CHAPTER TWELVE
“Yep. Sounds exactly like writer’s block,” Jax agreed as he tossed the bale of hay onto the stack he was making in the barn.
Niko hefted the bale he carried up onto the stack next to Jax’s. A dappled gray horse swung its giant head out of its stall and nickered until Jax pulled out a baggie of baby carrots.
“So how do you beat it?” Niko asked, pulling off his gloves and tucking them into the back pocket of his jeans.
Jax fed the horse a carrot and then popped one into his own mouth. “It’s a bitch,” he chewed. “You gotta get extra creative to break through shit like that.”
“For example?”
Jax glanced over his shoulder, making sure it was still just them and the horses. “Okay, so the last screenplay I was working on, I got stuck right in the middle of it. None of my usual fixes—taking a day off, writing drunk, binge reading, chasing my wife around the bedroom—nothing worked.”
He held out the bag of carrots to Niko, and he helped himself to one.
“So what did you do?”
Jax took another glance around the stables before continuing. “The days were ticking down to my deadline, and I was still stalled. Totally stuck. I was desperate. So in a last ditch effort, I put down the screenplay and started writing something completely different.”
“How different?”
Jax cleared his throat and swiped his hand over his mouth and murmured something.
“It sounds like you said—”
“Romance novel. I started writing a romance novel.”
“Okaaaaay.” Niko wasn’t sure where to go with that. “Did it help?”
Jax snagged another carrot, broke it in half, and held it out to the horse. “Worked like a charm. The book and then the screenplay just started pouring out of me. Now anytime I get stuck, I open up that document titled ‘Crop Rotation Schedule,’ and in a day or two, I can get back to my project with a fresh brain.”
“So the novelty—forgive the pun—of something completely different helps to grease the wheels?” Niko rubbed a hand over his jaw and briefly wondered when he’d last shaved. Life on the farm was messing with his grooming habits.
“That’s my theory,” Jax said with a shrug. “Now, if you ever mention this to anyone, I’ll tell everyone you’re a dirty liar.”
“Fair enough. So I should try something new,” Niko decided.
“Go in a different direction, and see what happens,” Jax advised.
“I’ll start penning my Fabio-cover story tonight,” Niko promised. Jax gave him a helpful shove and then tossed him a carrot. Niko chomped on it thoughtfully. Fighting through it hadn’t helped. Maybe finding something that flowed would. If the hippie woo-woo mojo of Blue Moon was pushing him in a new direction, who was he to ignore it?
“Oh, look, Reva. We must have interrupted snack time.” Joey’s voice carried a teasing sarcasm. Jax jumped a mile and shot Niko a “keep your trap shut” look. Joey and Reva sauntered down the corridor with a wire-haired dog of dubious breeding trotting after them. Waffles gazed lovingly at his females. Reva’s earnest eyes didn’t show the flickers of amusement that Joey’s did.
“Hey, gorgeous wife of mine,” Jax said, offering her the bag of carrots with a mock bow. “I grew these especially for you.”
Obviously amused, Joey reached for a carrot only to find herself being reeled into Jax’s arms.
“Reva, why don’t you go check the outdoor ring before everyone gets here for lessons,” Joey suggested. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”
The girl nodded and hustled for the door, and Niko sank down to scruff up the dog’s fur. “Hey there, Waffles.” The dog dissolved in joy.
“She has yet to crack a smile,” Joey said when the door closed behind Reva.
“How’s she doing otherwise?” Jax asked.
“Smart. Eager. She’d put a new roof on the barn if I told her I wanted it done,” Joey predicted. “But there’s just something about her…”
“Sad and cagey,” Jax assessed. “There’s something going on with her.”
“And you know how I just love getting involved in my employees’ personal lives,” Joey grumbled wryly.
“How does she get here?” Niko wondered. “Does she have a car?”
“Says she gets dropped off,” Joey said. “But I’ve seen her walking up the lane, so unless someone drops her off at the road, I think she walks.”
“At least she doesn’t look as hungry,” Jax commented.
Joey looked embarrassed as she scuffed the toe of her boot into the sawdust. “I’ve been bringing in food and leaving it in the office.”
