Chapter 3
Chapter Three
ELLIE
“Ifeel like we got off on the wrong foot and for the sake of professionalism and helpin’ you train, let’s start over.”
My back goes ramrod straight at the deep, recognizable voice behind me.
I hoped I wouldn’t see him today and even hid in the grooming stall with Ranger. But this proves that luck hasn’t always been on my side.
Reluctantly, I turn around and am faced with his stupidly handsome face and smug expression. It’s no secret he’s attractive, in an obvious charming kind of way, but my body and heart feel nothing for him except anger.
As soon as he catches me lowering my gaze down his muscular body, the corner of his lips curve into a satisfied grin. Then he proceeds to hold out his hand and without waiting for me to take it, continues, “Hi, I’m Landen Hollis. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I deny his pleasantries and curl my arms behind my back. “You’re at least dressed normally today.”
He glances down at his scoffed-up work boots, dirty jeans, and gray T-shirt with the family’s ranch logo on it. “You caught me on a rough mornin’ the other day. Wasn’t my best first impression, I’ll give ya that.”
I didn’t need to meet Landen in person to know I didn’t like him.
I’ve spent the past seven years of my life loathing his very existence.
And secretly wishing karma would come for him sooner rather than later.
“Like I said before, I’m here to train. We don’t need to be friendly about it.”
He tilts his head like a confused puppy and the thought of that image nearly has me bubbling with laughter. But then he’d think I like him and his ego is already suffocating me, so I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself.
He narrows his eyes. “Why can’t we be friends?”
“I don’t see the point.”
“Acquaintances?” he asks, arching a brow.
“Why?”
The wrinkle between his brows grows deeper as if he can’t fathom why any woman would argue about being in his presence.
“Because we’re gonna see a lot of each other.
I’m not just workin’ with Ranger’s technique, I’ll be critiquing yours, too.
I’m usually on friendly terms with the rider I’m trainin’ and prefer to get to know them a little bit beforehand. It helps us form a level of trust.”
“Well, if that’s what you need to do your job correctly, then I suppose you’re not that great at it in the first place.”
He jerks back as if I smacked him across the face. “You are…” He shakes his head as if to erase the words he wants to say aloud. “Gonna be a challenge, ain’t ya?”
“Not everything in your life can be easy, can it?” With a conniving smirk, I spin back around and continue brushing Ranger.
Before walking away, I swear he curses under his breath, and I smile to myself.
Good. Now maybe he’ll leave me the hell alone.
He doesn’t.
But working with a professional trainer like Noah has been my dream for the past two years.
It took almost that long to get off her waitlist, so I’m not letting her brother be the reason I don’t get what I want.
If putting up with him is what it takes to advance my career, then I’ll deal with it for the short term.
But I didn’t realize he’d be so involved and frustrating.
Or stupidly attractive.
But his looks don’t matter when the urge to be as far away from him as possible is stronger than anything else.
Another day of doing training exercises means another day of Landen trying to crack jokes or get me to laugh at them.
It’s not going to work.
After two weeks of coming here, avoiding Landen the best I can, today I’m stuck with only him.
And though he doesn’t know where my dislike for him stems from, nor does he remember who I am from years ago, him constantly pointing out every little thing I do is only encouraging me to hate him more.
“Stop droppin’ your shoulder when you turn,” he tells me. “Your hips are too angled.”
“They are not!” I reply, holding the reins firm in my grip so I’m not tempted to jump off Ranger and use my fists on him instead. He’s been on my ass for the past hour while Noah’s been dealing with an unexpected issue.
He stands tall and confident, looking smug as always. “You shifted too early, which caused Ranger to shoulder. Shift your pelvis slightly so you’re almost sittin’ on your back pockets and it’ll help you stop that habit.”
“My pelvis is angled fine. I have narrow hips,” I tell him.
The corner of his lips tilts up slightly, and I know there’s an inappropriate comment swirling in his mind just begging to come out.
He shrugs unapologetically as if he doesn’t believe me. “Not from my view. Your left shoulder drops on the second barrel.”
“It’s my weaker one,” I admit. “I dislocated it when I fell hard off Ranger about six months ago. Bruised up like a peach.”
“Did you do physical therapy for it?”
“A few times, but it doesn’t hurt. It just pops back out sometimes.”
He furrows his brows, and I know I’m about to get another lecture from him.
“Get down and come here,” he demands, and I hate how his deep, raspy voice puts me in a trance to follow his orders without a second thought.
