Chapter Six
Naomi had been thinking about it all morning.
She’d told herself she was focused on Vader, and she was, mostly.
He was coming along beautifully, his turns getting cleaner every session, the hesitation she’d noticed in him the first day almost completely gone.
She was proud of the work they’d done together.
But she was also aware of every time Ethan appeared in the barn.
He’d come in twice that morning, checked on a couple of horses, exchanged a few words with Rowdy, and Kurt, and both times he’d stopped by Vader’s corral for a minute and watched her work.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to.
She could feel him watching and she pretended she couldn’t and they both knew she was pretending.
The sexual tension hung between them, and it was suffocating.
By midafternoon, the barn had emptied out. Johnny and Serena had finished for the day, Rowdy and Kurt had headed out, and the only sounds were the horses and the barn swallows and somewhere outside a hawk screeching above the pasture.
She was putting Vader back in his stall when she heard Ethan come in behind her.
She latched the stall door and turned around.
He was maybe ten feet away, and he stopped when she turned, like he hadn’t quite decided what he was doing in here.
She closed the distance between them, reached up, took his face in both hands, and kissed him.
He went still for exactly one second.
Then his arms came around her, and he kissed her back like he’d been waiting all day for exactly this, just as she had.
When she finally pulled back she looked up at him.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” she said.
His arms were still around her. “I was hoping you would.”
She laughed softly and he looked down at her with an expression she was starting to recognize. The one where he was working very hard to be sensible.
“We’re alone in the barn,” she said.
“I noticed.”
“And it’s after five.”
“Also noticed.”
She tilted her head. “So, we’re off the clock.”
“Technically.” His jaw tightened slightly. “Doesn’t change anything, Naomi.”
She sighed. “I know.” She stepped back and he let her go, which she appreciated and resented in equal measures. “You’re very disciplined, Ethan Harrison.”
“One of us has to be.”
She laughed at that and turned to collect her things from the rail. He fell into step beside her as she walked toward the barn door and they stepped out together into the early evening sun.
At the bottom of her stairs, they stopped.
“Have dinner with me again,” he said.
“When?”
“Friday.”
She considered making him wait for an answer. She didn’t bother. “Alright.”
He nodded. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“I’ll be ready.” She put her foot on the first step, then turned back to him. “Ethan.”
He looked at her.
“Next time we’re alone in the barn I’m going to do that again.”
Something moved in his eyes. “I’m counting on it.”
She smiled, climbed the stairs, and didn’t look back.
****
Ethan knocked at seven on the dot.
He heard her moving inside, then the door opened and he forgot what he was going to say.
She was in a yellow sundress this time, her hair down around her shoulders, those same stilettos that had done him in at the reception. She looked up at him with a smile that was doing nothing for his resolve.
“You’re right on time,” she said.
“I try.” He stepped back to let her lock up. “You look beautiful.”
She stopped with her key in the lock and glanced back at him, like she hadn’t expected that. Like maybe no one had said it to her enough.
“Thank you.” Her voice was quieter than usual.
He took her hand, led her to the bottom of the stairs, then walked her to the truck and opened her door. He helped her in and told himself to breathe.
He walked around to the driver’s side, got in, and pulled out of the yard.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“The Hartland Restaurant, just up the road.”
She turned to look at him. “Serena mentioned that place. Said you need a reservation to get in.”
“She’s right.”
Naomi looked at him. “Wasn’t this last minute?”
“I know the owner.” He glanced over at her. “You’ll like it.”
She settled back in her seat, looked out the window at the passing fields, and he kept his eyes on the road.
Once he pulled into the parking lot he had trouble finding a spot until he spotted an SUV pulling out. He waited, then pulled in.
He stepped out, made his way around to her side, and opened the door, offering his hand.
She smiled as she placed her hand in his and stepped down. He closed the door, kept hold of her hand, and they walked to the double glass doors. He opened one and nodded for her to go ahead, then followed her in.
The restaurant was warm and low lit, the kind of place that made you want to stay a while. They walked to a mahogany podium where a pretty blonde stood waiting.
“Welcome to The Hartland. Do you have a reservation?”
“Harrison,” Ethan said.
She scanned the screen, smiled, picked up two large leather-bound menus, and led them to a booth. Ethan waited while Naomi slid in, then settled across from her.
