Chapter 17
Although Mav’s internal alarm had him rousing at four-thirty the next morning, for the first time in his life he didn’t feel like he had the energy or the willpower to get out of bed. And the fact that he dreaded the photoshoot wasn’t the full of it. Some, but not all.
Rather, the woman curled up against him, her head on his shoulder, her arm flung over his chest, her leg strung over both of his was the heart of the problem because even as Maverick told himself he should get up, he didn’t want to wake her. He didn’t want to leave her side at all.
She was almost halfway through her stay, which meant that in only two weeks, she would pack her bags and walk out of his life as if she’d never been a part of it.
Terrified of the thought, needing to remind himself that she was still there with him now, he raised his fingers to her arm and distractedly traced a pattern on her bare skin.
It was hard not to compare her to Shannon, even though he knew in his heart that the two women were as different as day and night. Nina was reserved and quiet, almost shy, and she guarded a gentle heart. Shannon was loud and flirtatious. Vivacious. And cold.
But they were both career women, working in fields that made it hard to balance family. And unlike Shannon, who had made promises and then balked, Nina had only been honest with him from the start. Hadn’t she insisted on those ground rules that first night?
‘What are you thinking about?’
Her sleepy voice had him glancing down at her. Her eyes were still half closed, her long lashes hiding them from view. ‘I didn’t mean to wake you,’ he said quietly, and kissed the side of her head.
‘I could hear you thinking in my sleep.’ Her cheek curved against his bare chest when she smiled. ‘Are you worried about the photoshoot?’
‘Not really.’ But he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he was worried he’d regret letting her walk away from him for the rest of his life.
And he was outright terrified of telling her how he felt in case she felt pressured into trying to make it work like Shannon had.
‘Shannon arriving like she did is fucking with my head,’ he said, which seemed to sum everything up quite neatly.
‘I’m not her.’
‘Not even close,’ he agreed. But because he felt that panic pressing in, he asked, ‘Do you remember that day you asked me if I loved her, and I was unsure?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m not unsure anymore. I didn’t love her.
I liked her. I liked that she was smart and successful, and for a while her glamour seemed to be a – I don’t know – contrast, maybe, to the ranch life.
The sex was good.’ He frowned as he thought what it was to touch Nina, to feel his whole world revolving around her pleasure.
‘Not intimate. But good. But, no, I didn’t love her. ’
It was the closest he could come to saying the words to Nina just then. But Mav knew, in that moment, with Nina in his arms, that whatever he’d felt for Shannon hadn’t been love. Not even close.
She didn’t pry, didn’t ask what made him bring it up now. She rolled over and looked at the time on her phone. ‘Are you going out to the horses?’
‘Yeah. I should have been out the door already.’ With a tired groan, Mav rose to a seated position. He looked down at Nina, ran one hand over her hair before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. ‘Go back to sleep.’
‘Could I tag along?’
‘To bring the horses in?’
‘Yeah.’ She toyed with the hem of his shirt that she wore. ‘I want to spend the time with you while I can, you know.’
The fact that she was already living with leaving on her mind affirmed his decision not to say anything.
Nina started rambling. ‘I won’t get in the way. I can just start on grooming Barbie in her stall and then help with the others once you’ve brought them in.’
‘You’re never in my way, Nina,’ he said, but because those bigger words threatened to spill from him, he moved to the end of the mattress and pushed to his feet. ‘Why don’t you go get changed. Meet me in the kitchen when you’re ready?’
‘Okay.’ She hopped off his bed. ‘Five minutes.’
The moment she left he sat heavily back down. He ran both hands through his hair and exhaled a huge breath. ‘Shit.’
The single word wasn’t exactly poetry, but it about summed up his situation.
As difficult as it was to keep the course, Maverick knew he had to.
He could admit that he was scared, and that trust didn’t come easily for him, but asking Nina to stay would have been selfish.
It wouldn’t have been fair for the girls, for Nina, who’d have to split her time between LA and Santa Barbara.
And for Poppy, who’d have a half-timer in her life – and that was if things worked out.
If they ended, he’d have been responsible for his kid’s first heartbreak.
But knowing what he had to do didn’t make living with the decision any easier. Still, never one to wallow, he pushed back up and walked through to his bathroom to change.
Dressed in a white flowy dress, cowgirl boots, and a black Western Wear cowboy hat, Nina watched from the sidelines as Markus had Maverick saddle Zephyr. It was their fourth time running through it, but neither man nor horse showed a flicker of frustration.
