Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 128313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Jasper met my eyes, and I could see disappointment shining within them. Not because he didn’t want me going out, but that we couldn’t be seen out together as a couple. “Just how local is this bar?” I asked Canyon. “Is it off the beaten track?”
Canyon laughed. “Put it this way, Hals. I can’t imagine any of your fancy show jumping peers drinking there tonight. It’s the type of place you only know because you’ve lived among the locals for a while.”
I met Jasper’s eyes again. We could maybe be a little more relaxed there. Hide a little in plain sight. “That sounds perfect.” I turned to my trainer. “Leon? Is that okay? We won’t go if you’re really against it. The competition comes first.”
Leon was silent, debating this out in his head. But then Jasper put his hand on Leon’s shoulder, and said, “Let them go, mate. They deserve a night off.” My heart fluttered. “And we’ll tag along, keep an eye out that they don’t party too hard.” Jasper threw me a covert wink, and I wanted to reach across and kiss him. I managed to hold myself back as Sage began to whoop.
Canyon looked to Leon, Atticus, and Jasper. “Y’all got casual clothes, or don’t they exist in your world?” He pointed at their breeches, shiny boots, and Jasper’s designer shirt and slacks.
I couldn’t hold back my giggle. “We’ll scrub up well, don’t you worry,” Atticus said, still eyeing Canyon. I probably should tell him that there was absolutely nothing between Canyon and Sage. Canyon was too sweet and introverted for someone like her. She’d eat him alive.
“And you?” Canyon said to me, pulling on my show jacket’s collar. “You got anything but your fancy riding clothes with you?”
I leaned into my best friend. “Canny, if you think I go anywhere without my old Ariat boots, jeans, and hat, you don’t know me at all.”
“It’s all she wears outside of competitions,” Jasper said, the heat in his eyes making me melt.
“Just as I thought,” Canyon said, then put the bar’s whereabouts into Jasper’s phone, with the plan to meet in a couple of hours.
Once back at the hotel, I showered and changed, smiling at my reflection in the mirror. I wore my perfectly worn blue jeans that fit me to perfection, a blue plaid shirt that I tied at my waist to show an inch of skin, and my brown Ariat cowboy boots that were so broken in they felt like slippers.
Going to the hat box I took everywhere, I opened it up and gently removed my Stetson from its protective lining. My heart ached at the worn edges and scratches that had been there for years. I brought it to my nose and inhaled.
I could still smell him—smoke, leather oil, and horse.
A lump clogged my throat, and I closed my eyes. “Wake up, Hallie-girl. Canyon’s at the door with his daddy. We got some cattle to move on before breakfast.” I groaned, cracking open an eye to see the sun only just rising outside my bedroom window. Daddy knocked again, then opened my door. He had a steaming mug of black coffee in his right hand, another mug in the other, and a smile on his face.
“I don’t wanna get up,” I said, pushing my face into my pillow.
Daddy sat on the side of my bed and set one cup down on my nightstand. The sweet scent of hot chocolate drifted into my nose. Daddy took off his hat and placed it on my head. “Come on, cowgirl. We gotta move.”
The memory was both a blade and a balm to my heart. “I miss you, Daddy,” I whispered to the heavens, then put his hat on my head. Moving to the mirror, I swiped red lipstick on my lips and was ready to go.
I left my room just as Sage was leaving hers. Sage winked at me and tipped her hat. She was in double denim, her jeans skintight to her long legs, a snug denim vest with nothing underneath, and a leather cowboy hat on her head.
“Hottie Hallie is out tonight!” she said and kissed me on my cheek.
“Same to you, Sexy Sage.” My best friend laughed, then linked my arm with hers. We stepped onto the elevator, and I cast a glance at Jasper’s room. We’d agreed to meet in the hotel lobby to avoid suspicion.
As we stood against the elevator’s back wall, our reflections stared back at us from the polished doors. “Ever feel like we live in cosplay most days?” Sage asked. She pointed to her outfit. “This is us. Plaid and denim and cowboy boots. Yet we’ve both found ourselves in breeches, show shirts, and thousand-dollar riding boots.” She laughed. “We were raised in dust and dirt, and now we’re all fancy arenas and horses that cost more than most people’s homes.”