When was the last time someone had asked if she was okay like that? When had someone worried about her over a fall?

She was tough-as-nails Jamie Dodge. Her brother didn’t even realize she was lonely and needed his company for dinner.

And Gabe was... Gabe was acting like she might be fragile.

Her throat dried, her heart feeling even more bruised and tender than her hip.

“I’m okay,” she said, more desperate to get away from him than she was certain that she was okay.

She tried to stand, but her hip ached, the stabbing pain making her wobble.

Gabe grabbed hold of her arm and held her suspended, up off the ground, but not quite on her feet.

“I can stand up,” she said.

He ignored her. Strong arms bracing her as he brought her to her feet, and held her firmly. She winced, pain shooting up through her hip.

“I think it’s just going to be a seriously nasty bruise,” she said.

“You got hit really hard,” he said.

He reached out and put his hand over her hip right where she had connected with the barrel. The gesture shocked her so much she stood frozen. But his expression was neutral, and his touch was clinical in nature. He pushed against her as if he was waiting for her to cry out in pain, or something.

But she didn’t.

It hurt. It hurt badly and the pain rang through her bones like they were a gong that had been hit, but she wasn’t going to react.

“I’m okay,” she insisted.

“Good,” he said, releasing his hold on her and taking a step back. “Jamie, you need to be careful.”

“She seemed fine,” she said, gesturing to the horse. “Actually, she was fine. It wasn’t her fault. A stupid ass—” Jamie waved her hand and made a skittering motion with her fingers “—squirrel ran out under her feet. Any horse could’ve freaked out like that.”

“Jamie.” Those blue eyes bored into hers all serious, and she couldn’t breathe. “You don’t even have a helmet on. You could have been seriously injured.”

“I don’t wear a helmet when I barrel race,” she said.

“Not even with a new horse? Jamie, you have to take precautions. The dumb-ass bull riders even wear face masks nowadays. There’s no point putting yourself at risk when you could take a small step toward keeping yourself safe.” He still wasn’t mad. His voice was shot through with concern and that only made her angry. Though maybe more than that, she was angry at herself for wanting more. More of the tenderness. More of his touch.

“Hey,” she said, “it was just an accident. And it happens. You can’t tell me you’ve never been thrown from a horse.”

His jaw firmed. “I ride bucking broncos. That’s kind of part of the deal.”

“I ride,” she said simply. “It’s part of the deal there, too.”

She turned away from him and limped over toward Gem.

“What are you doing?”