Grayson chewed on his lip for a second and then lifted his chin. “Okay,” he said with a brave nod.
He sat up straight in his saddle, his head lifted and shoulders back. Slowly, his little horse gained speed with Laura right beside him. As the horse increased speed, Grayson started to grin. He lost the trepidation and urged his horse to get ahead of Laura.
“What about you?” Carter asked, coming next to Mia. His leg grazed hers as their horses found a comfortable position to stand. Her heart involuntarily sped up.
“Me?” Mia asked, looking over at him and squinting in the sunshine.
“Yeah, you.” He chuckled and motioned his head toward the field. “You ready to go a little faster?”
The way he said it made her heart thud in her ears. He couldn't possibly have a second meaning, could he? Of course not. She pushed the idea out of her mind.
“I'd love to,” she replied. She meant it both ways, just in case.
“I'll stay right with you,” Carter said. He clucked to his horse and moved out into the field. She followed him out onto a nice dirt path that was perfect for the horses to up their speed safely. It was smooth and hole free, reminding Mia of a racetrack rather than a path. Considering Carter's wealth, she wouldn't have been surprised to find out he'd had this path made just for running his horses safely.
She kicked her heels into the muscled sides of the horse and urged him to increase his speed. The bounce and the rhythm took a second to get used to, but she loved the way it felt. Carter was right beside her, his own gelding keeping steady alongside her.
She laughed and kicked again, up to a canter. Her body naturally matched her horse, falling back on those lessons from so long ago. The wind streamed through her hair and she glanced over at Carter. Without giving him warning, she kicked again, telling the horse to stretch his legs and run.
Jasper was ready. He extended his legs out as far as he could while she leaned forward, keeping her center of gravity down on the horse like a jockey.
Carter let out a surprised sound but quickly urged his horse to match hers. Together, their horses raced along the dirt path. Each horse wanted to win the imaginary race to an imaginary finish line, so they kept pace with one another until the dirt path came to an end.
The horses came to a stop, each of them breathing hard. Mia laughed, feeling free and light. When she was on horseback, nothing could touch her. There was no problem she couldn't outrun. There was nothing but freedom.
“You're a natural,” Carter told her as they turned their horses around to head back to where the kids were waiting. They went at a gentle trot now, letting their horses recover from the sprint.
“I haven't done that since I was a kid,” Mia breathlessly told him. She was grinning like an idiot.
“Didn't look like it,” Carter remarked. He smiled at her as they rejoined their group and she felt her cheeks heat with the compliment.
“I want to do that!” Alexander shouted. He looked ready to
take off.
“Next time,” Laura told him. “You still need to work on the trot and canter.”
Alexander looked sly. “So, that means there's a next time?”
Laura laughed. “If you're good.”
Alexander whooped. Lily grinned, and even little Grayson looked pleased with the idea of going riding again. To be honest, Mia wanted to do this again. This was a perfect day. The weather was good, the kids were happy, and the company was amazing.
She looked over at Carter. He looked so confident up on his horse. It looked like he belonged there, as much as he looked like he belonged in that garage. Both versions of him were incredibly attractive.
He caught her looking at him and grinned. She blushed hard and turned her horse back in the direction of home. The last thing she needed was for the billionaire to know she had a crush on him. She could only imagine the way he'd smile at her if he knew how much she liked him.
Laura was in the lead once more, leading the parade back to the barn. Alexander and Lily were animated up front, talking about how they wanted to practice their riding so they could gallop like Mia and Carter did. Laura was giving them pointers and promising to help.
Mia didn't see what spooked Grayson's horse. All she saw was the small gray mare suddenly shy at something on the ground and then take off running.
Time slowed, and Mia saw every blade of grass, every fiber of the horse blanket, and every hair on Grayson's head as the horse panicked and took off at a gallop through the field. It happened in the blink of an eye.
“Grayson!” Mia screamed, urging her horse to go after him. Her horse refused to budge. She had no idea what she was going to do, but Grayson was in big trouble. The horse was flying across the meadow and he was barely hanging on, his hands tangled in the mane and his little legs gripping on tight.
Carter was three steps ahead of her. He knew what to do and had his horse ready to go. Using his larger horse's speed, he easily caught up to Grayson's panicked mare. He was able to use his own horse to slow down the terrified mare and finally bring her to a stop.
“Grayson!” Mia finally got her horse to stop being afraid of whatever he saw in the grass and she galloped him over to where Grayson was. His poor little face was sheet white and his eyes the size of dinner plates. Carter helped him unclench his hands from the mane and slide down onto the hard ground where his knees promptly gave out.