Bella hadn't been sure what to expect but the security at the showground surprised her. Edward had a pass for the car but he had to show ID as well and explain what they were doing there in the wee small hours of the morning.

"Why so much security?" she asked.

"Some of these horses or bulls are worth thousands," he told her, edging into a parking space near the stables and cutting the engine. "The high cash prizes for the national finals also makes them really competitive. It wouldn't be the first time that somebody has tried sabotaging a competitors mount."

"Wow," said Bella, unclicking her seat belt, "I never thought that things would be so…."

"Competitive?" suggested Edward.

"Actually," she laughed, "I was going to say cut-throat."

"That too," said Edward. He jumped out of the drivers seat and appeared around at her door to open it for her before she even found the handle.

"Thank you," she said, clambering out of the high cab as delicately as she could. Edward closed her door and locked the car with a beep. She followed him into the stables, breathing in the unfamiliar but strangely comforting smell of horse. There were rows and rows of stables, built in squares in a sort of grid system. Horses dozed, ate, drank and eyed them curiously as they walked past. In the spaces there were saddles, blankets, brushes and hats, everything that the serious competitor might need. After a few moments of walking Edward stopped outside a stable at the far end of the complex.

"Angus," he said, quietly. A little noise, a whicker, came from the dimly lit interior in answer and out of the gloom came a little chestnut pony with a jauntily squint stripe on his face. He came straight to Edward, poking his head over the door of the stable and immediately investigating Edward's pockets as Edward stroked his neck and rubbed his forelock. There was clearly a genuine affection between them, thought Bella and she felt humbled to be able to witness the moment.

"Do you want to feed him?" asked Edward, pulling a carrot from his pocket. She eyed Angus warily as he tried to snatch the carrot from Edward with what appeared to be huge white teeth.

"I don't know," she said, suddenly unsure. He wasn't the biggest horse in the place but his teeth looked easily able to consume her hand.

"Don't worry," said Edward, smiling indulgently but without cruelty at her reticence, "he won't bite. If you put it flat in your palm like this," he showed her, "then he'll be able to pick it up without risking one of your fingers."

"Okay," she replied, gingerly accepting the carrot and putting her palm flat as Edward had showed her. She put it near Angus's mouth and he dipped his head and took it from her gently, almost regally, crunching it loudly and with gusto.

"His nose is so soft," she exclaimed, delightedly, "its just like velvet." She felt her initial reserve erode and instinctively put her hand out to touch Angus's nose. It was soft and his breath was warm on her hands. She clapped his neck as she had seen Edward do and rubbed him between his eyes, an act which made the little pony half close his eyes in pleasure. Edward gave her another carrot and she fed him that too. When he rested his head on her shoulder she instinctively put her arms around his neck, burying her heard in his mane, breathing in the smell of horse. She had always wanted to learn to ride but with Charlie raising her on his own there was little spare cash even for riding lessons. Ironic, she thought, that now she was at a stage in her life where she could afford riding lessons or a horse of her own but she didn't have time. All of her time seemed to be spent in the business, whether it was scheduling meetings for Jacob or stepping in as receptionist at the resort when staff let him down.

"You're getting on very well with Angus for somebody that hasn't been around horses," said Edward. There was a strange half smile on his face that she couldn't decipher but from the tone of his voice she guessed that he was pleased with her reaction.

"He's lovely," she said, releasing him from her arms. Angus sniffed them each a little more, searching for more snacks, then meandered back to his haynet and started slowly devouring it. "Such a sweet, sweet boy."

"He's a prize-winning barrel racer," said Edward. He pointed to a large yellow ribbon pinned to the bars of the loose box.

"Really?" asked Bella. "Does that mean third in the whole country?"

"Yes," said Edward, "third overall this year and top ten the last two. Angus is small," he explained, "but fast as lightning and damn clever." Bella looked at the dozy figure, one leg resting, eyes half closed chomping contentedly at his haynet. It was hard to imagine him streaking around a ring.

"I'll admit," said Edward, "that he doesn't look like much now…."

They both laughed.

"Tell me about life on the ranch then," said Bella, as they stood in companionable silence watching Angus eat.

"Nothing to tell," said Edward, shrugging his shoulders. She looked at him, really looked. Her cursory glance when they first met had taken in his dark shirt with the button down collar tucked into jeans that hugged his bottom and ended over some well polished dark brown boots but now she saw that his hair was not blonde as she had first thought but darker, almost bronze. He didn't have the cherubic curls of his brother but then again it wasn't as long. It was cut in a neat short back and sides with a side parting but the texture, the way that it was ruffled artfully in places hinted at a wild streak that couldn't be tamed by a haircut alone. "It's hard, lonely work," he continued, looking at Angus rather than at her and affording her the opportunity to take in his strong, sinewy hands with the short square nails, the curve of his jaw and the definition in his cheekbones, the long lashes that framed his green eyes. "You don't pick it, you're born into it." She longed to run a finger along the line of his jaw, to turn his face toward her, to put her lips against his yet all she could do was stand and look at him.

"Has your family always been ranchers?" she asked.

"I'm the fourth generation," he replied in a tone of voice that seemed to be part pride and part longing for something else. "Carlisle, my father, is third generation. He was an only child. Esme, my mother rules the roost with an iron fist. Her family are ranchers too and she was the youngest of five kids so she's tough as boots. Anyway," he said, turning to face her and clearly trying to change the subject, "I've been surrounded by cowboys for the last few days and I've had my fill of shop talk. Tell me about yourself? What do you do?"

Panic immediately slashed across Bella's brain. How could she tell this man who had taken her into his confidence that she was in Las Vegas to be married? Even if she left that thought out there was also the voice of self-doubt deep inside that made her embarrassed to admit that she hadn't really done anything with her life. She had given up on college to help Jacob build the business and whilst that had given her some financial security by proxy she didn't want to admit that the sum total of her efforts in the last ten years was invisible. Receptionist, chambermaid, a disastrous spell as a stand in croupier. She had moved with the tide and had little to show for it. For the first time she felt a sense of outrage. Why was it Jacob who was CEO? Why was it him that was interviewed on business blogs and him that accepted awards on behalf of the company at glitzy black tie balls? Why had she spent so long trying to blend into the background? She had let herself be pulled here and there. Like a stone on the seashore all of the rough edges had been smoothed away leaving her featureless. She was a pebble, an indeterminate little blob amongst millions of others. Yet, contrary to all intuition there was a man here and now, looking at her as if she was a precious jewel.

There was no way that she could put any of these thoughts into a coherent narrative so she didn't. She followed her instincts and did the only thing that she could think of to stop him asking questions. She got up onto her tiptoes and kissed him.