“I fucking knew it!” Jax said, poking her in the chest with his finger. “I knew you didn’t finish off all the pot roast leftovers, you little liar!”
Waffles yipped in protest at his mother being called a liar.
“Ugh!” Joey shrugged out of his grasp. “I knew I’d regret marrying an emotional eater!”
Jax grinned. “Please, the only thing you regret about marrying me is not doing it sooner.”
Joey softened against him. “Prove it.” Jax leaned in to kiss her, and Niko cleared his throat.
“I’m just going to go over here,” he said, pointing toward Joey’s office and the smell of fresh coffee.
“Relax, Niko. We save the really hot stuff for the tack room,” Joey snickered.
“Remind me to stay out of the tack room.”
A beautiful horse with a glossy chestnut coat and perfect white star on her nose shoved her head out of her stall, nodding her big head at Joey.
“Hey there, beautiful,” Joey said, stroking a hand down the horse’s neck. “When’s that baby coming, Calypso?”
Calypso shook her great head, tossing her mane. She was hugely pregnant with the first foal of the Pierce Acres breeding program. A monumental start thanks to Jax’s efforts to win Joey over with the gift of two spectacular specimens of horseflesh. Calypso and her stallion, Apollo, would cement the Pierces’ place in the world of horse breeding.
“She looks like she could go at any time,” Jax said, offering a carrot to Calypso, who took it gently with her velvet muzzle.
“Sammy the vet was here this week,” Joey said. “She’s predicting probably another week.”
“We’ll keep an eye on her,” Jax promised.
“So this is where the party is.” Emma, in stylish gray suede booties, picked her way over the straw-strewn brick to join them in front of Calypso.
Niko reacted to her the same way a dog offered a treat, eagerly with every fiber of his being focused on that delicious morsel. Shit, he was in serious trouble.
Emma was dressed for work in sexy black motorcycle pants and a slim fitting black sleeveless shell. Her hair, yet to be pinned back, floated in auburn curls around her face and down past her shoulders. And Niko couldn’t stop staring at her.
The air in the barn changed as if a weather system had moved in.
“Don’t step in any shit,” Joey warned Emma with the stern point of her finger.
Emma glanced down at her shoes and grimaced. “God forbid. I wanted to check in with you about ladies’ night tomorrow.”
“Is that still on?” Joey frowned.
Emma sighed and tapped her foot impatiently.
“Get your head out of your horse’s ass,” Emma smirked. “We’re throwing Phoebe a bachelorette party, and you’re not getting out of it.”
“I hate being social,” Joey whined.
“Suck it up and be a big girl. There’ll be a ton of booze.”
Joey brightened. “Well, I do love my mother-in-law. What are you guys doing while we’re partying it up?” she asked Jax.
“Babysitting all of the little people and playing poker. You in?” he asked Niko. “You’d better be because it’s at Carter’s.”
Niko laughed. “Count me in. Wait, can we drink while we’re in charge of children?”
“It’s required,” Emma, Joey, and Jax said in unison.
“So, then it’s okay if I put you in charge of a couple of desserts since you’re so bad ass with sugar and baked goods?” Emma clarified with Joey.
“Ugh. Fine. Sure. Just let me know how much I owe you for the…” Joey trailed off and looked at Jax.
“Entertainment?” Emma filled in.
“Yeah. That.”
“Cool. Awesome. Great. Uh, if you two will excuse me, I need to take my husband into the tack room and do some… inventory,” Joey said, curling her fingers into the neck of Jax’s shirt and dragging him down the corridor.
“Inventory, huh?” Niko said, watching them go.
“If I start hearing screams of ecstasy, I’m leaving.” Emma wrinkled her nose.
“You must be feeling better,” Niko said. “I mean, you look better. Not that you ever don’t look good…” Shut up, asshole. Just shut the fuck up. God, he’d turned himself into a gawky teenage loser who was too stupid to live.
“I assume you couldn’t possibly be referring to the Situation That Shall Not Be Referred To Ever Again, and therefore, I will state for the record that I feel just fine. And I look amazing,” Emma said, tentatively stroking Calypso’s velvety nose.
