The Perfect Lie (Hope Falls Universe)(11)

They headed back down the trail in silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Personally, Josh was pretty damn content at the moment. Beautiful day, beautiful woman by his side, damn good sex. Quite frankly, this day was already a ten out of ten and it was only noon.

Every once in a while, he’d stop to give Steph a bit of the tour guide treatment, showing her signs of animals that had passed through recently or show her some of the more unique plant life.

Once they were closer to the main trail, they passed a few hikers here and there and every single time, Steph would get that adorable blush again. He knew she was thinking about what they just did and damn it if his cock didn’t perk up to attention again. It didn’t make for comfortable walking, but it was worth it to see that cute blush.

They reached the fork in the trail again and Steph pointed in the direction they’d chosen not to go. “Stables?” she asked.

“Yeah, but we can drive. I think we got our workout in for the day.”

She raised a brow. “Got our workout in? Or are you conserving your energy for later?”

He snorted. “Maybe both.”

It would’ve been a twenty-minute walk to the stables but in the truck, it was only about five minutes. It was a Thursday, so it wasn’t that busy, but there were still some families and couples taking vacations or a long weekend who were there.

The stables were one of the oldest standing buildings on site, but they had been modernized over the years. On the coldest days, the horses had heat and there were even some fans installed a few years back that would allow the air to flow on the stifling hot days of the summer. But no matter how nice the barn, it still smelled like a barn. He glanced over to Steph to see whether she’d have the city-girl response of wrinkling her nose, but she just looked around in wonder.

He thought back to what she admitted about her family life. About her privileged history. He hated to admit it, but if he had known sooner, he might’ve never asked her out. He was out of his league when it came to money. He’d never even had a savings account until he got this job at Hope Falls.

So the idea that he could take Steph anywhere that would impress her was comforting. And he shouldn’t worry too much about impressing her. It wasn’t as if she was going to be hanging around for long.

He blinked at the thought. That didn’t make him feel better. He ran a hand over his head and through his hair. He’d known this was complicated but every time he thought about her leaving him, he felt a strange constriction in his chest, as though she had a literal hold on his heart.

He didn’t believe in love at first sight. Hell, he barely believed in love at all, but he couldn’t pretend that what was happening between him and Steph was normal.

“Oh my goodness,” she said as they approached a stall with the new horse. He was tall, one of the largest horses there. He was almost all black, but had a white star on his forehead and a large white splotch on his chest, along with some gray and white hairs threaded into his mane. “Who is this?” Steph approached and ran her fingers over his star.

“I call him Pain in the Ass, but his official name is Pepper.”

She glanced over at him quickly. “He’s the one you mentioned yesterday, isn’t he? The one you knew I’d like.”

“All the girls fall for Pepper. They must like the assholes.”

She rolled her eyes at him before she turned all her attention back to Pepper. “Is he too much of a pain to ride?”

“He’s great to ride. It’s why we rescued him.”

“Rescue?”

“All our horses are rescues of some kind. We have to go through a big screening process, since the horses here all interact with guests and they have to have a good temperament, but there are enough rescues out there that there are plenty of good ones.”

“That’s awesome. I’ve always wanted to adopt a dog,” she said wistfully as she scratched Pepper’s big neck.

“Why don’t you have one?”

“Because once you get a dog, you’re their entire life for ten plus years. And I have no idea what I’m doing from week to week, let alone for the next decade.”

He nodded as he saw through her words. “You don’t want the commitment.”

“I’m not afraid of commitment.”

“You don’t have long-term relationships. You don’t adopt dogs. You don’t have any steady jobs even though I bet you could get one in a heartbeat.” He hadn’t known her long, but could tell she was smart and obviously had family connections. If a bum like him could get employment, she would be a shoo-in anywhere she wanted to go.

“Well, you don’t have a dog either,” she pointed out.

“Maybe I don’t like dogs.” She didn’t even bother to respond, just giving him a skeptical look. “Okay, I did have a dog once. I had a messy breakup and she got the dog.” When he thought about Rocco, he still got upset about it. Somehow taking the plunge into giving his heart and home to another animal hadn’t seemed like an option, even now that his life was more stable.

“That’s horrible.” Steph’s eyes clouded with sympathy. “I can’t believe she would do that to you. You couldn’t work out visitation or shared custody?” Her face scrunched as she said it, realizing how strange the idea of shared custody of a dog was.