In the golden fields around them, models, wardrobe personnel, and makeup artists prepared for their own scheduled segments. Although Nina knew that Shannon Carlyle was there, and that the woman’s eyes were constantly glued on her, Nina ignored her completely.
Behind his camera, Markus cued Maverick to start again.
Mav swung the saddle onto Zephyr’s back, being careful to control the downward movement as the forty-pound saddle landed on the horse.
While Markus snapped dozens of pictures, Maverick went about slowly rearranging the saddle pad and threading the cinch strap through the cinch ring.
He tightened it, finished it off with a Windsor knot.
And when he stepped back, removed his hat, and wiped his sweaty brow with his forearm, Markus took a few last shots and then lowered his camera.
‘Okay, I think we got it that time.’
Mav comically raised both hands in a prayer of thanks.
‘Har. Har.’ Markus’s eyes were glued on his camera as he flicked through the shots. ‘Wait until you see these, Cowboy. You’ll fall flat.’
‘I’ve seen your work. I already know you’re good. But that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy doing it.’
‘True. But you’ll do it anyway because you want to help a friend – and because you’re terrified of your little sister.’
Maverick only sighed in agreement, making Nina smile.
‘Okay, Neens.’ Markus turned to her. ‘You’re up.
’ His eyes scanned her, checking, she knew, for any wardrobe or makeup changes he wanted to make.
The last of her bruises had faded, and although her ribs still throbbed from time to time, she’d learned how to move to minimize the pain.
Finding nothing out of place, Markus shucked his head in Maverick’s direction.
She walked to where Maverick stood by Zephyr.
People stopped what they were doing to watch.
Nina didn’t feel nervous. Modelling was just another type of acting, after all, pretending to be someone you weren’t in front of a camera while others watched the show.
‘Okay.’ Markus let his camera hang from the strap around his neck as he directed. ‘I’m thinking Nina in the saddle, Mav leading the horse.’
‘Why don’t we take the saddle off?’ Mav suggested. ‘Go bareback with us both on. Maybe, Nina in front of me.’
Markus’s eyes rounded with glee. ‘Is that safe?’
‘With Zephyr – yes.’ When Markus still seemed unsure, Maverick added, ‘I would never put Nina in a dangerous situation.’
Nina’s heart tripped a little at the words, spoken with sincerity.
It also seemed to be all the convincing Markus needed. ‘Okay. Fuck it. Let’s do it.’
Maverick patiently removed the saddle again and carried it to one of the saddle racks he and Benji had hauled out. ‘With our combined weight, we can’t move much. Zeph could manage it, but it would be a strain on her back.’
‘We’ll do mostly still shots. No walking but maybe slight movements to reposition her body.’
Maverick nodded.
Nina looked around. They were far from the barn and any mounting blocks, and without the saddle and stirrups she had to ask, ‘How are we going to get on?’
‘I’ll get on her first and then help you up.’ So saying, he gathered the reins in his left hand and vaulted onto Zephyr’s back in one smooth movement.
Markus’s jaw dropped open.
Both of them stared at Maverick.
One of the models behind them whispered, ‘He’s so smoking hot,’ to one of her friends.
At her side, Markus asked, ‘Are you a little turned on right now?’
Nina sighed, but she didn’t deny it. ‘Oh yeah.’
Watching Maverick on horseback had become her favourite pastime.
He was so natural, so comfortable, and, she’d admit, impossibly sexy too.
And in those small moments when she saw him soothing an animal, stroking its neck with his large hand as he whispered words of approval, Nina couldn’t bear to look away.
When he held out one hand for her, she didn’t hesitate even though she had no idea how he was going to get her on too. She went to him. ‘What do I do?’
‘My back’s not what it used to be,’ he said with a small grin. ‘So, Markus if you pop a knee …’
Markus knelt, putting one knee at a ninety-degree angle. He jokingly bowed his head. ‘Your humble servant, my queen.’
The giggle tore from Nina’s throat before she could contain it. ‘Markus, this is serious,’ she chastised.
‘Yes – your highness.’
‘Oh my God, you’re impossible.’ She laughed. But when she took Maverick’s hand and stepped on Markus’s knee, the smile on her face was big and bright.
Maverick lifted her onto Zephyr’s back easily. As soon as she had found her balance, he shimmied her back so that she was pressed against him, asked, ‘You okay?’
‘Perfect.’