Читать книгу The Heart Won't Lie - Vicki Thompson Lewis - Страница 11

BY LATE MORNING on the following day, Michael was hating life, and he hadn’t even made it out of the corral. If he’d had some image of galloping across a meadow on Day One, he could kiss that fantasy goodbye. He’d spent at least an hour, probably longer, learning to saddle and unsaddle his assigned horse, Destiny.

Destiny had stood patiently while Michael practiced over and over under Jack’s supervision. Mastering the bridle application had taken another big chunk of time. Jack had insisted, and legitimately so, that a rider needed to know these basics before climbing aboard. Jack was also a perfectionist in this regard. No student of his would get away with sloppy habits. No, sir.

Michael couldn’t very well bitch about Jack’s exacting attitude, either. The guy was offering his house and his services for free, out of the goodness of his heart. If Michael had been paying him, the dynamics would have been different, but under this program Michael kept his mouth shut.

Lack of sleep hadn’t helped his concentration any, either. He’d planned to work on his current manuscript for an hour or so the previous night because his deadline loomed. Usually, working helped him wind down, except the chapter he’d faced had included—of course—a love scene.

He’d thought about Keri while he wrote the blasted thing, so by the end of the writing session the scene had been hotter than he usually made them. And he’d been equally hot. At least he’d finished the chapter and could move on to some action sequences tonight.

That was assuming he could sit long enough to type. The first portion of the actual riding part hadn’t been bad—getting the horse to walk and then putting on the brakes. But then had come the torturous gait called the trot.

Michael had circled the corral endlessly while Destiny jolted every bone in his body. How naively Michael had written trotting into his manuscripts over the years. His characters were constantly trotting their horses here, there and everywhere.

His characters were also experienced riders who had somehow learned how to sit in the saddle without bouncing like a teenager on a trampoline. Michael wondered how in hell they’d accomplished that feat. Jack kept telling him to sit back and just move with the horse. Yeah, right. He wondered if a construction worker just moved with his jackhammer.

At least he wouldn’t have to worry about being tempted by the lovely housekeeper. After today, his privates would be out of commission. He might not be in shape to have sex for a month.

“Okay, slow him down,” Jack called out from his perch on the corral fence. “Walk him around a couple of times and we’ll call it quits for now and head in to lunch.”

Lunchtime meant seeing Keri again. Despite feeling achy and chafed, he brightened at that prospect. As he walked Destiny through the gate Jack held open, he thought about Keri’s expression last night when she’d reached into the vanity drawer and pulled out a box of condoms. She’d been flustered and cute as the dickens.