“My brother’s hot friend,” she said with a sigh.
“Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow.
She nodded. “But you were always so much older.”
“Five years,” he said.
“Is a lot when you’re a kid. And then you were gone. Off to college. Then grad school.” She cocked her head. “When I did see you, you were with Finn. You never seemed to notice me.”
“You were engaged. You were Finn’s sister. It didn’t make sense to want someone I couldn’t have,” he said. “Before you rushed into the kitchen at The Taco Bar, I could count on one hand the number of times I saw you out of costume. Without the gown, I saw you.” His grin widened. “And your legs.”
“You’re . . . ” She didn’t finish the sentence. She’d almost told him he was as bad as Mr. Thigh Gap. But that was a lie. Jared had put her first at every turn. He’d launched a dating profile for her. “Jared,” she said. “How many women responded to your Philip Ryder profile?”
“More than I thought possible. Not that it matters.” He released the saddle horn and reached across to touch her cheek. He rose up in the saddle, guiding his horse closer to hers. His fingers brushed her skin. “I was looking for you. Even if I bothered to read through the other messages and profiles—which I haven’t—I wouldn’t find anyone like you. Smart. Resilient. Beautiful. Someone who knows me as more than a successful businessman.”
His horse stepped away from hers, and for a second, she thought he’d lose his balance. His hand fell away from her cheek, returning to the saddle horn, steadying his upper body. “Lucy, I want to kiss you, but I?
??m afraid this horse has other ideas.”
She laughed. “I think your mount realized you’re not a real cowboy.”
“Not even close.” He pulled back on the reins. “Whoa, boy.” The horse took another step forward. “I should have settled for dinner at The Taco Bar.”
“You didn’t want to be like my other online suitors,” she teased, urging her mare forward.
“I didn’t want to risk my date dining with my sous chef,” he said dryly.
“I wouldn’t run from you.”
I couldn’t even if I wanted to, she added silently. Jared Mitchell was her past, her present, and her future. Which piece of her future remained nebulous, but they would figure it out one date at time.
“Lucy.” His whispered tone held a hint of warning. He drew his horse to a halt. His mount whined in protest, sidestepping into the shrubs lining the dusty path.
“I wouldn’t seek refuge in the kitchen or anywhere else,” she said firmly. “I won’t run.”
“You need to.” He spoke in a low, urgent voice. “Slowly turn your horse around and go.”
Beauty raised her head and called out. She felt the mare tense beneath her and then back away. “Jared?” she murmured.
“There’s an alligator.” He spoke in a tense, clipped tone. “In the canal.”
She looked over to the murky water. The gator wasn’t submerged in the five-foot-wide channel. He was climbing up the steep bank.
Her knees pressed into the saddle, and her fingers formed tight fists around the reins. Stay on the horse, she thought. You must stay on the horse.
“He’s heading for us,” she whispered. Though she had to admit, he wasn’t moving very fast. Or maybe alligators were like cats. They stalked their prey and then pounced. Despite growing up in Florida, she’d never seen a gator in the wild. She’d heard stories about alligators visiting golf courses. And she’d done a party for a Wellington family who’d reportedly had a baby alligator removed from their pool the week prior. But this guy was not a baby.
“Lucy, you need to turn your horse around and get back to the barn,” Jared ordered.
She gulped and nodded. Of course, her lazy mare could outrun the gator. Horses were fast and alligators were . . . deadly. “Zigzig?”
“That’s a myth,” Jared said. “The gator should turn around and head back to the canal when he realizes we’re not only bigger, but faster.”
“You sound like you’ve done this before,” she murmured as she held out her right hand and spun Beauty in a tight circle. Then she gave her a swift kick, and they were off.
“First time,” Jared called after her. “Right now, I’m just trying to outrun disaster.”
Chapter 22