Another reason to loathe him.
I tie Ranger’s reins to one of the posts and walk toward him.
The training center is massive, which gives us plenty of room for drills and practice, but as soon as I stand in front of him, the space closes in on us.
“Can I touch your arm?” he asks.
I sigh. “If you must.”
He smirks, then motions for me to spin around. As soon as I do, he grabs my elbow and stretches out my arm. “Does that hurt?” he asks while digging his fingers into my shoulder blade.
“No more than usual when the son of Satan is near me.”
He chuckles, then hovers above my ear. “Ooh, baby, careful with that dirty talk. My heart just did that little flutter thing.”
“Sounds like you have a murmur. Might wanna get that checked out before you collapse to your death.”
“Wouldn’t you like that, huh? Doubt they’d find anything, though. It only acts up when I’m ’round you.”
I snort but not in a ha-ha kind of way. More in disbelief that he’s not getting the hint that I cannot stand him. “Does that pickup line usually work?”
He’s silent for a few beats before finally exhaling a long breath. “It wasn’t a line, Little Devil.”
That’s the second time this week he’s called me that, and I haven’t dared to ask him why. I probably didn’t help my case by calling him the son of Satan, but I was being serious. He calls me Little Devil like it’s a cute pet name.
He raises my arm and then shifts it back and forth. “You should start doing daily stretches to help with this clicking. You need to strengthen it so you’re not tempted to lower it.”
“Noah already has me joggin’ three miles every day. I’m sure it’ll get stronger in time.”
“I’ll get you a shoulder brace to wear during practice runs and print out some exercises for you to do at home. The more you work on it now, the better it’ll be for when you race.”
Instead of arguing, I stay quiet. His offer is quite sweet, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before I admit that out loud. He’s only doing his job and as long as it helps me in the long run, I won’t fight him on it.
He continues feeling around my back and arm, but the longer he stays silent, the more I forget how much I hate him.
“Are you almost done?” I finally ask.
He releases me, but then gives it a little squeeze. “Most women don’t complain about me touchin’ them. In fact”—he leans down until his breath whispers along my neck—“they beg me not to stop.”
Turning around, I’m faced with his cocky smirk. “And I suspect those women regret pickin’ convenience over personality.”
He tries to hide his reaction by scrubbing a hand along his scruffy jawline as if he’s contemplating how to handle me.
Good. The sooner he realizes I’m not here to entertain his ego, the better for both of us.
He licks his lips. “If you keep being mean to me, I’m gonna end up fallin’ in love with you.”
I wrinkle my nose at the unexpected comment. “Is that what you’re into? Women degrading you?”
“So far, only when it comes from you. I’m startin’ to think you feel it, too.”
My nostrils flare at the unwanted flirting. He’s fucking delusional.
“You’re insufferable and the only thing I’ll ever feel for you is hatred. If you think that’s me flirtin’ with you, you need to get your head checked. Maybe you have a leak. Would explain the lack of oxygen gettin’ in there.”
He smacks a hand over his heart. “Careful. The more you say you don’t like me, the harder I’m gonna fall.” His lips curve into the cockiest smirk I’ve ever seen. “Wanna fall with me?”
Crossing my arms, I match his grin. “I’d rather fall out of a plane without a parachute.”
“I see you two are still gettin’ along nicely…” Noah singsongs as she makes her way over toward us. “Am I too late? Has the first punch been thrown?”
“She’s the one using me as a verbal punchin’ bag,” Landen says, shifting his gaze from Noah to me. “But nothin’ I can’t handle.”
“Great!” Noah smiles, her eyes beaming. “Then you won’t mind me cuttin’ in for the last ten minutes of practice and seeing how y’all did?”
“By all means.” Landen waves out his hand, a knowing expression on his face. “Go ahead, Little Devil.”
I wrinkle my nose at the annoying nickname but don’t want to argue in front of Noah. My respect for her trumps my anger for her brother, so without a word, I grab Ranger and settle into the saddle.
Landen grabs his timer and while Ranger trots down the makeshift alleyway, I feel his eyes burning into me. I have no idea why he’s so hell-bent on flirting with me, but it seems nothing I say will get him to realize that I’m not just playing hard to get.
I wouldn’t think twice about running him over with my horse trailer if I knew I wouldn’t get caught.
With his de-lulu brain, he’d probably think me trying to murder him was foreplay.
“Alright, Ranger. Let’s show Noah what we’ve got.” I click my tongue and then give him a little kick.