Page 41 of Irresistible

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Friday

Standing against the rail of the round pen, Lilly watched Poppy lunge one of her horses. “Saber looks good,” she called out as her friend lengthened the lead rope.

“He’s had a couple days’ rest since he came up sore. Look at that stride. This boy has some natural talent. If I get his attitude in check, then he has the makings of a winner.”

“That can be said about a lot of men,” Lilly replied. Watching her friend give her a sympathetic smile made her head hurt. The last thing she wanted was for people to feel sorry for her. Not that Poppy did, but she couldn’t stand being thought of as a victim. “I’m going to sit for a while and work on my chapter. Come get me when you’re done.”

“Give me ten minutes,” Poppy called out as she snapped the crop against the ground, urging Saber to a faster gait.

Waving, Lilly turned and strolled over to the tables that sat under a group of trees next to the arena. She dumped her bag on the seat and pulled out a bottle of water. The incessant throbbing in the back of her head had diminished, and for that she was grateful. Seemed getting shaken up and having her coconut bounced against concrete took more than a day to get over.

The ball of anger that had started to form yesterday was getting bigger by the moment. Closing her eyes, she lifted her face toward the sun that filtered through the trees and began counting down from fifty. By the time she hit thirty-five, she felt the anger recede.

It had started this morning when she woke up alone. Brock had spent yesterday down at the station and then the evening with his union representative and Loren. It had taken hours for her to fall asleep, and she had fully expected to wake up in his arms. The only thing in her bed this morning was Popcorn. He hadn’t slept with her in years. He usually slept on the rug in front of the fireplace downstairs.

Speaking of her dog, where in the heck had he gotten off to? The moment she had opened the door and let him out of the car, he’d run after Poppy’s dog and they took off. Probably chasing something over by the pond.

Opening her bag again, she looked at her laptop and sighed. The muse had left her, and she didn’t have a speck of motivation to find her. Maybe they both needed a rest before they were going to be any good to one another. Her body hurt, and her mind and psyche did as well.

Her phone buzzed and she took it out of her pocket. Brock’s face appeared on the display, and she read the text he’d sent. Brady’s in town, so I won’t be by tonight. Take care. Three little bubbles floated on her screen, indicating he was typing something else. When they disappeared, she wondered what the heck was going on.

That text wasn’t like the usual ones he sent. It was so unemotional. Like they were acquaintances and not…What the hell were they? She had no idea. Somehow she’d gotten the impression they were together. Like boyfriend and girlfriend.

Rubbing her head, she felt the pain spread from the back of her head to the front. Maybe this thing with Drew had thrown Brock for a loop. Then she remembered she was thinking about Brock here. He was the most steadfast, brave, and protective person on the planet. Nothing would throw him anywhere unless he meant to go.

Clearly what was happening with his career was worse than she imagined. She hadn’t spoken with him since he left yesterday, and for all she knew, he was in the middle of a cluster fuck. The last thing he needed was a clingy woman to take care of. He had his own things to deal with, and so did she. As nice as it had been having him around, it wasn’t anything to take for granted. Squaring her shoulders, she looked across the pasture and swallowed the tears that threatened to erupt. Why was she so emotional?

She was fine. She had survived. She would handle it. Then a tear tracked down her face. Quickly wiping it off, she cleared her throat. No one was going to take anything away from her ever again. Not Ruth, and certainly not Drew.

***

Poppy approached the table with two beers in her hand and the dogs following her. “You’re spending the night, and we’re going to have a much-needed pajama party,” she announced as she plunked the cold bottles on the table.

“Okay.”

Settling herself on the bench, Poppy lifted a bottle and took a sip. “That was way too easy.”

“I may be about to have a mini-breakdown, and I would prefer to do it at your house as opposed to my mama’s. Seems that things are catching up with me.” She took a gulp of the cold beer and tried to plaster a confident smile on her face. When it started twitching, she gave up and leaned her face into her hands. “Turns out that having a man hit you takes more than a day to get over.”

Poppy stood, came around the table and took Lilly’s hands in hers. “If I could figure out a way to kill the son of a bitch and get away with it, I would.”

“Brock almost did, and he’s in a ton of hot water. Career-ending hot water. Loren has been working with him since Wednesday and I haven’t heard from her, which means it’s bad.”

“What has Brock told you about what’s going on?”

“Nothing. I haven’t heard from him since he left the house yesterday. He just texted me letting me know that he’s hanging out with Brady tonight. Seems he’s coming into town and the brothers Landry are reuniting.”

“Good for them,” Poppy replied lightly. “Then I guess that means that I get to go down and watch the filming with you tomorrow. Maybe we can drool over that hunky lead actor.”

“I would like that. Thank you. Brock had made some noise about going with me, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Leaning her head against her hand, she watched Poppy peel the label off her bottle. “You have any interest in seeing Brady?”

“Not really. He’s old news. I haven’t thought about him in a million years.”

“Repeat that as often as you need to, now that he’s inside the state lines. I’m figuring it wasn’t that hard to do when he was up in Virginia. Might be a bit harder when he’s within driving distance.”

“Not that hard. It was years ago, and I’ve moved on.” Poppy lifted her hand and shaded her eyes. “Maybe I’ll give that scoundrel Rowan a chance, after all.”

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