“Why did you even hire him if you don’t trust him? Trust his opinion? I’ve spent all of a couple hours with him, Daddy, and I can tell you he’s good. Very, very good. And that horse minds him perfectly. Now stop treating me like a baby and stop harassing Trick.” With that, I turn to Trick. “Thank you for letting me help and for bringing me back. I’m sorry to have caused you so much trouble.” I loop my arm through my father’s. “Daddy will walk me to the house, but I promise you I’m fine.”
Trick, still seemingly unaffected, nods to me then nods to my father. I might be crazy, but I think I see a little admiration sparkling in his eyes.
And even though it shouldn’t, that makes my stomach all warm.
As I walk away, I want to look back to see if he’s watching me. I feel like he is, but I can’t be sure. I make myself face forward, though. Daddy doesn’t need anything else to bitch about.
“Promise me you’re not going to fire Trick because of this.”
He says nothing. And, truthfully, I’m a little alarmed. I will never forgive myself if Trick loses his job because I couldn’t stay away from him.
“Daddy, he really needs his job. And I really want to learn more about this place. Just give us both a chance.”
He stops and looks down at me. His expression is still dark and I must admit he can be pretty intimidating. He’s 6’3” and has dark hair, dark skin and light blue eyes. He’s handsome for sure, but his ice cold eyes can be bone-chilling. Especially when he feels something important to him is being threatened. Fortunately, I grew up with it and I’ve learned to deal with it.
Somewhat, anyway.
“Please, Daddy,” I add for good measure.
Finally I see that I’m making a dent.
“No more screw ups, young lady. And I meant it.”
“Yes, sir.”
********
Hours later, I’m standing at my window looking down at the light shining from the windows in the stable. I really want to go down there and see what Trick’s doing. And just talk to him some more. But there are a thousand reasons that’s not a good idea. One of which is that I have a boyfriend, a boyfriend who I’ve thought of very little all day.
I’m going to have to keep an eye on that.
I sigh, mainly because I just can’t help it. Lately, I feel like I’m chained to Brent. Or maybe it’s that Brent represents chains to me. There are tons of great things about him—he’s from a good family, he’s smart, well-educated, successful, handsome, doting. He’s also my father’s choice, which makes things much more difficult in some respects. Easier in others.
But lately, since meeting Trick, my relationship with him just seems…constricting. And my feelings for him seem…trivial. Especially compared to the way Trick’s been setting my blood on fire.
Trick passes in front of the stable windows, drawing my attention back to the present.
My phone rings and I jump. For a second, I hope it’s Trick. But then I chastise myself. Number one, he doesn’t have my number. Number two, why would he be calling me when he’s a few hundred feet away? Number three, I shouldn’t want it to be.
I look at the caller ID and discover it’s Jenna. She doesn’t even give my time to answer. She starts talking the instant I hit the talk button.
“I’m plotting and I need your evil genius mind to help me work something out. You busy?”
“I guess I am now,” I reply. She’s the perfect thing to get my mind off Trick. “What’s up?”
“I need you to get that lickable stable boy of yours to bring Rusty to your house. Can’t you institute a bring-your-hot-friend-to-work day or something? I think it’s a great idea. And who knows? It might catch on. It could take the nation by storm and earn you the Nobel Peace Prize or something.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“No, but I can fix that if you need me to bring you a treat. You need some company?”
I look out the window again, at the light burning in the stable, as if beckoning to me. Yes, but her company isn’t exactly what I have in mind.
“Nah, I’m kinda tired. But thanks.”
“Well, you have to agree to help me before I’m letting you off this phone. So go ahead, tell me you’re in.”
“Jenna, what am I supposed to say to him? ‘My crazy friend wants you to bring Rusty here so she can molest him. Yes, she has a boyfriend. Yes, he works with Rusty. Yes, this could cause a shit storm for all of us, but what the hell! Do it anyway’.”
There’s silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds. “Do you think that would work?”
“Jenna!”
“I’m kidding. Of course you don’t say that. You just tell him I’d like to meet Rusty. That’s it. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“And if he happens to remember you have a boyfriend, which he probably will?”
“You can tell him the truth. We’re seeing other people, too.”
“What? When did this happen?”
“About an hour ago.”
“And you’re just now telling me? What the…”
“It’s been coming. I told you I thought something was up, that I was losing him. Turns out, I was right. He wants to see other people.”
“So you broke up?”
“No, I just suggested that we both see other people as well as each other and see how things go.”
I pause to mull over what she said. “And you’re okay with this?” This isn’t like Jenna. She’s very possessive.
“Hells yeah!”
“Is this because of Rusty?”
“Hells yeah!” she repeats.
“You really think it’s a good idea to drag him into this?”
“I won’t be doing any dragging. Um, did you not see the way he was looking at me?”
I can’t argue. Because I did see it. I thought for sure pretty much everyone saw it. “That doesn’t mean—”
“It means if he’s interested, we’ll talk about it. That’s all. God, Cam, it’s not like I’m setting out to ruin the guy’s life or anything. I just want to meet him. Without Trevor around. That’s it. And I’ll even have a chaperone that’s a thousand times worse than any parent.”
“Uh, I am not!”
“You can be.”
“Well, maybe I don’t want to be the chaperone anymore. Maybe I want to be the one taking risks and doing crazy things.”