Page 18 of A False Start
I wink at him, watching his tense body rear back like I just slapped him. “But why? Why stop when I can tell you like it so much?” And then I head back out front to open the clinic for the day.
He’s right that I shouldn’t let Tommy talk to me the way he did, but I’m not about to let him do it either.
Griffin Sinclaire can’t ruin my good mood with his growly bullshit. My first riding lesson is this afternoon. I’m checking things off my to-do list and experiencing everything life offers whether or not he likes it.
8
Griffin
Irritated.That’s the word I’ll use to describe what I’m feeling right now.
Nadia Dalca is like a sliver under my fucking skin, stuck a little too far in to get out. It’s annoying.
Wildflower.She doesn’t want to be tamed, and I shouldn’t want to try this badly. I should steer her in the opposite direction and send her running.
It’s been years since a woman sparked my interest beyond some nameless, meaningless exchange. My football days were a wild ride in many ways and now I have a few women in the area I can call when the need strikes me. It will not give my mom the grand-babies she so desperately wants, but it scratches the itch.
And it’s an easy way for me to maintain my privacy.
I storm up to the barn to start my day. The hours pass methodically, one young horse at a time, until all five have put in a good day’s work. No one talks to me. No one bothers me.
Except Nadia.
She fucking bothers me. Her lips haunt me. Her words preoccupy me. And the fact that she’s fourteen years younger, living on the same ranch, and so fucking off-limits almost makes me see red.
I should drive into town tonight and fuck Natasha. She doesn’t ask questions or talk back. She doesn’t run her sassy mouth, hit me with a challenging smirk, and make my dick hard without even touching me.
With her, I could get this out of my system. I could let loose and work out some tension. And then come back here and get to work without eye-fucking a girl I shouldn’t even be looking at.
“Maybe another day,” I mutter as I turn out the last of the horses with a firm clap on the haunch. I’m not in the right headspace for another woman right now. I mull over when I will be, when another empty fuck will fit into my schedule, and the fact of the matter is, I have free time galore. I could fit it in whenever…I just don’t want to.
Something I’m turning over in my mind when I hear the low hum of wheels on the asphalt behind me.
Mira pulls up in a truck beside me, rolling the window down with an expression of urgency on her face. “Hey, Griff. You’re gonna need to do Nadia’s riding lesson.”
Fuck my life.
“When?”
She glances down at her watch. “In about an hour.”
My brow furrows. I know I offered. But I didn’t really expect I’d be doing it. I was just being polite. “Why?”
“Because Billie is at the hospital. It seems like her water might have broken, but it’s way too early. I’m headed there now. She’s the one who mentioned the lesson.” Her fingers tap impatiently at the steering wheel.
“She’s possibly in early labor and worrying about a riding lesson?”
She shrugs as if it’s normal. “Yep. She also told me I need to get there because I’m the only doctor she trusts with her vagina.”
I snort, shaking my head. “You chicks are fuckin’ weird.”
“Oh, absolutely.” She nods, not offended at all. “So, you’ve got the lesson?”
“Yeah, yeah.” I wave her off. “Go deal with her…whatever. You know. Just go.”
“Vagina.” Mira laughs as she rolls up the window. “The word you’re looking for isvagina.”
Walking back up to the barn as she pulls away, I close my eyes and wish for the calm of my acreage on the mountain.
