Chapter Ten

Lynn sucked in a breath as Richie appeared in the barn wearing perfectly fitted dark wash bootcut jeans, brown leather boots, skin tight black shirt and a black Stetson. He flashed her a smile and made a quick perusal of her body. Is she really a city woman? The guitarist let his eyes roam the denim clad legs, white tank top and light wash denim jacket topped by a Philadelphia Soul baseball cap to protect her face from the sun.

“Nice cap.” He noted grinning.

Lynn smiled and blushed while looking at the floor. “Yeah it seems that Jon is hell bent on getting me to enjoy football.” She tipped the hat and motioned for Richie to follow her. “If you’ll get Olly from his stable and cleaned I’ll get the tack out.” The man knew better than to argue and tell her he’d do the heavy lifting of the saddle.

“No problem teach.” He turned around and stood in front of the stables. Oliver was pressing his nose against a metal bar, begging to get attention. Richie snickered and as he opened the door let his hand stroke the velvety soft nose. “Come on buddy, let’s get you cleaned up.”

Meanwhile Jocelynn was getting a headstall and slung it over the horn of the saddle in the search of leg protectors. “I’d go for the pink.” Jon laughed from the door of the tack room. “I saw Rich brushing Oliver and thought it’d been too damn long since I had a good laugh.”

Lynn turned around in a flash with flushed cheeks. She had been hovering her hand above the pink leg protectors but was wondering if Richie would appreciate the joke. Now that at least Jon did, she grabbed the protectors and tossed them over at the man. “You know that will come back to bite you in the ass right?” She chuckled as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and cocked her head to the side. “I can’t force ya but I’d sure love to see you go all rodeo cowboy out there.”

Jon Bongiovi threw his head back and laughed. “Sure would sweetpie but my insurance would tie me down before I had the chance. Richie isn’t so important so the company doesn’t mind him breaking half the bones in his miserable body.”

“I heard that man!” Richie yelled as he re-entered the barn, clearly looking for the woman. “And in front of a lady too. Tsk tsk.” Flashing a dimpled grin at Jocelynn she smiled.

“Let’s get going boys. Time to work up some sweat.” She lifted the saddle, pad and bridle in her hands and walked past them effortlessly. “So part of riding is knowing how to saddle a horse.” She spoke as she put down the tack next to Oliver. Lifting her hand she stroked his neck. Richie nodded and looked around at the tack. “Let’s start with the leg protection.”

Richie moved forward and stared at the pink wraps. Lifting the two sets in his big hands he raised his brows and studied them. “Of these are front!” He exclaimed happily as he read the lettering. Getting down on his knees he fumbled with the velcro on the wraps as he strapped them to all four legs.

“Very good. Now place the pad on his back.” She instructed. Jon chuckled as the other man stared at the pad and turned it around half a dozen times only to let Jocelynn help him to place it. “And then the saddle.” Richie lifted up the heavy leather and swung it on the horse’s back. “The cinch you tie around just like this, see?” Richie nodded and Lynn loosened the cinch again to let him have a try.

“One day you’re gonna be a real cowboy man. Just hope you ain’t old and wrinkly before then.” Jon grinned with his arms crossed over his chest. “I’m gonna go check out the best seat to watch you ride. This is gonna be fun.” He took off towards the corral.

“He’s just trying to mess with your head. You’ll do fine. Oliver is a great horse to learn from and with.” Lynn said softly as she picked up the sidepull headstall. Sliding it over the horse’s ears she adjusted it properly and handed Richie the reins with one hand and head protection with the other.

Richie stared at the helmet. “You don’t like my hat?”

Jocelynn smirked. “Oh I love your Stetson, which is why you will wear this.” Taking the hat from his hair she placed it on her own head and tipped the front. “So then I can wear this.”

“Looks good on ya darlin’, now let’s get goin’.”

“Don’t just move your hands, he won’t know what to do. Look where you wanna go, let him feel your body moving and respond to that before you even move your hands.” Jocelynn was on the fence of the corral and explaining simple tricks to the handsome rookie. “See! That was good. Now sit deep, slide your feet forward a bit and say ‘woah’. Remember, sit deep. You’re gonna end up eatin sand otherwise.”

Richie moved his bottom down into the saddle and slid his feet forward, frowning slightly in concentration he said the word and Oliver was at a halt immediately. “It worked!” He cheered in joy. Both Lynn and Jon couldn’t help but laugh.

“Wanna try a jog?” Lynn asked, still smiling at Richie’s gleeful expression. “Olly has a really comfortable jog, shouldn’t be too hard.”

The man nodded his head and smiled. “Bring it on teach.”

“Move your hands forward a bit, then click with your tongue two times. If he doesn’t respond, squeeze your calves a little. Just don’t kick.”

Doing exactly as she told him Oliver went into an easy jog. Richie couldn’t help but laugh at the unnatural feeling and tried his best to move with the large horse under him. “How do I stop bouncing?” He asked quickly.

“Just move your hips with the flow. I’m sure you know how to do that.” Lynn winked and Jon let out a throaty laugh while Richie raised his brows. “Come on Rock Star, I’m not dumb. Move like you’re having a female under you instead of a gelded horse.”

By now Jon was holding his stomach and tears sprang to his eyes at the sight in front of him. “Yeah man, you ain’t the King of Swing for no reason. Show her what you got.” He said in between fits of laughter.

Once again the rider was frowning but as he loosened the muscles in his hips he noticed the bouncing lessening. “Now try to steer a bit. Just like we did before, make a small circle to the left first.” As Richie was paying attention to the steering he forgot about moving his body and let it move naturally. There was barely any bouncing left and he moved around the corral easily. “You wanna try to stop him again? Just do the same as before only get that nice ass of yours into the saddle deeper.”

Richie chuckled and went for a straight line before repeating his motions and saying the ‘magic word’. Sure enough it worked again but the impact of the stop made him launch forward just a bit.

“That’s why I needed you to use your ass a little more Rich. Do that from a rundown and you’ll be eating sand, no doubt.” Jocelynn chuckled. “Other than that it was great. Walk him around a little to cool off. This is enough for today.” She spoke as she hopped off the fence and walked to the other side of the corral. “Jon, you help him getting Olly in his paddock and gear in the tack room.”

Richie noticed her leaving and yelled. “You’re still wearing my hat!”

Calling out as she walked away, Lynn didn’t bother turning around, “Come and get it cowboy!”