“Glad you’re done curling around the toilet in the fetal position,” Niko said, stepping in on her. If he was going to act like a child, he might as well call on playground etiquette and pull some pigtails.
“If we were talking about it—which we aren’t—I’d say thank you for being so… helpful.” Emma swallowed hard.
“I feel like you just took my gold star and turned it into a shitty ‘good job, champ.’”
“I’ll get you a gold star if you promise to never bring this up again,” Emma bargained.
“Deal.”
Calypso nudged Emma’s shoulder with her nose. “I’d better get out of here before I’m covered in horse slobber,” she said, taking a step back.
Niko followed her and reached for her hand. “Hang on a second. I talked to Phoebe today.”
She turned back to him, dust motes floating on the afternoon sunshine between them. “And?”
“And I’m shooting the wedding.”
He didn’t know how badly he’d wanted to say yes to her until Emma was squealing and throwing her arms around his neck. “I knew it! You’re going to be amazing. and they’ll love what you do.”
She didn’t pull back, and he didn’t move his hands from where they’d settled on her hips.
“I’m glad you’re happy,” he said huskily.
“You didn’t say yes just to make me happy, did you?” she accused.
“Not only for that. Though, at the moment, I’d have to say it was worth it.”
“Niko.” She unwound her arms from his neck and rested her palms flat on his chest. Yet, she didn’t push him back.
He tucked a curl behind her ear and let his fingers thread through her fiery hair.
“What are you doing?” she sighed at his touch.
“Being friendly.”
He’d love to capture her like this, in the softly filtered light with the wariness in her sea goddess eyes. His fingers itched for a camera. Emma was urban chic out of place in the quiet, dusty stables. But the desire was more than that. More than wanting to capture a moment, a perfect face. He wanted to experience her with no lens between them, nothing but skin to skin, need to need.
He could see her pulse flutter wildly at the base of her slim throat and knew that she was affected, too. “What are we doing, Emma?”
Her lips—so full, so soft—parted, but no answers poured forth. Her eyes were heavy lidded as they looked up at him. Long lashes curling delicately, framing eyes the green of spring meadows. She smelled like sin, all spice and temptation. His blood thrummed through his veins. He was hard, and all he wanted to do was to get closer.
Testing, Niko pulled her into him using his palms to guide the luscious curve of her hips. He lowered down to her, his lips skimming the sharp line of her jaw. He paused just behind her ear to taste that sensitive skin. She shivered against him, fingers digging into his t-shirt and holding him close. Emma let her head drop back, and Niko took it as an invitation to further explore.
He knew she could feel how hard she’d made him, yet she didn’t pull away. He felt her heart beat against him as it matched the thud of his own when he dragged his teeth over the flesh of her neck.
“This is stupid,” she sighed. “We’re making a mistake.”
But still she stayed, melted against him. Niko shoved his hands into her hair, gripping it.
“If it is, we’ll have fun making it,” he whispered, his lips lowering with impossible patience toward their goal.
Something solid shoved him from behind knocking him the last inch into Emma, his teeth gouging her sweet lip.
“Ow!” she yelped.
Niko swung around to meet their foe only to be faced with a very pleased with herself Calypso.
“Did that horse just make you bite me?” Emma gasped, holding her lower lip.
“Are you okay? Jesus, did I… puncture anything?”
Emma put her hands up when he made a move toward her. “I think we just proved that was a bad idea.”
“I think we were doing just fine until someone butted in with her big, fat head,” Niko said, glaring at the horse.
Emma shook her head. “I’ve got to get to work. I think it’s for the best if we pretend this… situation never happened.”
“You can’t pretend to forget about every situation that doesn’t fit into your plan, Emma,” he called after her.
But she didn’t stop, her heels clicking sharply on the brick floor as she exited the stables.
Calypso snorted and Niko narrowed his eyes.
“Cock blocked by a horse. I’m watching you, Calypso.” He pointed two fingers at his own eyes and then back at her.
The mare gave a sassy toss of her mane and shoved her big, fat head in her feed bin.