“Of course that’s okay. We can even have a trail ride if they want, we have plenty of safe horses.”
He brightened. “Really? That would be great.” His smile took my breath away a little. “I don’t know how good they’ll be on horseback or if they’re even interested, but if they are, that’d be wonderful.”
“Of course. She’s the reason you chose me to train Ramona.”
Which also made her the reason we met each other. But I didn’t need to say that out loud, probably.
Carter’s gaze flicked from my eyes to my lips and back, and that tug within me was back with a vengeance.
Then he seemed to remember our rules and cleared his throat.
“What’s the other thing?” I asked.
“What?”
“You said there were two questions.”
“Oh. Right. I asked Marielle to find some potential equine rescues for a charity proposal. I wanted to know if you have any thoughts on a place called Charlie’s Chance?”
A charity proposal? Oh. He wanted to put his money to good use.
“Absolutely. We work with them from time to time. The gelding Mal is training right now, Rowdy? He’s from there. Infact, you should talk to Mal about Charlie’s Chance. He has a personal relationship with them, too.”
“Okay. That sounds good. I’ll do that tomorrow.” He took another long look at me. “Let me drive you to the house. It’s about dinnertime and you need to eat and rest.”
The gentle concern in his tone had me hugging him again. He chuckled a little, the sound a bit surprised but fond.
Then he held me close, and I burrowed against him, feeling the warmth of him and his jacket. The evenings had become cold, and I was wearing a hoodie instead of a proper jacket because I found most of those too constricting.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that. When I finally sighed and moved back to look at him, I could see the emotions in his eyes.
This time, when he looked at my lips, then made eye contact again, there was a question in his expression.
I swallowed hard, then nodded minutely.
Giving me ample time to pull away, he leaned down to press his lips to mine.
The rush of want and need that rolled through me made me gasp. I could feel Carter’s lips curl against mine, and then his tongue swept my lower lip, as if asking for entry.
Smiling right back, I opened my lips and tilted my head, and the kiss went from kind of sweet to hot in an instant.
I groaned as he held me even closer, controlled the kiss, and gave me everything he had. The man could kiss better than I’d ever experienced before, and my stomach swooped.
Then one of the horses in the closest stalls kicked a wall, and we startled apart.
I snickered, Carter snorted softly, and then we started to laugh quietly.
“Well that was certainly… something,” he murmured when we could talk again.
“It was… perfect,” I admitted, blushing a little.
“Will you come have dinner with me at my place once we can figure out a schedule?” he asked, before quickly adding, “No agenda. I’d just like to have a dinner and some conversation with you.”
Grinning, I asked, “What if I’d like the agenda?”
He chuckled and shook his head fondly. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”
“Yeah, okay.” I started to open my mouth to talk schedule, but a huge yawn ripped out of me, making my jaw hurt.
