Page 39 of Embers of You
Bennet jumps out of my car, immediately seeking out Duke who just exited the barn. I watch them act like old friends as they start to play.
“Hey,” Jameson greets cheerfully, bringing the horse to a stop.
I step up to the railing of the arena, leaning against it. “What’re you doing?”
“Working out Jasper. I can be done, though.”
“No,” I shout, and he stops from dismounting. “I want to watch.”
“Like watching me ride a horse?” He smirks, and I roll my eyes. “Would you like to join me?”
“Uh, no.”
“Come on, you can ride Juniper. She’s sweet.”
I scrunch my nose. “She may be until she bucks me off.”
He barks out a loud laugh. “She wouldn’t. I won’t let her.”
His words make my stomach swoop, and it feels like everything he says lately is making me feel this way. The fear continues to linger, but I focus on a distraction so I don’t completely lose my mind.
“We’ll see. Now, show me what I want to see,” I taunt.
“Tell me what you want to see, and I’ll show you anything.”
I hide my smile behind my hand resting on the railing. He doesn’t wait for my response before he starts riding around the arena. He does a couple slower laps, then goes a little faster before stopping on one end. The anticipation rises within me as I wait to see what he’s going to do next.
Then he’s off, just like at the rodeo, he’s racing around the barrels so fast it makes my heart race. He turns, and again I worry about him falling off when he takes the turns. I don’t even notice I’m holding my breath until he guides the horse to a stop, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“How was that? What you were wanting?” he asks with a wide smile that makes me weak. Add in the backwards cap on his head, and the way his shirt is gripping his biceps and it’s a good thing there’s so much space between us because I’m worried how I would react if I had the ability to touch him right now.
“Yeah, it’ll do.” I shrug, sliding my hands off the railing, and turn to go find our dogs, only to create some distance between us and get myself together.
I’m walking through the hallway of the barn when I hear the clicking of hooves on the cement, and see Jameson is tying the horse up to take off the saddle.
“What’s his name?” I ask, daring to approach.
“Jasper, but he’s not mine. I’m helping my mom with him while his real owner is at summer camp.”
“That’s nice of you. Does she know you’re working him to the bone?” I joke.
He laughs, it’s deep and throaty and sends a pang of electricity through me that has my legs feeling weak. Everything he does continues to pull me in.
“Of course she knows. That’s why Ma asked me to help. He needs to stay in top shape for when Summer gets back.”
Of course he’s not only sweet. He’s helpful and thoughtful for seemingly everyone. If the man in front of me could stop being so perfect, that would be extremely helpful.
He takes everything off Jasper, leading him into his stall and after brushing him down, gives him some extra food and a couple treats.
“Where’d our dogs go?” he asks lightly.
“Oh.” I hesitate looking around because I’m just now realizing how distracted I was by him, and I never ended up finding the two canines I was looking out for. “I don’t know.”
“We can go look for them. Duke doesn’t go far, I’m sure they’re close by,” he reassures, leading me out of the barn. “You can see a bit more of the property while we look for them.”
“This seems like a trap.”
“You caught me, this was my plan all along.” He winks, and I turn away to hide my smile.
