Free Her Rancher Bodyguard by Brenda Minton Page A

fall.
    â€œStanford, sit up straight and take a deep breath.” He spoke quietly for fear of startling the already antsy animal. The horse hopped a little. “Sam, you have more sense than this.”
    Samantha, blonde, proud and unwilling to back down, arched a brow at his comment. “I know what I’m doing, Wilder.”
    â€œOf course you do. You’re going to get her thrown.”
    â€œThrown?” Kayla asked with not a hint of fear. No, instead she seemed to take his comment as a challenge. She took the deep breath and visibly relaxed. “I’m not going to get thrown. I’ll have you know, I’ve been riding since I was twenty-four.”
    Both sisters laughed. He didn’t.
    â€œFine, cowgirl, go on.” He made a shooing motion with his hands. “Show us how it’s done.”
    â€œThe horse is tired. He’d prefer to just stand here. But thank you.”
    Boone took the reins from Sam, eased Kayla’s left foot out of the stirrup and replaced it with his. Deep breath, he reminded himself. And then he was in the saddle behind her. The horse took off.
    â€œMove your other foot,” he told her.
    She did and he slid his right foot into that stirrup. His arms were around Kayla and he wrapped her hands around the reins.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” She sat poker stiff in front of him, bouncing like mad in the saddle as the horse trotted around the arena.
    â€œStop bouncing as if you’re on a pogo stick. It’s a horse. There’s a beat, a rhythm. Hold the reins easy, not tight, not loose. Got it?”
    â€œNo, I don’t got it. I don’t ride, Wilder. I’m a city girl. Remember? I shop. I go out to dinner. Green Acres is not the place for me.”
    He leaned into her back and for some crazy reason brushed his lips across her ear. “Smell the country air. Feel the horse moving beneath you. Green Acres is the place to be. Farm living is the life for me.”
    She laughed a little and he felt her relax. He guided her hand, showing her that she didn’t have to pull the reins, just let them brush the horse’s neck and the animal would turn away from the pressure. A light touch of the reins against the left side of the neck and the horse turned right. She rode him toward the first barrel and eased him around it.
    He could feel the tension evaporating from her body. She was letting go. She was trusting the horse.
    â€œYour sister is giving us the stink eye,” he warned.
    â€œOf course she is.” Kayla reined the horse to the right and headed for the gate.
    â€œYou’re a pro already.” Boone let his hands settle on his legs. “It’s as if you’ve been riding since you were twenty-four.”
    She glanced back over her shoulder, her smile sweet, her eyes flashing amusement. She kissed his cheek. It was a quick brush of her lips, like a butterfly landing but then moving on. But he felt it.
    All the way to his heart.

Chapter Six
    â€œI ’d rather be anywhere other than at a town hall meeting listening to my father tell people he is going to make things better for a community.” Kayla placed a hand on Boone’s arm as he guided her down the steps of the Wilder home. He cleaned up well.
    She wasn’t about to tell him that, though. In the past week she’d come to the conclusion that her Kevin Costner syndrome might be more than her imagination. It was easy to be attracted to a handsome bodyguard, especially when he was a gentleman.
    What she had to do, quite often, was remind herself that he was being paid to care about her. There might be a connection between them, but it would soon end. He would get a sizable check from her father. Then they would go their separate ways. He would stay on this ranch, raising cattle and training horses, and maybe someday he’d marry and have little Wilders. She would go back to... She didn’t know what she’d go back to.
    â€œWill you