An Accidental Seduction by Lois Greiman

happiness, he kicked his heels against the sand. It sprayed out, splattering the downed tree.
    “Hey now, leave off,” yelled the fisherman. His feet shifted. As the roan turned toward the sound of his master’s voice, Savaana sprang toward the log that stood between herself and the nearest animal. Using it as a springboard, she landed on her hands, launched into the air, then twisted onto the animal’s serviceable back. Shocked from his investigation, the roan sprang up the escarpment like a hunted hare, leather lead flying behind him.
    Savaana snatched it up.
    “What the bloody hell!” yelled the old man, but she had gained control and was already hustling the horse over the lip of the slope and into the woods beyond. For a moment she was certain she heard her grandfather’s laughter float behind her on the breeze. And after that it was a wild ride through the trees, branches slapping at her face as she reined the gelding in an arc toward the Gypsy camp. In less than a minute she was directly beside Knollcrest’s horseless vehicle.
    With a breathy thank-you and a pat to the animal’s solid neck, she launched herself from his heaving back before he leapt from the cover of the trees. Vendors gasped and scattered as he careened riderless onto the grassy knoll.
    Savaana winced as she caught her weight on her good foot and straightened.
    Startled from her nap, Mrs. Edwards came to with a jerk and a snort just as Savaana snatched an ice from the abandoned booth and sauntered, teeth gritted, toward her chaperone.
    “Here now. What’s the fuss?” The old woman blinked as she caught sight of the roan, calming now as he dropped to a trot and shook his massive head. “Why is that horse loose?”
    “I’m not entirely certain,” Savaana said, and rose painfully to her seat beside the widow. “But not to worry. Itlooks as if the towns people have the situation well under control. Here then,” she said, and handed over the newly stolen treat. “I thought you might like something to cool your throat.”
    “Oh…well…” Mrs. Edwards harrumphed a little as she accepted the offering. “That’s quite thoughtful of you, my dear. I don’t know why people say you’re such a—”
    Savaana smoothed her skirt and raised a regal brow.
    The old woman cleared her throat and took a bite of ice just as Gallagher led the chestnut into the clearing. His gaze shot immediately to Savaana. An unusual frown marred his brow as he shifted his gaze to the roan. The gelding had already dropped his head to graze.
    “What’s afoot?” he asked, approaching their vehicle.
    “We are,” Savaana said, and raised her chin a notch. “Until you get that screw harnessed. So let’s not dawdle.”
    He watched her. “You’ve no wish to watch the performance, then?”
    “In this backwater circus? I think not.”
    “But I thought—”
    “And I wouldn’t advise you to waste time doing so again anytime soon,” she said, and glanced toward the trio of men who carefully approached the stray roan. “Now, let us be off before we are trampled by an entire herd of loosed animals.”
    He was still watching her. “Certainly, my lady,” he said. “But would you care to have help freshening up a bit first?”
    She pursed her lips, perusing him. “What’s that?”
    “I know how you like to care for your clothing.”
    She managed to refrain from glancing down at her perfect ensemble. Indeed, she stared with single-minded concentration at him, though she felt her persona slip just a notch, like a cog in a machine that’s too tightly wound. “Are you a lady’s maid now, Wicker?”
    He grinned, eyes sparking. “If my lady wishes.”
    His dimples pulled her in. They were enchanting, all but mesmerizing. But she fought off the effects. She’d seen charming before. “She doesn’t,” she said, and disdainfully removed an imaginary fleck from her skirt. “You’re barely fit as a driver.”
    He watched her for an instant, then laughed.