Dancing in the Moonlight - Harlequin.com

56 DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“No problem. I’ll meet you at the barn to help you
dismount.”
“That’s not necessary,” she assured him firmly. “My
dad built a mounting block for my mother to help compensate
for her lack of height. It works well for us
cripples, too.”
His mouth tightened but before he could say
anything, she dug her heels into the mare’s side and
headed across the field without another word.
Her mother would have been furious at her for her
rudeness. But Viviana wasn’t there—and anyway, her
mother had always had a blind spot about the Daltons.
Because Marjorie was her best friend, she didn’t
think the arrogant, manipulative males of the family
could do any wrong.
Ten minutes later Maggie reached the barn. She
wasn’t really surprised to find the most manipulative of
those males standing by the mounting block, waiting to
help her down.
He wore sunglasses against the late-afternoon sun,
and they shielded his expression, but she didn’t need to
see his eyes to be fairly sure he was annoyed that she’d
ridden away from him so abruptly.
Too bad. She was annoyed with him, too.
“I told you I didn’t need help,” she muttered as she
guided the mare alongside it.
“Just thought you might need a spotter.”
“I don’t. Go away, Dalton.” She hated the idea of him
witnessing her clumsy, ungainly efforts, hated that he
had seen her stump, hated his very presence.