Santa Fe Fortune & How to Marry a Matador

stood in the riding ring just outside the barn. “Just do what I told you,” he instructed Gwen. “Grab on to the saddle horn there, put your right foot in the stirrup, and then hoist yourself up.”
    Gwen was a little worried about being all the way up there by herself. “Rascal’s not going to take off running before you get a chance to join me?”
    Dan chuckled and lightly patted the saddle. “No worries, little lady. You’ll be fine.” Gwen felt her face flush as she struggled with the stirrup that kept swinging away from her. “Here you go,” Dan said, holding it steady for her.
    Finally, she got her foot inserted, but it was an awfully big hop to the top.
    “Need a boost?” he asked.
    “Maybe a small one.”
    Gwen felt firm hands around her waist. “Now,” he said. “Pull up.” Gwen felt her other foot leave the ground as he lifted her with incredible ease.
    Suddenly, she went soaring onto the saddle, her left leg swinging over the other side of the horse.
    “Don’t go anywhere,” Dan said with a wink. “I’m coming right behind you.”
    In an instant, he was mounted at Gwen’s back. He adjusted himself in the saddle, then scooted her toward him, securing her against his chest with his left arm. Gwen felt happy and wild and free out here in this desolate darkness with her rugged rancher man.
    “Best settle in for a while, Ms. Marsh,” he said, hugging her to him. “You’re in for quite a ride.” With that, he gave a loud command to his horse that sent the animal trotting.
    Gwen’s heart raced in rhythm to Rascal’s hoof beats as they moved along the mountain trail that carried them northward. As they distanced themselves from the ranch’s outbuildings, a huge sky opened up into an arching one hundred and eighty degrees. Billions of constellations appeared to compete with each other to take up dark space. “I’ve never seen so many stars,” Gwen said, breathless at their beauty.
    “That one up above is Polaris, the North Star, and that one over there,” he said, pointing toward the horizon, “is Venus, the Morning Star.” He held her a little tighter, his voice a whiskey whisper in her ear. “Venus is the goddess of love, you know.”
    Gwen caught her breath and held it. Was he saying what she thought he was? “That’s what I’ve heard,” she answered, leaning back into him. Was it her imagination or could she actually feel his heart pounding beneath their thin jackets?
    Dan rode them to an overlook that overhung the hills below them and positioned them perfectly beneath the open sky. “Want to hop off for a moment?” he asked.
    Gwen nodded, unable to find her tongue. She’d never felt so much emotion for someone, or from them either, she thought, glancing in his eyes as he helped her dismount.
    Once on the ground, Dan led her away from the horse and into his arms. “I’m so glad that you came here,” he said. “Came away with me to Paradise Ranch.”
    “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” she said, gazing up at him.
    He settled his palms on her cheeks, then brought his lips to hers and kissed her sweetly.
    “Gwen,” he said, his voice husky in the shadowy space between them. “My dear, sweet woman. How did I ever get lucky enough to meet someone like you?” He kissed her again, and this time his mouth lingered.
    Dan trailed his fingers through her curls, lightly strumming her nape. He pulled back a bit and dove into her eyes with his, their souls melding in the warm heat between them. “I have to tell you something,” he said. “Something important.” Gwen’s pulse rocketed. She didn’t realize until now how desperate she was to believe… Nor had she truly understood how deeply she felt it.
    Dan drew her body up against his with one strong arm and cradled her chin in his other hand. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. In fact, I tried my damndest to avoid it. But the truth of the matter is it was useless. All my efforts came to one end.” He gazed at her deeply, his eyes midnight blue in the starlight. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Gwen. No holds barred, one hundred percent, absolutely, positively in love. It’s a feeling I thought I’d never find again, and one I’ve never felt so deeply.”
    Gwen tilted her chin up toward him, powerful yet helpless in his arms. She was not the weak, confused woman she’d been when she came here. She was strong now and sure of herself. What she knew most definitely was that she was head over