Chapter Six
The farm was a demanding place. Cullen didn’t waste too much time as she inspected the stables and then went to the field to attend her first lesson. As an instructor, she taught two classes a day and those were with kids. She could talk a shy and reclusive kid into riding a horse, and when he or she was on the horseback, she saw the transformation.
Some kids learned to enjoy horse riding over time. For others, it's love at first sight. DeAndre Jones belonged to the latter group. Even now, he was staring at King as if the animal was the answer to all his prayers.
Cullen grinned as she joined the boy’s father, Russell, as he watched his son. “It won’t be long before he demands his own horse,” she said.
He gave her a rueful grin. “I don’t think we’re ready for something like that. I wanted him to learn horseback riding, but I didn’t know he would become addicted to horses.”
She chuckled. “I bet it’s a love affair that’s going to continue for the rest of his life.”
Russell shook his head. “We don’t have a space to keep a horse.”
Cullen rubbed her fingers along her jaw. She’d been toying with the idea, and maybe this was the perfect opportunity to give shape to it. “You could leave it in our stable. We would assume all responsibility for its care and grooming, and DeAndre could visit a few times a week and take lessons on him. He’s a natural. If given enough support, he could go on to win some races.”
Russell stared at his son who was now petting King and speaking in its ears. “You’re doing it deliberately.”
Cullen raised her hands in mocked protest. “Hey, I’m only making an offer. It’s your job to accept or refuse.”
“How can I refuse?”
She laughed at his obvious predicament. “Give it some thought. Discuss it with Laura and see what she says.” She took a step backward. “Now, I’ve got work to do. Excuse me.” She jumped into the field that was surrounded by a sturdy fence. “Hey, DeAndre. How are you doing this morning?”
“Great.” The child beamed at her.
When she first saw him, he was shy and lacked confidence, but now he could meet her gaze and talk animatedly. Horses brought him to life.
Cullen helped him up and he sat on the animal, his hands steady as he held the reins. “Today, we’re going to allow you to canter on your own.” She waved a playful finger at him. “And I do mean canter, DeAndre. Not gallop,” she told him in a firm voice.
“I could gallop.”
His bright-eyed look almost melted her resolve. “Sure, you can, but not today.” Cullen reached out and patted his leg. “All right DeAndre? Only canter.”
“Okay, okay,” he grumbled.
She let him go and even though her heart was in her mouth, she saw him guide the horse expertly as he took three rounds. She clapped as did her father. “That was excellent, DeAndre. Good job!”
The kid patted King on his flank and then took out a sugar cube from his pocket.
She rolled her eyes but allowed him to give the horse the treat. It felt nice to see she’d trained the boy so well in three, short weeks. He was a true natural. They did some more practice rounds, and although she was well aware he wanted to take a ride out of the field, she didn’t allow him to do so.
“When can I do it? When?” he demanded as he got off the horse and offered King another cube of sugar.
“If you keep doing this well, then maybe next week, you and I could go for a ride.”
“Out in the open?”
She laughed at his enthusiasm. “Yep! Out in the open.”
DeAndre lumbered off towards his dad’s car while Russell shook her hand. “Thank you, Cullen. You’ve been making a lot of effort.” He squeezed her hand lightly before releasing it. “I can’t believe how much he’s grown. The change is remarkable.” His voice became even richer with emotion. “He’s more open, friendly, and you know—just more enthusiastic about things.”
“He’s a good kid, and now that he has found his true love, he’s going to thrive.”
“I don’t know what his mom would say if she heard you refer to horses as his true love.”
Cullen ran her hand through her hair as she laughed. Her gaze fell on Graeme who was walking forward. She felt a jolt in her stomach. Although she’d gone back to the farmhouse late last night, and he was the one who walked her to it, they didn’t talk much after their tryst. In the morning, she pushed the thought of it to the back of her mind. It wasn’t something she was hankering to remember or to think about. At least not too soon.
Despite the fluttering in her stomach, Cullen waved him over. “Hi. Graeme, this is Russell.” She turned to face the boy’s father. “Russell, Graeme is our new foreman.”
The men shook hands while Graeme glanced at the other man in a thoughtful manner. His shoulders bulged. “You here for lessons?”
“No, my son.” Russell pointed to his kid who was already in the car. “See you, Cullen.”
He sauntered towards his car while she turned back towards the field. The stable boy had already taken King inside the stable and was now leading out a mare that would be used for the next lesson. “We’ve got a woman coming in next.”
Graeme followed her. “That guy?”
