Page 28 of A False Start
My mind races back, trying to pick out the spots where I said those letters. I was so lost in focusing between her and the road that I didn’t tiptoe around my words, for once.
“Maybe you just like being around me.” Her smile grows, her body language changing. When our eyes meet, she pulls out a saucy wink. She thinks she’s joking, but the truth is spot on—Idolike being around her. I just can’t explain why.
“Nadia.” I angle a disapproving glare her way.
“Oof.” She flops back in her seat with a noisy sigh. “Tough crowd.”
My cheek pinches with a lopsided smile. And then I blurt out something I should not. “It’s because your name starts with ann. Just makes scolding you that much easier.”
I laugh it off, until she turns to me and says smoothly, “I think you just like saying my name.”
I swallow because I am so fucked where Nadia Dalca is concerned.
Yes, Wildflower. I like saying your name.
* * *
“Why don’twe put him in the smallest paddock behind Griffin’s cottage?” Mira points over the field from where we stand in the front parking lot. “The best thing for that horse right now is going to be a little peace and quiet. Not a busy barn. Stall rest, cold hosing, and unwinding is what he needs. Then we can figure out what to do with the leg. Probably surgery for what I’m assuming is a joint full of bone chips.”
Nadia nods, looking strong and capable with her hands propped on the swell of her hips. I try hard not to let my eyes trail down over the curve of her ass.
But I fail fucking miserably.
I’ve never considered scrubs to be sexy, but on Nadia, it’s like a whole new ball game. A man would have to be blind to not appreciate her soft curves and long limbs.
It’s almost criminal.
She turns to me, and I drop my gaze onto the scuffed toes of my boots, feeling guilty as hell. “Is that okay with you? I’ll have to pop in at your place regularly, then.”
Say no, you schmuck.
“Yeah, sure.”
Griffin Sinclaire fails again.
“Get him settled in and then come for dinner,” Mira says. “You guys have had a long day. We’ll order in. Nothing crazy.”
These women are running circles around me, making plans and getting shit done. I’m not accustomed to dealing with people this way. Accounting for their plans. Adjusting mine to fit them. Up in the mountains, I don’t answer to anyone. I do my daily chores, work out, and train the few horses that get sent up to me.
I eat by myself. I read by myself. And when I do get lonely, I visit my parents.
“Fine.”
“He means,Thank you. That sounds lovely, Mira.” Nadia pipes up with a laugh. “We’ll be there soon.”
Mira gives us a slow smile, eyes bouncing between Nadia and me. I swear, if someone were going to be a mind reader, it would be her. She probably knows I was eye fucking her husband’s little sister.
Nadia and I hop back in the truck, and it strikes me that I amverytired of driving. All I want to do is relax. Soak up a little peace and quiet. My shoulders rise and fall under the weight of a heavy sigh as we pull out of the circle driveway at the entryway of Gold Rush Ranch.
I miss my place in the mountains.
I miss being alone.
I miss my privacy.
And I just agreed to let Nadia come over to my place daily, rather than pushing her away like I should be doing.
You also bought her a fucking horse, sucker.
