Chapter 7
Dean
What. The. Fuck. Was. I. Thinking.
I leaned back in my desk chair, scrubbing my hand down my face.
I mean, that was hot as hell, and it would take a very long time to erase the sound of her soft moans from my head.
But we were friends, I was new to this town, I didn’t date, and her horses and her brother’s horses were my patients.
This all just got a lot more complicated because I was a selfish prick who took what I wanted.
But hey, at least she seemed to enjoy herself.
I just wasn’t sure where we go from here.
I adjusted my uncomfortably rock-hard dick in my jeans as I stood up from my desk to head home. No way I was getting anything else done tonight after that. I grabbed my phone and keys, and whistled for Coal to head to my truck.
Once I got home, I took a cold shower, grabbed a beer from my fridge, and headed to the back porch with Coal.
As I sat there staring out over the dark landscape, I took a long pull from my drink, contemplating what to do about Addison after tonight.
The attraction and pull toward her was something I hadn’t experienced before.
I was always in control. Everything I did was thoughtfully planned out, but with her, I felt my control slipping.
I was determined to earn the trust of this town and keep my office successful.
Hell, the whole town depended on me, at least the animal-owning population.
I had no free time and no room for error.
And Addison was from the beloved James family.
Dating was not an option and if I hurt her in any way, it could damage my reputation and harm my business.
If my practice didn’t succeed, I would have no choice but to start over somewhere else, or worse, be forced back home to California, the place I was trying to escape.
Deciding to push all negative thoughts aside for now, I chuckled to myself when I remembered her calling me a playboy.
That life felt like a lifetime ago. Sure, I’d slept with my fair share of beautiful women.
It came with the territory of who I was, or at least who the world thought I was.
But I kept them all at arm’s length, having zero interest in anything more than sex with women from that world.
All they wanted was my money and my name.
My primary focus back then was getting out of California and out from underneath my parents’ influence.
I couldn’t ignore the nagging voice in the back of my mind that Addison could be just like all the other women who had come and gone throughout my life, only interested in what I could offer them because of my money and name, and not actually interested in me and who I was as a person.
The fear was always there, preventing me from taking the risk to get close to someone.
Primrose Hill was my fresh start to create a life on my own terms, and the last thing I needed or had time for was getting into a relationship.
Maybe Addison and I could have some fun together though, keep it light, give into the attraction we both clearly felt without getting deeper.
That was safe. There was no risk involved if she was willing and we set ground rules. Right?
After finishing my beer, I made my way to my room with Coal to call it a night.
He jumped up on the bed and curled himself into his usual spot.
As I lay there awaiting sleep to finally take me, my last thought was of Addison and if I should relinquish control and let go and give in.
But I knew better than to take that risk. I had been burned many times before.
I woke up the next morning and reached for my phone. It was Saturday, so there wasn’t a need to rush this morning to get to work. I was surprised to see a text from Addison already. I wasn’t sure if she regretted last night or if I scared her off.
Addison:
Thanks for last night. I slept like a baby.
I stared at the screen, surprised, relieved, and honestly impressed that she just cut to the chase and removed any awkwardness there might be between us. Maybe she was up for having some fun and keeping it casual. I replied back.
You’re welcome. Anytime you need help falling asleep, let me know.
Addison:
I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Aside from thanking you, I was texting you to see if you’d be willing to help me move some furniture to the new farm. Walker has a flatbed trailer I can use if you could bring your truck.
For sure. Is 10:30 too early?
Addison:
Nope, that’s perfect. See you then!
Well, now that I suddenly had plans for the day, I rolled out of bed to get ready just as my phone vibrated again. This time it was Archer calling.
“Hey, brother. How’s it going?” he asked, sounding a little out of breath.
“Good, what are you doing? You sound like you can't breathe.”
“Just running,” he said as if it was perfectly normal just to make a phone call while running.
“You know that you can call me after you work out, right?” I deadpanned.