“Yes, what?”
“He…you…both of you…”
She frowned. Cullen didn’t like the confusion on his face and she liked even less the gleam that coiled in his eyes. She put her hand on her hips. “What are you saying?”
He closed his eyes. “Shit!”
Cullen frowned. “He’s a client, and that’s the extent of our relationship, but I don’t feel the need to justify any of my relationships to you.” She was so worked up, heat flushed its way throughout her body. “If you’re going to behave that way whenever I talk to a guy, it’s not going to work.” Get a grip, Cullen. She willed herself to control her breath, and get it back on an even keel.
Graeme put a hand on her arm. “It won’t happen again.”
“Great.” she replied in a dry voice. “Let’s just get back to our chores.”
Perhaps he thought that she would want to discuss the finer details of their love life now, but frankly she wasn’t willing to do anything of the sort. Cullen wasn’t sure why she didn't feel comfortable talking about something that happened between them. It wasn’t as if she’d been a virgin who’d only done the deed for the first time; but she sure felt like she was. Maybe it’d been too long since she had a man in her life, and it was difficult to remember the etiquette, or perhaps she was just plain scared.
Whatever it was, she felt glad Graeme took the hint, released her arm, and left her. Cullen lost herself in the manual work that was as good as ten therapy sessions. She mucked the stalls, walked the horses, rode with a client up on a trail, came back and inspected the barn, and then made some phone calls. All in all, it was a satisfactory day, but no matter how hard she worked, it was impossible for her to forget the events that happened the night before.
She’d slept with the man after the first date! She’d never done that before. But while it didn’t bother her that she didn’t follow Steve Harvey’s 90-day rule, what made her nervous was the realization that if he could reduce her to such a state in a short time, what could he do if she allowed him to hold sway over her?
Graeme was a dangerous man.
A very dangerous man.
She didn’t know how their relationship was progressing, but it made her nervous.
Perhaps she should end things now, before they got too much out of hand. She didn’t want to give over power to anyone. Sure, she would be a fool if she didn’t admit to herself that she liked him a lot, but Cullen wasn’t ready for anything serious—being with Graeme was turning out to be far more serious than she’d imagined.
She should apply the brakes now before it was too late.
Cullen took a shower. She debated whether or not she should eat in her room, but her mother wouldn’t allow it, and knowing Jackie, she would investigate matters until she got to the bottom of things. Perhaps her mother already knew she’d slept with Graeme, but Cullen wasn’t ready to talk about it.
Damn the man!
He was making her a prisoner in her own house.
She didn’t like it. Cullen strode downstairs with a purpose. She wasn’t going to cower in her room. No. She would confront him and deal with this issue head on. Whatever happened, she wasn’t going to shy away from it. When she went in the kitchen, he was already seated on the table along with Jackie. “Good evening,” she said in a formal voice as she pulled back her chair. “Sorry for being late.”
“It’s okay, dear,” Jackie replied. Maybe she understood the tension between the two of them because she didn’t say anything much. They said their prayers, and dug into their meal.
As always, her mother outdid herself. Sometimes, Cullen felt guilty about letting her mother take over the entire kitchen work, but she was so bad at it that there was one time when she nearly set fire to the oven. Since then, her mother shooed her out even when she attempted to make something simple. Like toasted bread and butter! Cullen mentally shrugged her shoulders. Oh well. She knew she didn’t inherit Jackie’s cooking genes. Give her horses and cattle any day. Her gaze traveled to Graeme. Men were also a foreign species as far as she was concerned. Half the time, she didn’t know what was going through their heads.
Once dinner was over, she helped her mother load the dishwasher while Graeme cleared and wiped down the table.
“As usual, Jackie,” he said as he slung the kitchen towel over his broad shoulder. “The meal was delicious. If I keep eating your food, I doubt I would ever be able to find anything else that matches your standards.”
Jackie’s eyes twinkled. “Don’t be silly, I’m not that good.”
“You’re even better,” he stated with a smile.
Cullen saw her mother beam. It was nice of him to make her feel good, and even she could tell his compliments were genuine. Her heart melted a little. When he turned his eyes towards her, she found it difficult to look away.
“Cullen, may we talk outside?”
She cast a glance at her mother, desperate for Jackie to help wrestle her out of the situation, but Jackie looked away as if she couldn’t hear a damn thing. “Sure.” She scolded herself as she followed him outside. Couldn’t she manage one word without it sounding like she squeaked?
Relationships!
Men!
