Free Charlene Sands by Lily Gets Her Man Page B

should learn.”
    “Lily, a gun’s a dangerous weapon.” Tyler caught Lily rolling her blue eyes.
    “I’m a fast learner, Tyler.”
    “I’ll have to think about it.”
    “You know, I don’t need your permission. I have every right to learn.”
    “And if I refuse to teach you?”
    Lily hesitated. “Uh—well, Randy said he’d show me.”
    Tyler raised his voice. “Randy?” He put both handsin his back pockets and gave Lily a long, searching look. “Be ready at sunup tomorrow morning.”
    Lily stared at the horse Tyler had saddled and readied for her. “Can’t we take the buckboard?”
    Tyler shifted in his saddle. “No. Not where we’re going.”
    “I can’t ride.”
    “What do you mean, you can’t ride? You grew up on a farm, didn’t you?”
    “Yes, but all we had was one plow horse and my daddy’s old mare. My mom and I used the buggy mostly.”
    “I got work to do later this morning. No time to teach you to ride today.” Tyler leaned down and put out his hand. “Think you can climb on up.”
    “You mean, you want us both to ride on your horse?” Lily shuddered at the thought. It was highly improper. They’d be so close.
    “Can’t think of another way to get you where we’re going. Now, you want to learn to shoot or not?”
    Lily glanced warily at his extended hand. “I—I’ll try.” He lowered his hand further and she took hold.
    “Put your leg in the stirrup and throw your leg over.”
    Lily tried, several times. It was awkward. Her long legs weren’t cooperating. “I can’t do it.”
    Tyler dismounted. He took her foot and placed it in the stirrup, then grabbed her other leg to help guide it up. When she faltered, his hand cupped her bottom and he scooted her up onto the saddle. “Sorry, Lily. It was the only way.”
    Lily blushed down to her toes and wondered if it was truly the only way. But those thoughts diminishedand more powerful thoughts took hold when she realized Tyler had mounted and was seated directly behind her.
    “Hold on here.” He wrapped his arms around her and covered her hands over the saddle horn. With a click of his heels Blaze took off in a fast walk. The other horse followed them to the barn. Tyler called for Wes to unsaddle the gelding and to make sure Bethann was looked after.
    After several quiet minutes on the trail, Tyler asked, “Lily, you okay?”
    “Mmm, fine,” she said, lying through her teeth. How could she be okay with Tyler’s arms around her? His thighs were pressing into hers and he was breathing in her ear. She thanked goodness her long-sleeved shirt covered rising goose bumps all along her arms. She kept herself board-stiff so that no more of him would touch her.
    Every once in a while Tyler would break the silence of the ride to make a disgruntled sound. After the third time Lily gave in to her curiosity. “Is there something wrong?”
    “That knot of hair keeps poking me in the face.” He unfastened her hairpins and let her hair loose. “Better,” he said, his breath caressing her neck.
    “H-how far are we going?” Lily prayed Tyler couldn’t feel her trembling.
    “Past the creek a little ways. There’s some rocks up there. We’ll use them for targets.”
    She nodded numbly. Lily breathed a secret sigh of relief when Tyler brought Blaze to a halt and dismounted. He put his hands on her waist and helped her down. Heat flamed her body where he had touched, but Lily knew she couldn’t let him see howhe’d affected her. She became aware of another ache, too. Her backside smarted like the dickens. A lady had no call to sit astride a saddle wearing a dress. More than anything Lily wanted to rub the soreness away. It was a most unladylike thing to do.
    She did it, anyway, and heard Tyler’s muffled chuckle from behind.
    With a smile on her lips, she surveyed the area Tyler chose for target practice. The ground was carpeted with a vivid array of wildflowers and off in the distance a rocky hillside.
    Tyler tethered his horse to