Chapter 8 #4
His lips turned to a sexy grin. “Unless you were there with me. I remember more than a few times when we made our mark in those stables.”
Heat climbed in my cheeks, and I tried not to think of those moments. Hot breaths, twisted fabric, racing hearts. The smell of leather and hay. The sound of my moans and his growls rumbling in his chest. I dropped my eyes to the paper.
“See, this is empty land. Easily fitted for another stable, just like the one you had for housing the cattle before. But build a full stadium here for training, delineate these fields for breaking in the horses we buy at auction until we’re big enough to start breeding here on the ranch.
It’s a diverse yet structured ranch without the distraction of animals you don’t know the first thing about.
” I met his eyes, seeing how he was thinking through my words.
“Your dream, Hudson. You were almost there, but now we can make it happen.”
He raised his sight from the paper, and my breath caught when rich chestnut locked on me. “We?” Soft, nearly whispered.
“Yes.” I let the word hang there, liking how ‘we’ sounded, before I added.
“You, me, and Gabe. Although he’ll probably step back and let me take the lead on this.
Well, really, you, since you’re the expert.
” I chewed the pen, something I hadn’t done since college, and paced the room, my bare feet padding the floor in soft steps.
“I’ll have Gabe work with you to find the best auctions.
You and I can pick the horses we want. The ones that make the most sense. We’ll make this ranch the place to go.”
“We?” he asked again, and I stopped my pacing, my teeth biting too hard into the pen. It snapped, and I pulled it away just as the ink rushed from it, spilling on my dress.
“Damn,” I said, holding the pen away and cursing again when ink dripped onto the floor.
Hudson was there with paper towels, his massive hands capturing mine before I could even look up.
“Guess that one-of-a-kind dress is no longer worth the thousands you paid for it?” he teased, wiping my hand.
I stared at the ink all over my hand and the line dripping down my dress.
That exhaustion that kept rearing up took over again, and I laughed.
I actually laughed. Hard and uncontrolled as Hudson joined in.
It hadn’t dawned on me how freeing laughter was.
We stood there, laughing like idiots over a broken pen, our hands still joined by ink and paper towels until Hudson tipped my chin up.
His eyes were lighter, the grouchy exterior cracked.
“Go get changed and wash that hand. I’ll clean up the mess.”
I nodded, swallowing as our gazes lingered.
“And no more dresses or skirts. You’re in the country. Relax.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t live my life,” I muttered as I drew my hand away.
His brows crinkled, his fingers remained on my chin, and for just a moment, I thought he might kiss me. The look flitted across his eyes. Longing and desire. But he stepped from me, heading to the trash can.
“It might take a while for that ink to fade.”
“Great,” I said, making my way to the stairs. “I can’t wear those clothes because they haven’t been washed.”
“Throw something on and bring the rest down if you insist on washing them. The machine is toward the back of the house.”
I pondered that as I made my way up the stairs. It was almost like he expected me to wash my clothes.
“I can’t wear clothes that haven’t been washed,” I argued as I climbed.
“God, you’re spoiled. I bet you don’t know how to do your own wash.”
I gritted my teeth, not wanting to give him any more fuel to tease me. I headed to the bedroom and removed the dress, holding it out as if the ink would drip all over me. Streaks of black ink stained my hands, and I rolled my eyes at them like that would make them disappear.
“You really haven’t?” he asked, too close, and I turned, seeing him step to the door I’d failed to close. He froze, and I did the same as I stood in my bra and underwear with my thigh-high stockings.
“Fuck,” he growled. “That’s what you’ve had on all day?” He wiped his hand over his eyes, and when they opened, they were ravenous. Heat flooded through my core, and I grasped for words.
“Damn fancy spoiled rich…” The words kept pouring out as he turned and stalked away, raking his hands through his hair.
“I never asked you to come up here.”
“I was coming up to tease you. You should have closed the door if you were…like that.”
I tossed the dress into the corner and slammed the door shut. “That better?”
“No, that image is burned into my retinas now.”
My smile came too naturally, and as I rolled my thigh-highs down, I questioned what was happening.
I was staying with my ex-boyfriend. The love of my life.
Dancing between flirting and hating. Too much of what he’d said and done pointed to something I didn’t want to consider because the hope that came with it was too fragile, and I didn’t want to grab for it then watch as it slipped through my grasp.
Falling to the ground and shattering what remained of my heart.