Ashleigh woke to find Walker already showered and tying his shoelaces at the end of the bed.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” He grinned and crawled over to press his lips to her forehead.

“Where are you off to so early?” she asked groggily, wiping the sleep from her eyes as the last traces of whatever dream she’d been having cleared from her mind.

“I promised Colt I’d go check the fence on the western border today. It’s a bit of a ride, so I figured I’d get an early start so I could get back to my fiancée quicker.” He grinned.

“Care for some company? I’d love to get some fresh air.” He’d taken her out riding several times since their first ride together and she’d grown to love it, even riding out with Remy to the dude ranch every once in a while.

His eyes lit up at her offer. “Sure, I’ll go get everything ready in the barn. Meet you out there?”

“Yeah, yay! I’ll be ready in thirty.” She didn’t know why she was still so relieved every time he wanted to spend time with her. Some part of her kept expecting the other shoe to drop, but he just seemed to be more eager each time instead of pushing her away.

Her heart fluttered as she considered this realization and stepped into the shower, the scent of his foresty body wash lingering in the warm air around her.

True to her word, she was ready to go and at the barn twenty-nine minutes after he’d left.

He grinned as she approached, right on time.

She’d noticed the way he kept every clock in the house perfectly on time and she could tell he took comfort from it, from the exact routines and the control of having and sticking to a schedule.

It made her take great care to honor any time commitments she made to him.

He had both of their mounts ready and made quick work of helping her onto hers before putting his powerful leg up and swinging his body onto Noir’s back.

They rode in an easy silence for the first few minutes, breathing in the fresh early morning air combined with the leather and oil of the tack and watching the sun rise higher in the sky as they guided the horses onto the path that led to the western border.

Ashleigh somehow already took comfort in this smell, this view and the feel of Aislyn’s surefooted steps under her body. She relaxed into the rhythm almost instinctively and could feel the tension that had been building in her body since her run-in with Eli melt away. She was more at ease than she had been since – except, of course, for when Walker made every thought she had ever had fly from her mind and dominated her body with his.

This was different though. Not better, just different – serene, as opposed to every nerve in her body being on fire as he rocked her to new heights each time.

“I think they’re warm enough now. Ready to let them stretch their legs and gallop for a bit?” he asked, meeting her eyes with his as he glanced briefly over his shoulder.

A lump formed in her throat as she drank him in, the beautiful strong cowboy on his midnight black steed with his tender eyes and big heart.

She was unable to form the words she needed, so she nodded enthusiastically and spurred Aislyn on.

Walker gave her big, lazy smile as he watched her response and attempt to spur Aislyn on before he clucked at Noir, who responded immediately to his command and movements and broke into a graceful gallop.

Aislyn followed instantaneously, and Ashleigh gave a delighted laugh as the wind whipped through her hair and they sped over the countryside without a care in the world.

Then she remembered that it wasn’t true, that she wasn’t some carefree country girl out for an early morning ride with her fiancée on the ranch that was her home.

Her past wouldn’t melt away as easily as her cares had, and there was a mob of angry Russians threatening her. Threatening this life she was trying to settle into while pretending that it was hers.

Her laughter flew away with the wind and settled somewhere in the dust they were leaving in their wake.

She grew somber and wondered whether her horseback rides and days on the ranch with Walker were numbered.

She had unwittingly reigned Aislyn in, and Walker slowed Noir to fall into step beside her just as they neared their first stop.

“Hey,” his voice was clear but concerned, caring even. “What’re you thinking about that’s got you looking so glum all of a sudden?”

She looked over at him wistfully, wishing with every bone in her body that things were different between them, that she could tell him without him and Noir galloping off in the opposite direction.

“Some things are just too dark to tell, Walker. Even between…” She trailed off, not quite knowing the word to use. What were they right now?

He smiled at her, sensing her uncertainty and making her heart swell as he answered.

“A couple?”

She blushed, eyes filled with incredulity.

“We are a couple, Ash. If that’s what you want?” Something dark flashed in his eyes.

“Yeah, yes, I mean. Of course,” she stammered, feeling the flush on her cheeks spread down her neck and over her chest.

He laughed, eyes bright and relaxed again at hearing her answer.

“How the hell did you manage to work in a strip club when you’re embarrassed so easily?” he wondered aloud, amusement ringing in his voice.

She ducked her head in shame, wishing he wouldn’t bring up her past.

The familiar feeling that he could actually read her mind crept over her as he reached for her hand and reigned the horses in, pulling them to a stop.

He dismounted quickly and helped her down. His nimble fingers tied the horses securely to a nearby fence post and he strode back to her with almost inhuman speed.

He pulled her close to him, and the smell of forest and pine and Walker enveloped her. He held her close and waited until she leaned into him, relaxing in the safety of his embrace before taking a small step back, but keeping her in the circle of his arms, still against his body.

He brushed some stray hairs that had blown free from her ponytail out of her eyes and tucked them behind her ears, rooting her in place with his intense, riveting gaze. His eyes shone with sincerity and some unnamed emotion.

“Your past doesn’t bother me, Ashleigh. I don’t know how to make that clearer to you, but it really doesn’t. Like I said, we all have darkness in our past, things we don’t care to think about and things that make us sad. We can’t be controlled by what happened then. It’s over. Sure, it might’ve formed us into the people that we are today, but it doesn’t control what happens in our future. Your past doesn’t bother me at all. I just wish it didn’t bother you so much.” She searched his eyes for any sign of uncertainty or dishonesty, but couldn’t find any.

“You really, truly don’t mind?” Her voice was small, her mind unable to believe that a man like him could want a girl like her and genuinely didn’t care about the darkness in her past.

He drew her close again and claimed her mouth with his, crushing his lips insistently to hers and swirling his tongue with hers hungrily.

She was breathless when he broke the kiss with a nip at her bottom lip.

“I really, truly don’t mind.” He smirked, keeping his eyes firmly fixed to hers, as though challenging her again to find a flicker of doubt.

She found none and felt the disbelief slowly dissipate under his confident, open gaze.

She smiled a radiant, exultant smile at him before throwing her arms behind his neck and pulling him toward her, taking control of their kiss this time and kissing him more passionately than she ever had before.