“I’ll need a break,” she said. “Otherwise, my brain will probably bust.”

“Then by all means, you’ll come, too,” he replied. “Can’t have a tragedy like that on my head.”

If he was disappointed, he didn’t let it show. Clearly, he understood how important it was for Jenny to feel she wouldn’t be intruding.

For that, Janet decided, he would always have her gratitude. And, if he kept up the sweet gestures and the blatant provocation, he might very well wind up with her heart after all. Only time would tell just how terrible or incredible that fate might be.

Janet Runningbear was skittish as a brand-new colt, Harlan decided midway through their ride on Saturday. He’d never met a woman so determined to avoid being alone with a man.

Of course, Jenny was playing right into her mother’s hands by acting like the overprotective adult, rather than the other way around. He might have found it amusing and rather gratifying, if it hadn’t been so blasted frustrating.

He wanted to get to know this woman, but whenever he steered the conversation in a personal direction, she scooted it onto some other topic faster than a tornado could rip apart a house. He supposed for the first time in his life he was going to have to learn to be patient. His usual habit of making quick decisions and acting on them wasn’t going to work with Janet. If he pushed too hard, he knew right now he’d scare her out of his life entirely.

He kept a close eye on her as they rode. She handled herself well in the saddle. Clearly, this wasn’t her first ride on horseback. She didn’t bat an eye when he picked up the pace. In fact, she shot him a daring look, dug in her heels and sent the mare he’d chosen for her into a flat-out gallop.

Laughing, Harlan didn’t even try to keep up. He was enjoying the view from behind too much. She was leaning low over the horse’s back. Her long black hair was caught up in a single, severe braid, but tendrils had escaped to curl defiantly along the back of her elegant, exposed neck. A longing to press a hot, lingering kiss to that bare skin washed through him with the ferocity of a summer storm, stunning him with its intensity.

She slowed after a bit, letting him and Jenny catch up.

“Where’d you learn to ride like that?” he asked. “Not in Central Park, I’ll bet.”

“Jeez, Mom, you never said you’d been on a horse before,” Jenny said, looking a little awestruck.

“I learned in Oklahoma that summer. It all came back to me. I remembered how it felt to have the wind in my face. It’s exhilarating.”