“I can make some time, if you can be flexible.”
Maddie lit up like the sun at noonday. “You just tell me when.”
Her gaze on him was so warm and soft that Boone’s own gaze lingered while a thousand thoughts danced in his head. Her lips were slightly parted, her breasts rising and falling in the rhythm of her excitement. Boone wanted more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life to take her to the ground, right then and there. To seek within Maddie the warmth that his cold, dark soul craved with a hunger deeper than he had ever felt.
“Hoo-ey, Maddie girl, I’m dying for another taste of that—” Jim stopped in his tracks.
Maddie stepped back from Boone, her cheeks flaming.
Boone turned away, not sure whether to thank Jim or strangle him.
Maddie rose to the occasion. “Boone’s going to teach me to ride, Jim. Isn’t that exciting?”
Boone caught Jim’s startled glance out of the corner of his eye. When Jim’s weathered face began to crease into a knowing grin, Boone shot him a glare that should have fried him where he stood.
But Jim just grinned bigger. “Well now, that’s real fine, Maddie. There’s no one better to teach you than Boone here. He’s the finest horseman any of us ever saw.”
Boone felt Maddie’s gaze studying him and was surprised when his own cheeks warmed.
“I noticed how gentle your hands were on that colt. I was impressed, Boone. I thought cowboys broke horses with spurs and that sort of thing.”
Boone turned. “That’s the old way, and some people still use it. I prefer to let a horse believe that it’s his idea to work together. There’s no need to break his spirit. You start him early before he knows his own strength, and you teach him to trust you. He needs to respect you and know you mean business, but it’s not your business to be mean.”
Boone stopped. He was talking too much.
But Maddie’s eye sparkled with curiosity…and glowed with warmth. “That’s beautiful. It was wonderful to watch you with him.”
For a moment it was like standing on the edge of a magic circle, a private space he could share with Maddie if he’d take another step or two. But he sensed Jim watching them both avidly while snatching another slice of bread.
Whether or not he could keep himself away from her as he knew he surely should, Boone wasn’t conducting the dance with Maddie in public.
So he pushed her away with words. “I’ve got to get back to work.”
Her shoulders hunched as if absorbing a blow, but very quickly she squared her posture and shook that mane of hair. “Of course. I need to get on to the garden, anyway. I’ll just leave the bread right here.” She turned away and set the basket on a shelf nailed to the wall.
Jim glared at him, but Boone refused to respond. It was what had to happen, damn it. He couldn’t let go with her.
He would do his best to get along, and he would teach her to ride as he’d teach any other student. But he would use the control that had kept his head on straight in the midst of danger, he would use the discipline that had marked his life for years, and he would keep his hands off Maddie Rose Collins.
If it killed him.
But as he watched her walk away toward the garden, he couldn’t quite hold the line. “Maddie,” he called out.
The dark hair swung, glistening in the morning light as she turned.
“Maybe tomorrow we can start your lessons.”
Her smile was quick, her nod enthusiastic, before she turned back and walked away.
Maddie forgave too easily. And it seemed he was always doing something that needed forgiving.
“Maddie,” Jim called out.
She turned back once more. “Have all you want, Jim.”
“Oh, I intend to, but that’s not what I was gonna ask. Are you going to let Boone here take you to the rodeo dance tonight?”
Her whole face lit up. “A rodeo dance?”
He would kill Jim the minute Maddie was out of sight.
“Yep. Ever been to one?”
Her dark hair swung as she shook her head. “No, but I love to dance.” Then she went very still. “But Boone doesn’t have to take me. Just tell me where to find it.”
Boone bit down on a groan. “I guess I can take you.”
Maddie’s shoulders went stiff. “I’m a big girl. I can go by myself. I’ve lived in New York. Morning Star can’t be too tough.” She looked away from Boone. “Can you give me the directions, Jim?”
Jim muttered under his breath. “Sure I can. But I’ll do you one better. Velda and I will pick you up and take you.”
Maddie’s smile was tentative. “Would Velda mind?”
“Aw, hell—I mean, heck, no. Velda would love havin’ a woman to chatter to.”