“I only have what I’m wearing. But I can run back to the motel, if you’ll wait.”
Her pleading expression tugged at his misgivings. “No need.” He tilted up his hat and rubbed his forehead. “I might have something to fit you.”
Lexi fell in step beside him. He couldn’t resist glancing her way. There was something special about her—and it went much deeper than her beautiful eyes, pert nose, and rosy lips. And it was impossible for him to stay upset with her for long. Since when had he become such a pushover?
When Lexi lifted her sunglasses to rest them on her head like a hairband, he noticed the gold emblem on the side. Designer glasses. They probably cost as much as his new boots, if not more. Then again, she was a big-city woman and he was just a cowboy. How could he ever hold her interest when he couldn’t even read like a normal person? Cord shrugged off the inadequate feeling.
Lexi stopped dead in her tracks.
Cord turned back. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m waiting for you to move so I can go around the ladder.”
His gaze moved from her slender form to the ladder leading to the loft. There was plenty of space to walk on either side of it, but she preferred to walk on his side. Who was he to complain?
He kept going until he reached Blaze’s stall. The mare was out in the paddock, but the wheels in his mind shifted into high gear. Blaze was a gentle mare, even-tempered and practically read minds. She’d be perfect for Lexi, especially since it’d been years since she’d ridden a horse.
He imagined Lexi would probably put up a fuss if he were to switch the horse she rode, but dealing with her temper would be better than her getting tossed on her cute backside, or worse. After the scare at Haggerty, he wasn’t up for another trip to the doctor’s office.
Lexi followed him into the tack room, where he moved to the back and started clearing boxes off an old trunk. Lexi glanced around the room, examining this and that. It didn’t bother him as it kept her from peering over his shoulder and asking questions.
“Do you have a hammer and some nails?”
“What?” Surely he hadn’t heard her correctly. He spun around. “For what?”
“This old horseshoe on the wall.”
It had hung there all his life. He didn’t even know how it’d come to be there. “I don’t understand.”
She wiggled the old shoe back and forth until she was able to turn it upside down. “See? It should be hung with the U facing up.”
“I’d probably be better off not knowing, but why?”
She sent him an incredulous look. “To catch all of the good luck, of course.”
Of course. How could he have missed that? He shook his head in disbelief. The memory of the ladder came back to him. She had made sure not to walk under it. Could this refined New York businesswoman actually be superstitious?
He shuffled around until he located a hammer in an old toolbox and a couple of nails. He turned to her. When she reached for them, he pulled back. “Ms. Greer, I’d have never guessed you believe in superstitions.”
She shrugged. “It’s no big deal. Everyone does to some extent.”
“I don’t think so.”
Her hands rested on her hips. “Oh, come on. Are you saying you’ve never made a wish on your birthday and tried to blow out all of the candles in one breath so it would come true? Or believed in a lucky charm? How about knocking on wood three times for luck?”
“Maybe when I was a kid, but certainly not now.”
“Really. And would you disagree that bad luck comes in threes?”
She had him with that one. “My parents always said it, and over the years, I’ve seen it come true time and again.”
“Gotcha.” Lexi’s tempting lips spread into an ear-to-ear grin. “Most people believe in superstitions to some extent.”
“You se
em to believe in them a little more than most. How come? Who taught you all of these superstitions?”
“Mrs. Baker.” Lexi’s voice held a nostalgic tone. “She was my father’s assistant when I was a kid. She kept me out of mischief after school while my father worked.”