Chapter Seven #2
Alexis slid into the passenger seat, and I slipped behind the wheel. We were too close for comfort, so I got moving to shorten the time I had to spend in her company. We had only just moved a meter, before she asked, “Where’s Forrest? Is he around today?”
My patience was now wafer-thin with this woman. “He’s away today,” I said. If it wasn’t my dick she was after, it was Forrest’s. Unlucky for her, my cousin felt the same about Alexis as I did.
“How’s Richard?” I asked, inquiring about her father, changing the subject.
“Still alive,” she said coldly. I looked at her from the side of my eye. She was staring out into the fields around us, assessing the many mares and stallions of the stud grazing on grass.
“You’re blessed he’s still here,” I found myself saying. Alexis turned to me and stared at me, expressionless. Ice cold. She was ice cold.
“Now I’ve taken over the business it’s better than ever.
Daddy’s soft heart was going to run us into the ground.
” I fought the urge to shake my head in disgust. Who the hell talked of their father that way?
She forgot that I knew Richard. He was a good man, and their business had been successful; it had been respected.
The way she talked of him did him a disservice.
“That’s probably why his heart gave out.
” She shrugged. “He spends his days on the golf course now, and I’m growing our empire. It all worked out in the end.”
The idea of seeing my father for just one more minute made my soul ache. I’d give anything to have him back. Alexis acted like she didn’t even care if Richard had lived or died.
I pulled to a stop at the cluster of fenced-off fields holding the foals. I could hear voices in the near distance and knew if I followed the path around the small wood, I would see the photoshoot taking place down below.
Hearing voices, Alexis turned in that direction too. But I led her to the field before she could take a nosey. “Four foals. All Dutch Warmbloods. Strong lineage, fine form, will make excellent eventers and/or jumpers.”
“Fine, I’ll take them,” Alexis said, barely glancing their way. She hadn’t been interested in seeing the foals up close, of course; she never was. She only ever came here to fucking torture me, to prove that although I’d withdrawn from public life, she still had access to me.
Voices raised behind us again, and Alexis walked toward them.
“What’s happening down there?” she asked, but didn’t wait for me.
Instead, she walked through the short path in the wood until she reached the other side.
I followed, wanting nothing more than to send her on her way.
I had to play the game, though. I couldn’t stand the woman, but I liked her father and would uphold our working relationship for his sake.
Alexis stood and watched the arena below us like a hawk.
From up here we had a perfect view of the arena where Atticus, Sage, and Hallie were shooting the outdoor shots.
My eyes immediately tracked the arena and the people around it for Hallie.
She was sat on Huxley’s back outside of the arena, talking to Mila and Horatio.
Sage was in the ring. My eyes strayed back to Hallie. Even from my vantage point, I could see she looked incredible in her competition wear.
“Knighton Equestrian apparel?” Alexis asked.
“The new season’s collection,” I said, nodding, and tried to focus on anything but the American cowgirl I couldn’t rinse from my brain. But her face was too fresh in my mind—I’d come this morning just imagining her insane curves and turquoise eyes, so I wasn’t succeeding too well right now.
Sage cleared a jump for Steve’s camera, and Alexis snorted.
“Of course!” she said dryly. “These are your new Americans—barring Atticus, of course.” The shitty tone of her voice had my muscles tensing.
“Sage Miller and Hallie Oakley.” I turned to look at her with a raised brow.
She smirked. “There’s not a person on the circuit, new or old, that I don’t know about, Jasper,” she said.
What she really meant was there wasn’t a person she wasn’t trying to get gossip on.
The equestrian world was renowned for its toxicity, and people like Alexis Hobbs were the reason why.
She liked to have something on everyone in our industry.
Although she hadn’t tried it on me yet, I’d heard rumors of Alexis using blackmail to get whatever she wanted.
Sage left the arena on Seraphina, pulling my attention, and Hallie was called in next by Marco.
Hallie walked Huxley into the arena, breaking straight into a trot.
I was transfixed as I watched her rising trot, only for that admiration to be interrupted by Alexis’s snort.
“Here she is,” Alexis said, rolling her eyes.
“Little Orphan Annie.” Instant fire infused my every cell as those words left her poisonous mouth.
Alexis nudged me like I was a close pal.