If Graeme were a horse, she would have known what to do. Unfortunately, he wasn’t, so that meant he was a mystery she wouldn’t ever be able to solve. Maybe she was one of those women who were destined to spend their lives alone.
I wouldn’t mind it that much, but really…what a shame…
Oh, shut up!
She mentally chided herself. Again. She’d been doing that a lot lately. Much to her surprise, he clasped her hand in his and walked a little away from the house. She didn’t know what to do, so Cullen allowed him to tug her along. In bed, she knew the right moves, but when it came to talk and emotions, she was clueless.
“I owe you an apology.”
She halted. An apology? “For what?”
“It’s the way you laughed.”
“Huh? What?” Is he losing his mind?
“You don’t get it, do you?” Graeme dragged his fingers through his hair. “The way you were with him was—different from how you are with me.” He cleared his throat. “I guess, I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
It was a beautiful evening. An owl flew overhead while she could hear the sounds from the stable. A brisk wind blew through her hair, but her concentration was on the man who stood in front of her. His eyes didn’t waver away from her face. She could respect a man who didn’t mind saying sorry when an apology was due. “You were jealous?”
He smiled ruefully. “Yes, I was. And although I can’t promise it won’t happen again, I can tell you I would do my best not to make the same mistake.”
She surveyed him as if she seeing him for the first time. Since he was being so honest, she felt a little ashamed. “I suppose I was a little too harsh. It’s just…” She sighed as she cast her gaze about. Finally, she glanced at him again. “This is all new for me. I haven’t been in a relationship for a while, and—uh, I’m a bit overwhelmed, practically drowning.”
“Would you feel better if I told you I feel pretty much the same way?”
“Really? You?”
He brought her hand to his lips. “It’s been a while since someone mattered. And you matter a lot.” His lips brushed over her knuckles. “I think we’ve got a good thing going, and we need to pay a little more attention to it.”
The brief contact of his lips against her hand was enough to make her shiver. She couldn’t resist him, but what would it cost her if she took this relationship any further? This wasn’t something she could forget if things soured. He was working with and for her, day in and day out. And on top of that, Cullen was pretty sure Graeme wasn’t the kind of man one could forget easily. If things didn’t work out, she would be devastated for weeks, months, maybe even years. Did she want to risk that kind of heartache? “It’s risky.”
As if he understood her predicament, his lips lifted in a smile. “You can’t gain something until you risk everything.”
What do I want to gain?
Cullen wasn’t sure if she was ready for any kind of a permanent commitment, and somehow, she had the feeling Graeme wouldn’t settle for anything less. “What if we end up hurting each other?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.” He patted her hand and let it go. “For the record, people who love each other end up hurting each other at some point or another.”
“Love?” She shuddered. “You’re not—I mean, it’s too soon, and—um…”
He lifted her chin with her finger. “Relax, Cullen. I’ve not given it that much thought. Let’s just take it one day at a time.” He smiled.
His smile made her heart skip several beats.
“So, what shall we do?”
She wasn’t ready to let go of the L word that he used, but knowing she wouldn’t get anything else out of him, Cullen dropped the topic. In any case, she wasn’t prepared to think in those terms. At least, not as yet. Love was a distant possibility—too distant to even consider at this point. “What do you mean?”
“For our second date?”
She blinked her eyes. Another date? “I don’t know.”
“How about we watch a movie?”
“Sure.” She would’ve agreed to anything if he would only continue to stare at her. Cullen felt as if she was sinking in the depths of his eyes. “Okay.”
“Tomorrow at six?”
Cullen nodded. “That’s fine.”
“I’ll pick you up, and we’ll have dinner before the movie. What kind of movies do you like?”
Cullen tried to recall the last movie she had seen. “Action.”
Much to her surprise, he grinned. “You’re just saying it to make me feel good.”
“No, I like action movies, thrillers, crime flicks.” She rolled her eyes playfully at him. “But if you want romance…I could sit through it.”
“Hey, I’m as mushy as any other guy, but I would much prefer action over romance. It’s a date.” He bent towards her.
She thought he was going to kiss her, but instead, his lips brushed over her cheeks.
“Right?”
Something melted in her heart. This was a man who actually cared about what she thought, what she wanted. She would be a fool to let him go. Her lips curved in a smile as she gazed into his eyes. “Sure, why not?”
And just like that, her fate was sealed. Cullen grudgingly admitted to herself that she was being swept off her feet, and the lord only knew where she would wind up. For now, it was enough that they were together and having a good time, and the rest would take care of itself.