Royal - Danielle Steel Page 0,77

should have known better. I’m older than you are.” He took off his jacket and folded it under her head, looking deeply concerned. “Do you think you can sit up?” He could tell that she wasn’t paralyzed but had difficulty moving. She’d had a hard fall.

“Should we finish the race?” she asked as she sat up and saw stars for a minute, and then her head cleared. She had a slight headache, but nothing serious, and nothing was broken. She had been lucky. She’d been going at breakneck speed, but the ground had been soft enough to cushion her fall.

“You’re insane. Do you think you can ride back, or do you want to ride with me?” he asked as he helped her to her feet. She was as light as a feather.

“I’m fine,” she said gamely, but she looked unsteady to him. He held her arm until she seemed solid on her feet, and he gave her a leg up back into the saddle, and he watched her closely to make sure she wasn’t dizzy, and stayed close to her. He knew she had to be feeling badly bruised from the fall, but she was steady in the saddle, and never complained. She was much tougher than she looked.

“You are one hell of a rider, and damn brave. I thought you were dead for a minute,” he admitted, still shaken by the sight of her flying through the air like a leaf on the wind.

“So did I,” she said and grinned at him.

“You could have broken your neck. I’m not racing you again.” She was too daring to be safe.

“You’re just afraid I’ll beat you. I probably would have if the damn horse hadn’t tripped.”

“You were not going to beat me this time. I was two lengths ahead of you.”

“One, and I was catching up. I hadn’t gotten Mercury up to full speed yet.”

“Don’t be a sore loser,” he teased her with a broad grin, grateful that she hadn’t been injured. It seemed like a miracle that she wasn’t. “You probably came off just to get sympathy. That’s women riders for you. And you want to be a jockey? In what, the powder puff races?” He teased her all the way back, but he had unlimited respect for her now. She was the ballsiest girl he’d ever met. “You’re a hell of a lot stronger than you look,” he complimented her, and even he could recognize that she was a better rider than he was. She was at one with the horse at all times, even if she’d flown off. If the horse hadn’t stumbled, she would have won in the end, and he knew it. “Let’s ride again sometime,” he suggested, “but no racing.”

“That’s no fun.” She looked disappointed and he laughed at her.

“I happen to like you, Your Royal Highness. I don’t want to kill you. I think you’re the craziest damn rider I’ve ever seen, and the bravest girl I’ve ever met. I’d rather not see you dead if you come off again.”

“Thank you,” she said for the compliments and smiled at him. She’d had a hell of a fall, and knew she’d be hurting by the end of the day. She already was but wouldn’t admit it. But she’d won something better than she had the day before when she’d beaten him. They were friends now. And she needed one in her new world. He was different from the men she had known in her previous life. More complicated, more spoiled, and surprisingly more interesting. She liked him better now than she had when they met.

They smiled at each other and walked the horses the rest of the way home, and he saw her wince when he helped her dismount, but she didn’t say a word and marched into the barn and unsaddled the horse herself.

“Good exercise session?” one of the trainers asked them as they put the saddles away.

“Not bad,” Annie answered and smiled at him, and Anthony watched her as she walked out of the barn. She was a devil on horseback, but he liked that about her. He liked her better than any girl he’d met in years. Maybe she would be a jockey one day. She had the guts for it, and the heart. And she was the best damn rider he’d ever seen. His father had thought so too. He had plans for her, but hadn’t told her yet. He wanted to speak to Her Majesty first. And then