Just One Kiss

Part 4: Unsteady

"Boss?" Steve turned his head to the right and a man came into view.
"Oh, I am so sorry," the man looked at the ground when he noticed how close the two of you were standing. "I did not mean to interrupt." You took a step back and blushed. Steve cleared his throat.
"You did not interrupt, Billy," Steve said and took a step closer to the man. "Is there a problem?"
"The food store just called saying that they won't be able to deliver today, but that they will be here tomorrow instead," Billy answered, still looking at the ground. Was he embarrassed or shy? You wondered, but then you saw it. He had scars on his face and on one of his hands. It could be more on his body, but he was wearing a long sleeve flannel shirt, so you could not see. But you could guess. Maybe he was not comfortable around new people. You stopped looking at him since you did not want to make him uncomfortable. Being a nurse, you had seen a lot of scares and knew that many got uncomfortable being around people after something like that. From what you saw it looked to be something other than burn scares. Maybe a war injurey? Could the man be a ex soldier. And how had he ended up here?
"That is fine," Steve assured him. With that Billy bid you goodbye and went back towards the barns.
"So, shall we go to the stables?" Steve said and turned away from you. He did not look if you followed him, but you did. And trying to look were you were going instead of looking at his butt. However, it was hard, since he had an amazing butt and the jeans Steve had on really showed it off. Steve took you directly to the stable and when you stepped into the stable the smell of horses and hay filled your nose. The stable was big and roomy, and cleaner than most stables you had seen. There were a large number of boxes, but some of them were empty. A bay horse stuck out its head over the gate and nickered.
"I am coming, sweetheart, just give me a moment," Steve chuckled and took your camera bag from you. He walked over to a door and opened it and put your bag inside. It looked to be a small office, from what you could see. Steve then closed the door and walked over to the box. You followed behind curiously. Steve started stroking the mare's head when she saw you and nickered again.
"Y/N, come meet Cinnamon," Steve said and you walked over. Cinnamon pushed her head against your shoulder and you started petting her and whispering endearing words. Steve smiled and looked on. You heard another sound and looked into the box. There was a small foal.
"Is that...?" you said and Steve nodded.
"That's Peanut," Steve smiled.
"He is so small." You looked at Cinnamon before you put your hand inside the box so that Peanut could come closer if he wanted to be petted. It was a bit of a struggle to reach the foal, but you did. Just with your hand. Cinnamon did not seem to mind, since she was being petted by Steve.
"Hence the name," Steve admitted.
"They are both beautiful." You smiled and looked around the stables. A few more horses had stuck out their heads to look at who was in the stable. All the boxes had names and you saw that the horses that had put their heads out that are closest to you were Ember, Snowball, and Lacey. "They all are. You have bred some amazing horses." Steve seemed to have trouble looking in your eyes. Was it the compliment?
"Well," Steve muttered. "I am not breeding thoroughbreds or show horses."
"I know." You smiled. "You are breeding working horses with a good psyche." Steve looked up at you. Then you talked with and petted all the horses that were in the stable. It helped that all the boxes had the horses' names on a brass name tag so you knew who you were talking to. Steve just continued to look at you, while also petting some of the horses. After saying hello to all of the horses you turned back to Steve.
"So, which one can I ride today?" you wondered, feeling giddy. It seemed to bring Steve out of his thoughts.
"I had Wanda saddle us two horses," Steve said and brought you out back of the stables where two horses stood ready for you. One was a majestic, white stallion and the other was a beautiful brown mare with a white blaze and two white socks on the front legs.

"This is Shadowfax and Sweet Pea," Steve said and walked over to the horses.
"Who is the Lord of the Rings fan?" you laughed and followed him over to the horses. ,
"Guilty," Steve chuckled and stroked Shadowfax on the neck. "I thought you could ride Sweet Pea."
"That works for me," you said and walked over to the mare. You greeted her with pets and talked to her. Then you looked at her legs and lifted her hooves to make sure that there was no problem. Then you checked the saddle to make sure it was on correctly. Steve stood by Shadowfax's side looking at you, not saying a word. It felt like a test, but it probably wasn't. When you were content that Sweet Pea was not hurt, had anything in the hooves and that the saddle was secure, you were going to put your foot in the stirrups when Steve came over to help you up. You wanted to say that you could do it on your own, but the thought of having Steve's hand on your body again made you not say a word. Steve took a grip of your hips and you put your foot in the stirrups. When Steve saw that your foot was in it properly he gave you a hoist up at the same time as you pressed off the ground with your other foot. And just like that you were in the saddle. The loss of Steves hands on you almost made you want to whine, but you keept it inside. Steve gave you the reins and then he walked over to Shadowfax and mounted. The way he did it made something clench in your stomach. He looked to be born in the saddle and it made you think very inappropriate thoughts. You bit your lip and tried to concentrate on the moment and not get lost in your head. Steve pointed in the direction he wanted to go and set off on Shadowfax. You pet Sweet Pea's neck again before the two of you set out after them. You rode up next to Steve. Not a word was said between the two of you, but you didn't mind; you missed riding more than you thought and being on a horse again made you smile. The only sounds were the horses' hooves on the ground, the birds singing and the cattle. It felt like heaven.
"For being a nurse, you know a lot about horses," Steve commented after a while.
"I used to own a horse," you admitted. Steve looked at you, but you didn't say anything else. It was not a subject you wanted to talk about. It was still very painful and raw. Especially now sitting on a horse and realising how much you missed it. Maybe you could find a stable in New York where you could rent a horse for a couple of hours when you had free time? Maybe you could ask Nat to join you? You knew that she usually rode when she was here in Montana, so maybe she missed it as well? You had to ask her when she arrived.