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wants to learn how to ride. I told her I’d give her a few lessons.”
    “Jimmy needs help with the steer out in the south field. Go give him a hand. And bring Tommy and Joe too. They are probably finished with the truck by now.” Jake looked right at Elissa. “I’ll take care of the lessons.”
Jake give her lessons on riding? No way, she told herself. Elissa backed away. “No, that’s okay. I can do this another time. I don’t want to be in the way.”
    Rick ignored her statement and tied Jemima up to the nearby fence. “Thanks, Jake. I’ll take care of that steer if you’ll take care of Elissa. I think she might be a bit nervous so be nice,” he said and smiled as he walked off to a truck. Elissa watched him get into the cab and revved the engine, waving to her with a cheeky smile as he drove of. She didn’t want to get lessons from Jake. He terrified her more than the horse did. And it didn’t help that he was staring at her now that they were relatively alone in the corral.
    “This really can wait until Rick has more time. You’re busy,” she said warily and backed away from the mounting block intending to hide in her room until this enigmatic man left the area.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of Jemima,” Jake said, moving closer to pat the horse’s head. His eyes challenged her.
    Elissa tried to keep her eyes off his hands as he caressed the horse. She refused to be jealous of the huge beast but Jake’s hands were strong and tanned with long fingers that soothed the horse who moved closer, begging for more.
Taking a deep breath to get her thoughts going in the right direction, she stepped back further. “I’m not afraid of her. I’d just prefer Rick to teach me how to ride.”
     
“Ah,” Jake said, nodding his head. “So you’re afraid of me,” and he smiled slightly.
     
Elissa’s chin went up a notch. “I’m not afraid of you.”
     
His smile grew wider. “Prove it. Get on the horse. Let’s see what you can do,” he said and raised one eyebrow.
    Elissa eyed the horse and considered admitting that she was terrified of both horse and instructor. But one glance back at him and she refused to let him know the truth. He already thought she was a city girl who couldn’t handle life on a ranch. She’d just prove that she wasn’t a hot house flower.
    Moving to the side, she considered all the various angles available to get onto the horse. Including the rear. She wasn’t sure how to do it but she knew the block of wood near the horse had something to do with helping her, otherwise Rick wouldn’t have brought Jemima over to it, would he?
“What are you doing?” Jake asked, trying not to laugh at the way she surveyed the gentle mare.
     
Elissa sighed. “I’m trying to figure out how to get on,” she finally admitted, looking at the ground in embarrassment.
    Jake rolled his eyes and walked over to her. Grabbing her by the waist, he lifted her over the saddle and plunked her down, not even looking like he’d exerted himself in any way.
Elise landed in the saddle with a hard thump. “Well, that’s definitely one way,” she mumbled, grabbing the saddle horn with both hands.
     
“Now take the reigns and move the horse over to the corral while I open the gate,” he said and turned his back to walk over to the gate and unlatch the lock.
    Elissa picked up the reigns and stared at the back of the horse’s head. She wriggled her hips a little, thinking that might get the horse moving in the right direction. But the horse didn’t even flutter her ears.
“Okay, Jemima, you heard the man. We need to go over there,” Elissa said, pointing to the corral.
     
Jemima’s reply was a snort of her nose but no movement.
     
“What the hell are you doing?” Jake asked, staring back at the woman wriggling her cute little derriere on the saddle.
    Elissa froze. She hadn’t realized that he was watching her. She looked up and caught his astonished gaze. “You said to get the horse into