Among Wildflowers by Stella Rose Page B

and made the motion of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head while Ryland’s back was turned and Lane covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.
    “Alright, let’s go,” Ryland said, handing Lane and Macy their respective reins.
    “What are we supposed to do with this?” Lane asked, looking down at the rein in his hand and then up at the horse with trepidation.
    "Oh, I don't know about this..." Macy said. Her horse neighed and threw its head in the air. "Oh!" Macy staggered backwards in surprise, tripping over her own feet and then yelping as she fell right in the middle of a pile of horse manure. She gasped and looked up to find Lane looking down at her with horror and Ryland practically doubled over with laughter.
    "Oh my God!" Lane cried, holding a hand over his mouth.
    She glared at Ryland and got up off the ground while trying to brush manure from her rear.
    Ryland stopped laughing just long enough to walk over to the barn and grab a couple of clean rags that he handed to Macy. She bristled as he continued to chuckle at her while she attempted in vain to clean her pants.
    “Get on your horse,” Ryland said with a smirk to Lane, and then under his breath, "Maybe this week won't be so bad after all."
    Macy huffed at Ryland’s comment, but Lane had apparently missed it.
    “Alright,” Lane said, straightening his shoulders. “No problem.”
    Macy couldn’t help but giggle as she backed away a few feet and lifted her camera. She began snapping shots of Lane as he struggled to get his foot high enough to get into the stirrup in his tight designer jeans.
    “You’re not helping, Mace,” Lane said as he finally swung his leg over the horse’s back and landed roughly on top of it, making the horse startle slightly.
    “Whoa, whoa,” Ryland said soothingly to the horse, patting its side gently. “It’s alright, Levi.”
    The horse calmed and once again looked bored despite the utterly terrified man sitting on top of him.
    “Your turn, Macy,” Ryland said, flashing her a smile that both made her knees weak and gave her the urge to slap his smug face.
    She suddenly realized she’d never formally introduced herself as she would have normally when she met a client—in the confusion of the morning she’d forgotten. But since Ryland obviously already knew their names, it was too late to worry about it.
    She secured her camera strap across her chest and reached up to grasp the saddle horn as she attempted to get her foot in the stirrup. But before she had even realized what was happening, strong hands appeared around her waist and hoisted her into the saddle with ease.
    “Oh!” She clutched at the saddle horn, suddenly feeling very frightened about being on top of such a large animal. “Will it buck me off? Is it going to run?”
    Ryland put a hand on her leg, bringing her attention down to him.
    “Brownie’s not going to throw you. She’s as gentle as they come. You just tell her what to do and she’ll do it, alright?”
    “Alright,” Macy whispered, suddenly very aware of the man’s hand on her knee. She took in the sight of Ryland. His eyes were a clear blue color and his jaw was strong and defined. Never had she ever thought plaid looked good on anyone until this very moment. But that smug look on his cocky face was really putting her off. Swallowing, she finally said, “What do I do?”
    “Just pull back on the reins to slow her down or stop, kick your heels a little to get her going, and pull the reins this way or that way to tell her which way to go.”
    Macy nodded. “Doesn’t sound too hard.”
    “Piece of cake.” Ryland backed away a couple feet and looked Macy up and down, making her blush. “Well, hey now, you look just like a cowgirl in a country music video. All you need is a cowboy hat.”
    Unable to contain her annoyance any longer, Macy said, “That’s alright, I don’t really like country music anyway.”
    Ryland’s smile faded instantly and he turned away abruptly, strutting toward