“Tell me, does she parade around here in her cowboy boots and hat like she does when she’s competing?
” Alexis huffed out a degrading laugh. “She’s lauded as the next big thing, the poor little cowgirl that could,” she added, then shrugged.
“Everyone falls at her feet because of her pathetic childhood tragedy, but she looks completely average to me. There’s nothing outstanding about her at all. ”
Something inside of me exploded, completely burst into flames, and I had to hold myself back from insulting Alexis where she stood.
Instead, I reined myself in and simply said, “Hallie Oakley is the best rider I’ve ever seen walk through these gates.
” Just at that moment, Hallie soared over an oxer with perfect form and precision, easily clearing the fence.
It was as though she was proving my point.
“And anyone with an ounce of equestrian knowledge would see that a mile off.”
A rush of warmth swept through me as Hallie turned to Marco, who was giving her a thumbs-up. Her responding smile was wide and absolutely breathtaking.
“Oh, no,” Alexis said from beside me, yanking me from my admiration. Alexis was wearing a smug expression on her face as she looked from me to Hallie and back again.
“What?” I snapped, perhaps too aggressively. Though it didn’t seem to have affected Alexis in the slightest.
“Jasper Knighton,” Alexis said, turning her body to face me head-on. “Mr. ‘I Keep Things Professional’ wants to fuck his newest rider. His employee.”
My chest tightened until it was almost painful, and a wide, victorious smile spread on Alexis’s mouth. “Don’t be absurd,” I said in response.
“Darling, it’s written all over your face,” she said, then pressed her hand over my cock. “And your cock is half hard just looking at her.”
I gripped her wrist and threw her hand away from my crotch. “Don’t fucking touch me.” Alexis’s eyes flared at my anger. She liked me scolding her this way. She was so fucked up. “You’re dangerously close to me breaking all contracts with you, Alexis. Know your fucking place and back the fuck down.”
Alexis licked her lips, but I could see an excited spark in her eye.
Like she had landed some kind of exclusive scoop.
Like she now had something she could hold over my head.
She stepped closer to me. “Word on the street is that your run of bad luck of late might not be pure happenstance, Jasper. I’d suggest you don’t push away the allies you still have. ”
My heart seemed to stop beating, and my lungs froze. I leaned down and glared into her eyes. “And what would you know about my so-called bad luck, Alexis?”
Unintimidated, she simply shrugged. “All I’m saying is that you should respect those loyal to you, Jasper. It seems like you might already have an impressive enemy.”
Shivers sliced down my spine. Alexis was a bitch, potentially a stone-cold psychopath, but before this I’d never considered she was behind any of the threats, the accidents.
Yes, she wanted my businesses, but I’d never believed her capable of setting up my family’s misfortune to get what she wanted.
“It’s time for you to leave,” I said, and began walking back to the golf buggy. It was that or I would toss Alexis over the fucking hill that had given us such a good view of the arena.
I sat in the driver’s seat, and Alexis sauntered out of the woods like she had all the time in the world. I fucking detested this woman. My hands balled into fists on my thighs. I’d stupidly given away my attraction to Hallie.
I was a bloody idiot.
Alexis sat beside me, and we rode back to the yard in silence.
When we reached it, her driver was waiting for her outside her brand-new Bentley.
Once out of the buggy, I rounded the cart, and Alexis stood before me.
She held out her hand. Reluctantly, I shook it.
I went to pull away, when Alexis held on, pulling me close.
“I’ll keep an eye out for your new riders on the circuit, Jasper. Especially your cowgirl.”
“Don’t even think about it, Alexis. There’s no gossip here for you. Hallie is riding my horse, I’m her sponsor, and that’s all there is to it. You’re fishing for a story that doesn’t exist.”
Alexis leaned in until her mouth reached my ear.
“Eyes don’t lie, Jasper”—she smirked—“and neither does the blood that filled your cock just looking at her.” Alexis pulled her hand back and tapped my chest. “Consider the offer I’ve left on your desk, Jasper.
If I want something, I won’t stop until I’ve got it. You know this.”
With that, Alexis turned and got into her car, leaving me fuming on the spot. Staff members watched her leave, showing obvious disdain for her on their faces. Alexis seemed to inspire hatred wherever she went, and clearly, she gave no fucks about it.