“Rose breed?” Nathan guessed.
“And they say you don’t remember where you came from,” Spencer joked. “With a name like that, it’s no surprise he came in fourth. But he’s got a brother coming up next year that I think will make a real run at the Derby. You’ll see.”
“The Derby?” Nathan asked. “Really?”
“As in Kentucky?” I chimed in.
Spencer nodded with obvious glee. I was starting to see what Nathan meant when he said he wasn’t the real expert in the family. While it was clear that horses were an interest for Nathan, something he missed about his old life, I could tell in all of five minutes that they were a true passion for his youngest brother. Just as I couldn’t imagine Nathan doing anything but being a surgeon, it was plain that Spencer Hunt didn’t belong anywhere else but the stables.
Which only made it that much sadder that they had parents who couldn’t see their sons’ real worth. So few people in the world had true callings. The Hunts were fortunate enough to have raised two of them.
“Can we saddle up Gus?” Nathan asked. “I’d like to take Joni out, but she’s never ridden. He’s mellow and big enough for two, don’t you think?”
Kip shook his big head at Spencer, who just wrestled with him a moment.
“Calm down, you big bully. You’ll get some exercise today too.” Then he turned to us and looked me over. “You go on with Nathan—he’ll set you up with boots and a helmet. I’ll have one of the grooms put a tandem on Gus and meet you out front.”
Twenty minutes later,I was kitted out with a black velvet riding helmet and knee-high boots yanked over my knees, sitting atop a truly enormous black horse, and clutching the reins for dear life. I’d needed a boost just to get my foot into the stirrup, and now I felt like I was sitting on top of a skyscraper.
In one easy movement, Nathan swung up behind me, causing me to yelp.
The horse barely seemed to notice, though I was happy when Nathan reached around me to grab the reins. The horse snorted, but didn’t seem to care otherwise.
“It would be better if you could refrain from screaming,” Nathan’s deep voice rumbled into my ear. “Gus is unlikely to throw anyone, but it’s a long fall. I like you without broken bones.”
I tried to turn to leer at him but was too scared to fall off. “You don’t need your own horse?”
“Gus is a Shire Horse,” Nathan said. “They can carry almost five hundred pounds.”
“Sounds like a necessity in a family full of giant men,” I agreed.
He slid one hand securely around my waist and pulled me back against him so I was nestled between his firm thighs. Though my body calmed, my heartbeat sped up a bit as his finger teased the undersides of my breasts.
“Besides,” he said. “I’m happy here for now.”
Then he gave the horse a gentle kick, and we were off.
It wasa beautiful day for riding. Nathan took us through a meadow of wild grass, then through a wooded area to cool off. We passed through a glen dotted with foxgloves and buttercupsbefore reaching the edge of a small pond. There we stopped beneath the broad, low-hanging branches of a massive oak tree.
Nathan dismounted with the ease of a practiced rider, then reached up to catch me by the waist. I was glad for it. On solid ground, perhaps I was relatively graceful, but I had a feeling those stirrups would be the death of me.
Gus seemed content to be tethered to the tree and graze at its base. Nathan fed him an apple from his jacket pocket, then removed a picnic blanket and some food from the panniers attached to the saddle. I walked out to the pond, removed my helmet, and perched on a small boulder to sunbathe for a minute.
“What are you doing over there?” Nathan called. “You look like you’re melting.”
I grinned at him from my rock. “Oh, I’m definitely melting. It’s hot as balls out here, especially in these boots. But it feels damn good after a long, cold winter.”
Nathan frowned as he set out some sandwiches. “Testicles are actually about two degrees lower than the rest of the body, you know. Most people carry the most heat in their brains, hearts, and livers. So, really, that saying should be something like ‘hot as a liver.’ Though I suppose it doesn’t have the same appeal.”
“Why’s that?” I asked as I turned back to the sunlight.
“People seem to enjoy describing various things in terms of genitalia. Especially the weather, for some reason.”
I giggled. “True. Like, ‘I’m freezing my ass off.’”
I turned to see Nathan nodding as he walked over to me. “Exactly. I honestly don’t think that is even physically possible.”
“Ooooh, I got another. ‘Colder than a witch’s tit!’ My sister Lea loves to say that one when she’s grouchy.”
