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“Robin’s here,” he said slowly. “My family, friends. The inn.”
    No mention of a woman. Surely he’d dated since his divorce. Cassidy wasn’t pushy, but she didn’t like to pussyfoot around either, so she said, “No special woman?”
    He didn’t look at her, nor respond. After a long moment of silence, he said, “No.” Then, “You okay if we lope again?”
    She couldn’t force him to expand on that if he didn’t want to. “You bet.”
    His horse speeded up, taking the lead. Merlin was at the palomino’s heels and Cherry followed. Cassidy found her balance. She studied Dave’s denim-clad back, so strong and athletic, imagining how it would feel to wrap her arms around him, to run her hands up under his shirt and feel those muscles flex.
    He was clearly attracted to her, but he was holding back. Why, if he wasn’t dating anyone else? Had Jessie broken his heart?
    Cassidy didn’t believe that human beings were designed for monogamy. Take her parents and her brother as prime examples. People should be sensible enough to recognize it, and not invest their hearts in all that soppy romantic stuff. On the other hand, few people were designed to be totally solitary beings. It was good to have friends and great to have sex. The smart thing to do was hook up, have fun, then move on, hopefully with no hard feelings. Sure, you missed out on the romance of being in love—something she’d never come close to experiencing herself—but you also got to skip the angst of a broken heart.
    Dave was too sweet a guy to carry a torch for a woman who’d long ago moved on. Someone should make it her mission to shake that sweet guy out of his blues. To coax that dimple out of hiding.
    And who better than Cassidy?
    Was he worried about the fact that she worked for him? Maybe that was why he held back. She’d learned, during training by Madisun, that there was no rule against staff dating as long as they behaved professionally on the job. In fact, the chef, Mitch, and the bartender, Roy, had been a couple for the past year. But they were colleagues, not boss and employee.
    Her instincts, which were usually reliable, told her Dave would never harass or pressure a staff member. Maybe he figured that coming on to one was inappropriate. Hmm. What if she seduced him and promised it wouldn’t affect their work relationship? Would he say no? She mulled that notion over as Dave maintained the lead, trotting now, on a narrower trail.
    Best not to get ahead of herself. He had included her in a family outing. Yeah, Robin had instigated it, but he could have said no. It seemed he was open to at least being friends. It wasn’t a bad start. She’d enjoy the eye candy and his company, and see where things went from there.
    Trees arched overhead, letting dappled sunlight sift through their branches. Birds chirped and a distinctive song trilled. She searched for the red-winged blackbird and found him perched on a fence post. She breathed in the pure, grassy country air and, exhilarated, let out her own corny rendition of the bird’s call.
    Dave glanced over his shoulder, laughing, and she grinned back.
    A couple of minutes later, he slowed Malibu to a walk, and shortly afterward they turned into a neat stable yard. Robin had mentioned that Riders Boot Camp was less than two years old, and the buildings did look much newer than those at Westward Ho!
    The girl’s head poked out of the barn door, and Merlin ran over to greet her. She called, “Evan, they’re here,” and, with the dog at her side, came to meet them. A moment later, a man in jeans and a tee followed her.
    He studied Cassidy with obvious interest, and she reciprocated. Evan actually looked a little like Dave: a lean, rangy build and easy on the eyes. Evan was a couple of inches shorter, at maybe six feet, his brown hair had sun streaks, and his eyes were a striking