“Nah, man, I like to knock out all the phone calls I need to make while I’m running. Makes for even better cardio.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re an idiot. Anyway, what’s up?”
“Just confirming you’re still good for me to come next weekend?” he asked.
“Definitely. How long are you planning to stay?”
“Probably a week, week and a half? I’ll leave probably right before Thanksgiving,” he replied.
“Sounds good. But why don’t you stay for Thanksgiving? Mom and Dad are going to the Cayman Islands house anyway. What else would you do?”
“True, I’ll play it by ear. It all just depends on work. We have this acquisition we’re currently working through,” he huffed as he continued his run.
“All right. Go finish your run. I’ll see you next weekend.” We said our goodbyes as I finished getting ready and made my way out to my truck.
I turned down the long drive to Addison’s new farm with her beside me in the passenger seat of my truck.
“Where’s Walker today?” I asked, making every effort to act like I didn’t now know how she sounded when she came.
She wasn’t making it easy on me with jeans that hugged every curve and a long-sleeved crop top sweater that showed a peek of smooth, tan skin.
I want to see more. Loading the trailer was difficult.
I had to make a conscious effort to keep my eyes focused on anything but her and keep my hands to myself.
Since Walker’s guesthouse was furnished, Addison was taking over some of the furniture she had in Boston to furnish the future barn manager’s apartment above the barn.
“He had to help my dad with some things over at our vineyard this morning.” She jumped out of the truck and waited for me and Coal to come around to her side.
With open arms, she spun around as a huge grin spread across her pretty face. “Well, what do you think?”
My chest tightened as I saw how happy she looked, her smile infectious. I smiled back at her before turning to take in the property around me. It was a beautiful piece of land with all the amenities she could need for her business. “This place is great, Addison. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks! I’m excited to get the horses moved over and start setting up clients.
I’ve already had some people from Primrose Hill, as well as a few people in neighboring towns, reach out to me about boarding their horses and training with me.
A few have young ones that they want me to train, and then there are a few families that are interested in their kids taking lessons, but don’t have a horse.
I need to call Richard about those potential lesson horses sooner rather than later. ”
“Yeah, from what he told me about them, I think they could be a good fit.” I leaned down, picked up a stick I found lying on the ground, and threw it for Coal. He went sprinting after it. Once he got hold of it, he took off into one of the pastures.
Addison laughed as she watched Coal. “I don’t think we will be seeing him for a while.” She started walking toward the flatbed trailer attached to my truck. “All right, you ready to get this stuff moved upstairs?”
It took us a couple of hours to get everything off the trailer and upstairs into the apartment with just the two of us. Once we were done, she took me on a tour of the entire property, where we eventually ran into Coal, who unfortunately had made his way into one of the ponds. The little fucker.
Her excitement for the beginning of Mountain Laurel Farm was palpable, and I was looking forward to seeing it come to fruition.
It made me consider that maybe Addison was different than the women from my past. She was building her own business and life outside of her family’s business and success.
We shared that desire, which only piqued my interest and drew me in more.
After getting Coal dried off, we made our way back to Walker’s place.
The conversation remained very surface-level, both of us unsure if we should broach the topic of last night.
It seemed we were both more comfortable pretending that it didn’t happen.
Well, she was more comfortable pretending that it didn’t happen.
I, on the other hand, was fighting an internal battle of wanting to find excuses to touch her again.
As I put the truck in park, she turned toward me. “Do you still ride?” she asked suddenly.
“I haven’t since I left California, so it’s been a while. Why?” I was curious where she was going with this.
Addison glanced at me, a playful glint sparkling in her green eyes. “Well, I need to ride Cash. Do you want to jump on Tex and ride with me?”
I couldn’t say no to this girl even if I wanted to, and luckily I was wearing jeans and boots. “Yeah, sure, let’s do it.”
Addison had to run to the guesthouse to change, so I waited for her in the barn and began brushing Tex to get him ready.