“Your server will be right with you. Can I start you with something to drink?”
Ethan looked at Naomi.
“White wine, please,” she said.
“And for you, sir?”
“Callahan Whiskey on the rocks.”
“Perfect. I’ll be right back.”
Naomi glanced around the room, taking it in, then looked at him. “It’s beautiful in here. And whatever they’re cooking smells incredible.” She opened her menu and scanned it. “I have no idea what to get.”
“Everything is good.” Ethan didn’t touch his menu.
She looked up at him. “You already know what you want, don’t you?”
“Porterhouse.”
She laughed. “Of course you do.” She looked back down at the menu. “Help me. What do you suggest?”
“Seafood platter is excellent. So’s the blackened trout and the shrimp scampi. You won’t go wrong with any of them.”
She closed the menu. “Seafood platter then. This time.”
He raised an eyebrow. “This time?”
“I’d love to come back.” She met his eyes. “With you.”
He held her gaze for a moment. “You’re trying my patience, Naomi.”
She smiled sweetly and picked up her wine glass as the hostess set it down.
A young man appeared at the table with a warm smile. “Good evening, I’m Marco and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Are you ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?”
“We’re ready,” Ethan said. He nodded toward Naomi.
“The seafood platter, please, and a salad with Ranch dressing,” she said.
“Excellent choice.” Marco turned to Ethan.
“Porterhouse. Medium rare. Same with the salad.”
“Perfect.” Marco collected the menus. “I’ll have that right out for you.”
He disappeared and Naomi watched him go then turned back to Ethan.
“He’s efficient.”
“It’s a good restaurant. They train their staff well.”
She picked up her wine and looked at him over the rim. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
He picked up his whiskey. “That’s a broad question.”
“Pick something.”
He considered that for a moment. “I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was a boy.”
She tilted her head. “Really? What changed your mind?”
“I realized I was better with horses than I was with the science behind them.” He turned the glass slowly on the table. “Once I started competing, I knew I wanted to train one day. Once I figured that out everything came together.”
“Do you ever regret it?”
“No.” He said it without hesitation. “You?”
“Regret what?”
“Your path. The way things went.”
She was quiet for a moment. “No. The hard parts got me here.” She looked at him steadily. “I don’t regret any of it.”
He held her gaze across the table and said nothing. He waited.
“That’s not true,” she whispered. “I regret that I didn’t have parents who wanted me, but I can’t change that.”
“I’m sorry you went through that.”
“Yeah, me too, but my grandmother was the mother I didn’t have. She was a wonderful woman.”
“You loved her a lot, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did. Are your grandparents living?”
“No, neither side. It was my father’s great-grandparents who bought the land, and when they passed away, it was handed down to the next generation. My father was an only child. He was devastated when he almost lost it. Being in the family for generations, he didn’t want it to end with him.”
“So how long have you had your part?”
“Since I was twenty-two. Eighteen years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Yes, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Naomi tilted her head. “Why aren’t you married?”
“Why aren’t you?” He threw back.
“I was. As I told Serena, for about a minute. My training took a lot of time and then traveling to the competitions.” She sighed. “It just tore us apart. Your turn.”
“I’ve never been married.”
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say? You cannot sit there and tell me that you have never been in love.”
He was quiet for a long moment, turning his glass on the table.
“No,” he said finally. “I can’t say that.”
She waited.
“Her name was Claire. We were together for three years. I thought we wanted the same things.” He took a deep breath.
“Turns out she wanted the ranch but not the life that came with it. The early mornings, the work, the fact that I’d never want to live anywhere else.
” He looked down at his glass. “She left. Moved to Billings, married a man with a desk job and a house in the suburbs.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was a long time ago.” He glanced up at her. “Eight years.”
“That’s not as long as you make it sound.”
He looked at her steadily. “No. I suppose it isn’t.”
“Did you love her?”
“I thought I did.” He picked up his whiskey. “I think I loved the idea of having someone more than I loved her specifically. That’s not something I understood until after she was gone.”
Naomi was quiet for a moment. “That’s a very honest thing to admit.”
“You asked.”
“I did.” She looked at him across the table. “Has there been anyone since?”
“No one serious.” He held her gaze. “Not yet.”