw steals your saddle?” Carter asked, his eyes wide with delighted worry.
Jake looked seriously at the boy. “That’s a risk we have to take.”
Then he turned to me, his eyes shining. “Jump on.”
I wasn’t a horsewoman by any stretch of the imagination. That had been Jake’s domain. But I had ridden enough with him over the years that I could pass for someone comfortable on a horse. But riding in the mountains without a saddle was a different ballgame.
“That’s sweet that you have so much faith in my ability to do that,” I said.
Jake only smiled and cupped his hands together. Leaning forward, he held them out, motioning for me to put my foot in his hands. I did so, placing my hand on his shoulder to steady myself before allowing him to boost me onto the horse. Jimmy shifted under my weight, and without a saddle, my body shifted too, causing me to clench the reins still connected to the bridle.
Jake was up and sitting around me before I could blink. If I were trying to keep my distance in some way, this move now made that impossible. I was surrounded by Jake. His woodsy scent. His thighs gripping my legs. And his arms wrapping around me to grab the reins, holding me in a cocoon of tingles and awareness.
“Who said you get to drive?” I asked, attempting to hold my body straight and not lean back into him, like it seemed to want to do.
“I also almost broke my neck the last time we rode bareback together, so I will definitely be holding the reins this time.”
“Such a baby,” I murmured, wondering how I was going to survive an hour of this. I focused my attention on the smell of the pines and the dirt terrain in front of us.
“You can relax, Tuck.” His lips were next to my right ear as he leaned forward, clicking the reins to guide his horse along.
“I am,” I lied, moving back a half an inch so he’d think I was complying.
Jake’s arms nestled around my stomach, pulling me into him, until my back rested against his torso and my head landed against his chest.
“If you’re comfortable, it’s more comfortable for me too. And now I can see past your big hair.”
“Hey, I straightened it yesterday,” I said, self-consciously gathering my hair and moving it to one shoulder. “It shouldn’t be blocking your view.”
A low chuckle met my ears, sending chills up and down my body. “It’s not.” After a beat, he added, “You’re pretty touchy about your hair.”
“I finally feel like I have some self-awareness of myself that I didn’t have for most of my life.”
“Like what?” Jake asked, his voice sounding puzzled.
“Like a girl who went on and on, not having a clue about anything.”