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I wasn’t teaching her to ride because I was a good man.

I’d brought her here to pry information out of her.

Having her do something like that for me had caught me off-guard.

I was starting to realize that doing thoughtful things was just part of Reese’s nature, and that she was just inherently…kind.

I’d felt so damn guilty that I hadn’t asked her a single question that I knew she didn’t want to answer.

I couldn’t.

For some damn reason I just didn’t really want to see fear in her eyes.

I’d rather watch her smile and her joy because she was on a horse.

We could get to the difficult stuff…later.

I was starting to get addicted to her smile and maybe her happiness was contagious because I was feeling pretty damn happy myself at the moment.

That was pretty unusual for me because I wasn’t a guy who experienced a lot of emotional extremes of any kind.

Generally, I was just a cynical bastard who didn’t smile very often.

The trail widened so I pulled up beside her. “Having fun?” I asked her.

Her smile was almost blinding, and her cheeks were flushed as she replied, “The most fun I’ve had in a long time. Thank you so much for this. Luna is a dream horse, and it’s almost surreal that I’m actually riding her.”

Christ!She was beautiful.

And I was so fucked.

I’d been extremely unsuccessful at convincing my dick that she was the enemy.

Probably because I really didn’t believe that myself anymore.

However, she was hiding something, and I was determined to figure out exactly what she didn’t want to reveal.

I had to be honest with myself and admit that I hadn’t negotiated my gym for dinner with nefarious intentions.

Truth was, I just wanted to see more of Reese. During that time together maybe she’d learn to trust me and tell me what I wanted to know.

I also happened to love everything she cooked.

Win. Win.

At least it was for me.

She seemed to think she was getting a good deal, so neither one of us was unhappy with that agreement.

“You two look good together,” I commented. “I think you’re a good match.”

“I think we’re a perfect match,” Reese agreed. “You said she came from a top breeder and that she’s from a champion lineage. Was she terribly expensive?”

Luna was a special horse, and she hadn’t come cheap, but I wasn’t about to tell Reese how much my brothers and I had paid for her when we’d gifted her to my mother several years ago.

I suspected that Reese was pondering the idea of asking to buy her from me in the future when she was settled enough to own a horse.

“A good Gypsy Vanner is a little pricey,” I said vaguely. “They aren’t a common breed in the United States and it’s not easy to find a good purebred like her. But I’ve paid more for a horse.”