The audience continued to cheer and shout as Tucker carried Ellie down the steps, the crowd clearly thinking this was all part of the show.
His embrace was so strong and comfortable that it sent warmth throughout her. His masculine scent filled her lungs, and she gripped his shirt in her fists, instinctively pressing herself closer.
When they were well away from the show, Tucker lowered her, and she slid from his arms until she stood on her own two feet again. She smiled up at him, brushing her clothes down.
“After that second arrow, I was ready to get out of there.” She straightened as she spoke. “Thank you, Tucker.”
“You’ve got a bit of apple in your hair.” His fingertips brushed her scalp, sending tingling sensations over her, as he removed the small fragments and let them drop to the dust. He smiled down at her. “I have to check on the horses in the stables. Interested in coming with me?”
“Why yes, kind sir.” She looped her arm in his and raised her chin. “I trust you will get me to the palace with haste.”
Amusement glittered in his moss-green eyes before he looked up and guided her through the vendors toward the jousting arena.
“You handled yourself well on stage.” He glanced at her. “It was convincing enough that I thought you might have arranged something earlier with that duo. But when I saw your eyes when that first arrow hit, I knew you didn’t want to be there.”
She blew out her breath and held her hand to her belly. “I still feel a little jittery from it. I thought they would have a plant in the audience for that act, someone who was okay with being shot at. So, I was more than surprised when the jester dragged me onstage.”
“You put on a fine show.” He rested his hand on her back, guiding her around a puddle and a pile of horse dung as they neared the arena. “You’re a natural.”
She shrugged. “I’ve always liked to do voices from the time I was young. Whenever I heard a new accent, I mimicked it until it sounded right.” She smiled at the memories of her childhood. “You should have heard my dolls chatting it up. Sometimes, each one of them would have a different accent.”
“Do you speak any languages other than Old English?”
She laughed. “I’m fluent in Spanish, and I’m fair with Japanese. I’d try to study another language if I had the time. Maybe Swedish or Italian.”
“Swedish?” He raised an eyebrow. “Have you been to Sweden?”
She shook her head. “It’s on the bucket list.”
“I hear it’s a beautiful country,” he said as they reached the arena.
Cheers and jeers drowned their conversation when the yellow knight was hit dead on his chest plate by his opponent’s lance. The yellow knight flew off his horse and landed flat on his back while the blue knight’s horse trotted back to the starting point.
“The competition is fun to watch.” Ellie and Tucker continued as the crowd quieted in anticipation of the next joust. “Do you supply the horses for the fair?”
Tucker shook his head. “My friend does. He hires a trainer for this type of thing, and he sells them to Renaissance reenactors across the U.S.”
“Is that all he does?” she asked. “Provide horses for Renaissance fairs?”
Tucker shook his head. “It’s just a side thing. He trains horses for show, which is one of the things I do on my ranch.”
“Sounds interesting.” Ellie had been on plenty of cattle ranches but never a horse ranch. She wanted to ask if she could visit his ranch, but it was a bit forward of her. If he asked for her number or gave his to her, she’d ask him the next time they talked. She didn’t want to seem too anxious.
But a cowboy? Returning to ranch life—was that even something she wanted to do?
She wasn’t sure, but this man intrigued her more than any man she’d ever met.
They reached the stables and walked in through the open doors. Smells of horses and alfalfa hay swept over her—familiar scents from growing up on McLeod Ranch.
Tucker thought she was a city girl, but she wasn’t ready to reveal her background to him until she got to know him better, if that was in their future.
They stopped at the first stall, where a powerful Quarter horse gelding stomped the ground with one hoof, as if anxious to join the jousting competition.
Tucker smiled, caught the horse by his bridle, and spoke in a soothing tone as he stroked the gelding’s long neck. Ellie watched the big man, wishing she could hear whatever he said to the horse.
She imagined Tucker speaking to her intimately, whispering soft words in his low country drawl. A shiver ran over her skin as she imagined his big hands caressing her.
He turned his smile on her, and her cheeks warmed as if he’d heard her thoughts. She moved toward the next stall, where a dappled gray mare tossed her head as they approached.
