Charisma #3
“I don’t get hazard pay for helping protect the land from intruders just now?”
Nate stopped as the tension rolled back through him. “No jokes. Not about that. I heard you scream and I cursed God that I didn’t have wings to fly or the ability to teleport to you. Protecting you is never something I’m going to joke about or take lightly. Aight?”
His words were damn near going to move me to tears. Instead of giving into the emotion I was humorous to lighten the situation. I gave him a mock salute and said, “Yes, sir.”
“Careful with that sir shit. It’ll have you flat on your back before either of us can stop it.”
I swallowed, obligations pulling at me forcing me to keep my mouth shut since I didn’t come to Texas for a fling.
“Okay.”
“Come on. Let’s head to the barn.” He went to walking toward his horse and I followed because I hadn’t been around one for any significant amount of time.
“Who is this?” I wanted to reach out and touch the horse’s muzzle but I hadn’t been given permission and wasn’t sure if he was friendly.
“My horse. And thank you for not talking about this like he’s an object and not an animal.”
“People do that? He’s a living creature.”
“You’d be surprised. They make it seem like he’s a piece of machinery. He doesn’t like that.”
To seemingly prove his point, his horse nudged the side of his face as though he was forcing Nate to give him more attention.
“Calm down, boy.”
But he didn’t calm down and used his muzzle to nudge Nate’s hat off his head. I put my hand over my mouth trying to hide my laughter. Nate looked completely annoyed at his horse but in a playful way.
“Come now. I was just bragging on you to the pretty lady, and you’re out here cutting up. She’s not going to believe anything I say about you if you acting like this.”
“He looks just as impish as his owner. I don’t hold it against you so I won’t hold it against him.”
“Not you calling me impish.” He took the horse’s lead bringing him closer to me.
I was still itching to touch him because he was a magnificent creature.
Bigger than Nate with skin that looked like poured honey over carved muscles.
He held the same arrogance as his owner and I knew he was a proven winner in his own right.
If my speed was the reason Nate had all those trophies I would absolutely walk with the same swagger this horse had.
“Am I wrong? I get that vibe from you, and him. And since he’s a reflection of you—”
“This is how you treat the boss?”
“I thought we were friends. Everyone keeps saying that you treat them like family. Do I have to go through a probationary period before I get that treatment?”
“Nah, but I’m definitely not about to be yelling at you the way I do them.”
“You can’t give me preferential treatment, Nate.” I knew he already did. He wasn’t rushing to buy ten thousand dollar golf carts for James or Brad or even Doc. I tried to tell myself it was because I couldn’t ride and they did. The denial of it being something more felt incongruous with the truth.
“I can do whatever the fuck I want on my land. Nothing crazy though. Just living up to my cowboy name by helping a damsel in distress.” We walked toward the storage barn, which was a good distance away from the house but I could see it in the distance.
I only nodded because I knew he wasn’t crazy.
The men who worked for him seemed as honorable as him.
They looked at me with quiet curiosity. Like they’d never seen Nate be so kind to someone that wasn’t them.
I was hoping they wouldn’t treat me like an outsider but I couldn’t truly blame them if they did. I was new here after all.
“Well we’ve been walking with this magnificent creature all this time and you haven’t formerly introduced me yet.”
“This is Pistol.”
“And to think you said I was the most appropriately named person you’d ever met.”
“Well, he’s a horse, Charisma.” His tone was deadpan, his intention to be a jokester and I was laughing at it all.
“Obviously.”
We walked past the entertainment complex that was built between the house and the working part of the ranch. Doc had said the last family threw a lot of parties here. It seemed a shame to let the massive complex go to waste because it was elaborately outfitted.
“Hey, I was thinking…”
His eyes searched mine and I could tell he thought something much more different from what I had in mind. “About what?”
The depth of his voice and the intensity of his desires were clear as he waited on me to speak. I was mesmerized briefly before I shared what I’d been thinking. “About you having an open house here.”
“Open house?” If he were disappointed about me not saying something flirtatious he masked it well. He seemed genuinely interested in the idea.
“Yeah. I know that you have a lot of name recognition and you’re going to train heavily here soon. I assumed that driving more students to want to come and use your facilities or get lessons was the name of the business, right?”
He nodded along as I spoke before giving me his verbal confirmation. “Of course it is.”